World Famous Comics: New Avengers Vol. 7: The Trust
New Avengers Vol. 7: The Trust
By: Brian Michael Bendis Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 184 Publication Date: April 16, 2008 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: The New Avengers have found a huge clue to the threat that has faced them since the day they banded together. And now just the knowledge of that threat is tearing them apart. What secret could be so damning that it could do to the New Avengers what the Civil War could not?! Collects New Avengers #32-37 and New Avengers Annual #2.
Brian Michael Bendis does it once again! Superb dialog plus top notch art. Honestly, Bendis could write a phone book and I would read it cover to cover multiple times. (Review by Michael Atkinson I just purchased it for him)
Definitely the spine of the Marvel Universe SOOOO much better than Mighty Avengers. Interesting idea by centralizing all Marvel Villainey. Good dialog, solid artwork...this is the Avengers book to buy.
The Trust Works for Me Bendis's New Avengers run has had its ups and downs - a great beginning led to a somewhat disappointing and meandering muddle in the middle. The books suffered from being overly-tied-in with other comics I hadn't read.
But The Trust picks things up again with some great superhero action against a background of paranoia and mistrust that really ramps up the tension.
The New Avengers is an anti-establishment group as it is, and one thing you don't want to do with a hippie is look like a narc. When your teammate, whom you must trust with your life, is possibly a Skrull, it's hard to hold hands and sing "Kumbaya."
Bendis writes great patter, and this book is not an exception. His Spider-Man is genuinely witty, and the romantic, playfully sexy banter between Luke Cage and his wife is charming. When Cage gets suspicious of her, Jessica's patient and practical response is perfect - Bendis writes her character so beautifully, it makes me miss Alias Vol. 1 and The Pulse, Vol. 2: Secret War even more.
The plot of The Trust seems to borrow from DC's Villains United storyline, as The Hood bullies and builds a group of ragtag bad guys into a loose federation. But the action is good, and Bendis makes The Hood into a character to contend with.
Overall, good stuff, and the book's strongest outing in awhile. Of course, mediocre from Bendis is still better than most writer's best days, and this book is far better than mediocre. The man is a genius.
Lastly, I'm more of a story than an art guy, but I didn't love Yu's work here. It seems overly sketchy - even ugly - at times. There are some powerful layouts, but I prefer a cleaner look.
The Trust : don't second guess picking it up. It's Bendis at his best continuing the superhero soap opera that is the New Avengers and painting some personal conversation based issues between characters. It is a strong lead into Secret Invasion.
"Do you feel Skrully?" The New Avengers can't catch a break. As if the Civil War wasn't enough. Or the fact that they're wanted criminals, and with their former teammates hunting them down. As if it's not enough that they've just faced off against Electra and her deadly group of ninja assassins, the Hand. Now the fit really hits the shan. In the last issue (see New Avengers Vol. 6: Revolution) it's revealed that Electra is actually a shape-shifting Skrull. This causes a big, big problem as these outlaw Avengers now suspect that a secret invasion is in the works. But how long have the Skrulls been skulking around? And how big the conspiracy, how deep the infiltration? Could the Skrulls have been somehow responsible for the Civil War? So, these renegade heroes now don't even know if they can trust each other ("Do you feel Skrully?" asks one Avenger to another). Paranoia sows its seed and quickly threatens to shatter the group. In fact, one member promptly skedaddles.
On top of it all, a demon-ridden villain calling himself the Hood ('cause, y'know, he has a hood) is scheming to take over New York's criminal underworld. And he's making quick headway. The Hood is a thinking criminal, and he espouses organization and cooperation amongst New York's criminal element. It also strikes him that, with the Superhuman Registration Act lending ready access to the identities of many in the superhero community, one way to build up instant credibility is to make an example of a superhero. To quote the Hood: "One by one. We get them where they live. All of them. No one is safe. Not the icons, not the up-and-comers." His actions put him and his superpowered crime syndicate on a collision course with Luke Cage and his crumbling outlaw band. So far Dr. Strange's mystical dwelling had provided a foolproof sanctuary for these fugitive Avengers. But not anymore.
Oh, and there's also some nonsense about all of New York City being transformed into symbiotes (like Venom). This might've been interesting except that amongst the infected are the New Avengers, so that's no fun. Plus, it was told in broad-stroked flashback by Luke Cage, one of the two who didn't get infected (him because of his invulnerable skin, Wolverine because of his healing factor). Apparently, this symbiote storyline is told in full in an issue of Mighty Avengers. But since I don't follow that series much ("bleccch!" to the Mighty Avengers), I guess I won't get the full lowdown on what happened.
This is THE NEW AVENGERS Vol. 7: THE TRUST and it collects issues #32-37 and The New Avengers Annual #2. I figure, as long as Brian Michael Bendis keeps churning out New Avengers stuff, I'll keep reading 'em. To be honest, though, I was getting pretty tired of the Hand story arc, so I'm glad Bendis has (for now) moved on. This new arc paves the way for the next big Marvel Comics event, Secret Invasion, which is an 8-issue limited series. In an IGN interview, Bendis let out that he'd been planning this thing for years and that there's been a hint of the Skrull invasion even as far back as New Avengers #1. Color me intrigued.
Although the suspicions and hostility stemming from the Electra Skrull debacle continue to nag our team, the Hood proves to be a hell of a distraction. Yup, I've read Brian K. Vaughan's gritty limited series The Hood (New Avengers). I liked Parker Robbins as a fractured, small-time thug who kind of had the best intentions; I never thought he had it in him to become a formidable crime boss. Obviously the demon in the cloak is influencing the crap out of him. How tough is the Hood? Well, he busted Wolverine up pretty good. In fact, what he did to old Wolvie made me cringe a lot.
I can't say much for the Hood's super-powered yoyos. They're mostly lower-tiered villains (Madame Masque, the Wizard, Chemistro, etc.), and I'm pretty sure even Howard the Duck could wipe the floor with them. The only respectable bunch in the Hood's group is the Wrecking Crew. Let's face it, it's pretty much the Hood's intelligence and planning (and a bit of that brimstone mojo) which make him a force to be reckoned with.
In a personal way, the splitting of the Avengers into two very different teams is a good thing. The Mighty Avengers took away the characters I didn't really care for (Iron Man, the Sentry), while the New Avengers stuck with the cool set (Luke Cage, Wolverine & Spidey). The New Avengers have recently welcomed Dr. Strange, Iron Fist, and a resurrected Clint Barton into their ranks, and two of 'em are still around by the end of this collection. It's disappointing, though, that Fist and Luke haven't interacted more in these pages. On the other hand, I'm definitely digging Luke's marital relationship with Jessica Jones. Luke and Jessica just feel like a real couple. Currently, their relationship is bordering on rocky, what with the fugitive status and that Skrull thingie. Come to think of it, the way the final issue here ends, it's guaranteed to tick the hell out of Luke Cage.
There's really nothing more to say about Brian Michael Bendis, except that the dude is gold. Leinil Yu provides the brunt of the artwork, which tends to come rough and rugged. Nevertheless, it definitely has its own energy and raw appeal. Meanwhile, Carlo Pagulayan's more polished looking stuff is showcased in The New Avengers Annual #2, the site of the no-holds-barred rumble between the New Avengers and the Hood & his supervillain crew. This collection guest-stars Tigra, the Night Nurse, Deathlok (kind of), and the government-sponsored Mighty Avengers (who might actually boast a conscience after all, underneath all that self-righteous bluster).
Oh, and in issue #37, Spidey makes Wolverine laugh.
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