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New Avengers: Illuminati
Book Released: 29 March 2006
Review posted: 31 March 2006
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Publisher: Marvel Comics
3.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Adam White
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I’ve been looking forward to New Avengers: Illuminati for some time now, yet after reading it I have mixed feelings about it. Brian Bendis writes a mean story when he wants, but he also has produced some less-than-impressive work for Marvel in recent years. Usually his collaborations with Alex Maleev bring out his best work, and on some levels it does here, but I also had some problems with the execution of the issue.
Bendis produces outstanding dialogue (one of his hallmarks) for the Illuminati characters and crafts believable confrontations between them. Dr. Strange makes his best appearance in years, if too briefly, and even Reed Richards is afforded some depth; Namor serves as the breakout character of the book, overacting and overreacting throughout, which would not work for anyone other than the most stubborn prince of Atlantean persuasion. Iron Man puts in an Oscar worthy performance as well, but that is actually where some of my problems with the issue begin. The whole thing seems staged, with the characters playing the roles assigned to them by Bendis. Truthfully, the Illuminati meetings seem like dictation notes from the meeting of Marvel writers that spawned this story — each character plays one of the writers involved and takes his side of the hero registration issue. Some of the pages have already appeared in other comics, and the whole thing really offered no surprises beyond what I understood already from the previews, interviews, and tie-in issues. Which made the whole thing anticlimactic, if still well-written for what it was.
The whole thing seems staged, with the characters playing the roles assigned to them.
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Alex Maleev delivers, as always, producing a slick issue that hits all the right notes. Maleev focuses on the human side of all these larger-than-life heroes, crafting both physical and emotional conflicts with equal skill. Maleev also made the story seem more impressive than it was by lavishly rendering each scene, creating interest where lesser artists would have simply made it mundane. Marvel is lucky to have landed Maleev’s services and I hope they will put him to better use on the high profile projects he deserves.
I am stuck giving New Avengers: Illuminati a middle grade rating because, while the dialogue and art were outstanding, the script itself really didn’t advance the overall Civil War storyline in any way. Where I expected to be stunned and amazed I was only mildly interested and annoyed. If you are interested in the Civil War event from Marvel this year then you might as well pick it up (especially if you are a completeist), but it’s not a must-have by any means. I hope Marvel explores the Illuminati concept again in the future, but only if they do something more significant with it.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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