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New Avengers (Marvel Salutes the US Military) "Special Guests" Book Released: 28 April 2005 Review posted: 05 June 2005 Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: Dan Jurgens (breakdowns) Sandu Florea (finishes) Letters: Richard Starkings and Albert Deschesne Colors: Frank D'Armata Publisher: Marvel Comics  4.00 out of 5 Stars Reviewed by Louis Vitela

When friend and fellow ComicCritique.Com reviewer John Daniels offered me a look at Marvel's special New Avengers one-shot, I was immediately interested. This book was created and published exclusively for the U.S. military, so most American comic book fans may never see a copy, and I was being offered a chance to read it! Despite my eagerness, my expectations weren't very high. I expected a full-frontal propagandist assault, probably starring Captain America, and a tour through the wonders of the U.S. military, a comic to rival any pamphlet at your local recruiting office. Although the cover of the book threatens to make good on that expectation, it doesn't reflect the story at all. As a matter of fact, Marvel gave comic-reading soldiers probably just what they would want from a special issue: a darn good story.

“We're going to examine it like the scientists some of us are. And we're going to make discoveries of an ancient alien race and we're going to have a--”   “Geek party.”   “Yes.”

The story begins with Reed Richards, Iron Man, and a U.S. soldier trudging through the Louisiana bayou. The creators' names had still not appeared (they weren't on the cover), and I didn't peek ahead, so at this point I still didn't know what to expect from this book. By page three, however, Brian Michael Bendis' trademark character dialogue gave him away, and the story itself was immediately compelling. The soldier was leading the superheroes to a site where a crashed spaceship had been discovered. Reed quickly assessed the situation and realized the spaceship had been there for thousands of years. What follows is a good day-in-the-life Avengers/Fantastic Four story, one that gives a little face time to every team member and allows Bendis' patented Banter-o-Matic dialogue generator to operate at full tilt.

The art is well done, though the characters are rendered a little differently from what regular New Avengers readers might be used to. The layout and choice of shots is excellent. In particular, the pages where the combined might of both teams is applied to pry open the spaceship door is very well done, featuring rows of small panels that clearly show, in true sequential art fashion, the truly heroic effort required to open that door.

An interesting side note: the Sentry appears as a full-fledged New Avenger, completely happy and well-adjusted. His role in the regular New Avengers book has not been very big as of yet, and if memory serves he still seems like something of a basket case.

As a civilian, I actually found the ads interesting. Most of the advertisements were placed by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), clearly the primary sponsor of the book. Reed Richards' jacket even has the AAFES logo emblazoned on the back and shoulders. The AAFES mission is to “provide quality goods and services at competitively low prices and generate earnings to support MWR programs.” (“MWR” stands for Morale, Welfare, and Recognition.) The ads were for products ranging from flat panel televisions to video games.

This book, released April 28, 2005, was made available only to US military personnel. As I write this review, copies of The New Avengers one-shot are available via at least two separate Ebay auctions. With a little effort and a little cash, even those of us who haven't been through basic training can still get our hands on a copy. Is it worth the effort? Possibly, to a true collector. And although the story won't change your life, it's a fun read.

Special thanks to Mike Rhode, an archivist at the Walter Reed Medical Museum in Washington, DC, for loaning ComicCritique.Com a copy of The New Avengers one-shot for review.