|
|
|
New Avengers #1
"Breakout!" Part 1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Finch
Artist: Finch, Miki & D’Arnata (Cover)
Letters: Richard Starkings & Albert Deschsne
Ink: Danny Miki
Colors: Frank D’Arnata
Publisher: Marvel Comics
5.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by J. W. De Bolt Jr.
|
|
The best part of this first issue of The New Avengers is how naturally the events unfold. Matt Murdock and Luke Cage are visiting Ryker’s Island Maximum Security penitentiary, where Jessica Drew works. Max Dillon has been paid by an unknown benefactor to come to Ryker’s Island. His bombastic operation to free the super-villains kept there draws the attention of Peter Parker, who follows the lightning to Ryker’s Island, where Captain America has just landed. Thus we have five super-heroes all together on an island where at least a dozen super-villains have just been freed. Something tells me there will be massive fight scenes in the next issue. We learn at the end the reason for Murdock and Cage visiting the island as they introduce a mystery man. Maybe you will know who he is.
The excellent story construction also includes decent explication balanced with action and blended with perfect dialogue. And Bendis allows Finch, whose work I’ve admired on Ultimate X-Men, to carry his part of the story, as many scenes track through without dialogue. The dark colors reflect not only the nighttime and the underwater facilities, but the serious mood of the situation. The backlit cover is mysterious and charged with possibility, while Finch’s artwork provides us a natural bridge from the old Avengers he drew to the new.
At the end, we are left eager for the next issue, though we don’t need to wonder much what sort of confederation the gathered heroes will become. There’s the ever-intriguing question of who will be in the lineup. Also, where will they be housed now that Avengers Mansion has been destroyed? Who will fund them since Tony Stark is now finally getting responsible with his fortune? Will they become a S.H.I.E.L.D. operation and a line item in the military operations budget? Will they get a salary? OK, maybe you’re not wondering all these things, but I am looking forward to what develops next issue. With the Red Skull, Chameleon, the Controller, the Scarecrow, Jigsaw and numerous other villains about to exit Ryker’s island, the New Avengers have their work cut out for them!
Quote of the Week: “This is America… Everyone has rights. Even homicidal genetic freaks who hear voices telling them to do whatever it is little voices tell you to do.”
—CCdC— Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
|
|
