Comics / Comic Reviews / Marvel Comics

The New Avengers #17

By Hervé St-Louis
October 12, 2011 - 20:12

Tony Stark asks the New Avengers to help him fight Ultimo, a giant robot that is attacking Stark Resilient’s New Jersey’s plant. Can the Avengers fight a foe that repels everyone of their attacks?

Last issue, Norman Osborne was freed from captivity by H.A.M.M.E.R. remnants as well as the new Madame Hydra, AIM and H.Y.D.R.A. Seems like Marvel doesn’t know what to do now that DC Comics is pummelling them at the retail counter so now, they’ve pull all punches and are trying to seem more relevant than before. For example, this issue in nothing but an excuse to give the new Dark Avengers a new launch pad. We all know that series was quite profitable for Marvel. Elsewhere in the Marvel Universe, the X-Men franchise are rebooting, to you know, sound as good as the new DC Comics 52. But I digress.

The issue was a quick read with an old villain plucked from whatever old Iron Man story, to show that Brian Bendis knows continuity while at the same time wrecking the one established by his colleague on Invincible Iron Man where it was established that Stark Resilient had only one location in Seattle, had nowhere the capital and property of former company Stark Enterprises, is located in a small industrial building with a very small team. But then, Bendis needed Stark to play his usual rich guy part with tons of facilities available for villains to blow up.

This is the second issue in a row where the Avengers are failing a mission so Osborn can be established as a bad ass villain again. The next year of stories in New Avengers where Osborne slowly becomes a force to be reckoned with will undoubtedly spearhead the next Marvel Comics crossover that will disrupt every single comic book the company publishes and be overcharged. Then someone will die or something and while the crossover runs its course, Bendis will post useless side stories related to the big crossover where the Avengers are interviewed about their past or something or they’ll go hunt some stupid villain like Madame Masque allied with some B villains.

This is how New Avengers has been written for the last seven years and you know what, I’ve had enough. This book is off my list next month. I’ll go read something where there is still some real creativity left instead of being spoon-fed a story where I already can guess half of the plots, because it has been the same formula used by the writer for close to a decade now. The story is not bad, but I want originality in my comics, and I’ve been down this road before and have read this current story before. Why am I buying this series?

Deodato’s work is impressive. He’s changed how he draws his Norman Osborne. I see less Richard Nixon in his rendering. I think Deodato is a master comic book artist and I’ll definitely pick up any other book he’s working on in the future. However, right now, even the best part of the New Avengers is not enough to make read the same plot over and over again while I pay way too much money for a comic book whose writer after eight years should retire and allow someone else to tell the next chapter of Earth’s mightiest heroes. If you are not jaded by Bendis and the New Avengers, I say continue to read this series. It’s not bad at all and there is still some humour left. But I’m not willing to put up with this anymore so I’m bailing out.

Rating: 7 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12