World Famous Comics: Mighty Avengers, Vol. 2: Venom Bomb
Mighty Avengers, Vol. 2: Venom Bomb
By: Brian Michael Bendis Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 128 Publication Date: November 26, 2008 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: The Ultimate Spider-Man super-team of Bendis and Bagley reunite - and just in time for the Avengers' biggest problem ever! A Venom virus hits the city of New York, turning its inhabitants symbiote! Plus, Wonder Man gets a much needed makeover. All this and Tony Stark gets himself a green-skinned present in a body bag. Collects Mighty Avengers #7-11.
Disappointingly mundane second volume This second Mighty Avengers volume collects issues #7-11 of Marvel's series from the creative team behind nearly a decade of Ultimate Spider-Man, writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley. Against the backdrop of a looming Skrull invasion, a Latverian satellite drops a virus on New York City that symbiotically turns thousands into Venom and Carnage-like monsters, and Tony Stark/Iron Man leads his Avengers team to Doctor Doom in search of justice. Bendis gives Doom some terrible lines, like this one to Ms. Marvel: "so shut your cow-mouth or I'll remove your face by hand before I stop your whore's heart". A time travel sequence offers a clever vintage 1970s layout complete with one-line teasers at the page bottoms, but this adds little to the already mundane plot. I enjoyed both the story and artwork in Volume 1 much better.
Avengers assemble While the x titles keep repeating the same story over & over again. The avengers have come up with a great new team & new storyline.
Not bad, better than the first MA trade anyway MA is a very different book to anything we've seen featuring the Avengers since Avengers Disassembled, it's a bit fun and light-hearted, even to the point of being a bit silly [mostly in a good way]. Purists will bemoan Dr Doom's Bendisy dialogue but they're missing the point.
The retro stipple-coloured section set in the past is proof of this series' less serious approach, and although well done, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the last time Bendis used that trick in Powers Vol. 6: Sellouts. Having said that, the Ironman/Dr Doom banter in this section is probably my favorite part of this trade: "A lot more people hate you than me".
Mark Bagley turns out some of the best art of his career. Much stronger than his work on Ultimate Spidey and much better suited to a book such as this. He handles both superhero action and empathic eyes with absolute skill.
The annoying thought bubbles are back, but thankfully are slightly less annoying than last time.
This trade is well worth a read, as long as you're not a Bendis hater or someone who likes their Avengers to be serious or angsty.
Fun, beautiful and directionless This second collection of the 'registered' Avengers takes place post-Civil War and pre-Secret Invasion. While the art, by Frank Cho, is unbeatable, the series seems to amble, with no clear direction in mind. General consensus, I think, is that Mr. Cho's slow work pace kept the book behind and unable to keep up with ongoing Marvel Universe continuity. Still, it's beautiful - particularly his women. Writer Bendis' use of word balloons is unique to this title and characterization is spot on.
All in all, two excellent creators still trying to find their way.
Avengers Rock On Is there a skrull in the house? The post civil war conspiracy continues...Brian Michael Bendis continues his tremendous run on Tony Stark's new assemblage of heroes and is reunited with artist Mark Bagley. The Mighty Avengers are in fact, a pretty old combo of occasional heroes who graced the covers over 20 years ago: Ms Marvel; Black Widow: Wasp; Wonder Man and Spider Woman - joined by relative newbies: the enigmatic Sentry and Ares the God of War . The difference now is that the world around them is a lot deadlier, while the heroes themselves have become a lot spunkier. Throw in Doctor Doom, a Venom Bomb, Morganna Le Fay and we have a really juicy story going. The Avengers are always at their best when they (a) have internal conflicts and (b) have world domination issues to deal with. Both needs are addressed here, as the new (yet old) generation of Avengers become more and more interesting. What will happen next? Highly entertaining.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
