Comics / Comic Reviews / Marvel Comics

The New Avengers #16

By Hervé St-Louis
September 20, 2011 - 20:46

Daredevil finally joins the Avengers. After nearly 50 years of not having been an Avenger and been a solo act with brief memberships in the Defenders, Daredevil will be an Avenger. Is this historic? How knows? Practically everybody in the Marvel universe has been an Avenger by now. Nothing is sacred. But does it have to be?

I’ve always like that Marvel Comics had these strong characters that never joined the Avengers. If you needed a sorcerer supreme, you would get Doctor Druid instead of Doctor Strange. You had Coke Light, but there was something seemingly sacred with some characters belonging to some families and some being total independents. Daredevil, at most was a Defender, and not a good one. But then, the Defenders were a non team anyway and that suited his persona just right. Brian Bendis has been toying with the idea of making Daredevil a full Avenger since he began his stint on the first New Avengers series. To be fair, it wasn’t Bendis who broke the non rule about certain characters not being part of teams. When  Spider-man first became an Avenger way back in the Avengers 320s, in the 1990s during a guess stint, the ultimate loner of the Marvel Universe suddenly had a family.

Daredevil to me was always that kind of character. Just like Spider-man he had carved his own part of the Marvel universe. He could stand without them. Now the only major loner to not have been an Avenger must be the Punisher! Bet that’s the next one coming for Marvel Comics’ next year big crossover which I probably won’t read.

Although the introduction of Daredevil in this story feels right and did entertain me, I can’t help but feel like Daredevil was included in the New Avengers to bring him back to the core of the Marvel Comics universe, as his new series with a talented team, but with non inspiring stories may hurt the series. Of course all the Avengers forget the crap they went through in the Shadowland because of Daredevil and welcome him without any remorse.

Deodato renders a mean and lean Daredevil. I like how he drew him here. I could easily see him become regular artist for Daredevil should the sales of his series plunge further. But that is another story. Meanwhile, did I mention how this team feels more and more like the Defenders? I wonder if it would sell as much if it was billed like that.

Rating: 9.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12