New Avengers (2010 Series) #3

September 6, 2010

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Stuart Immonen
Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Cover: Stuart Immonen
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics

As Doctor Strange, Doctor Voodoo and Hellstrom try to seal the rift between our world and the chaos dimensions, the Avengers are dealing with the monsters spilling through that rift and wreaking havoc on New York (which, let’s face it, if you live in the New York of the Marvel Universe is probably not that unusual an occurrence). This has quickly become a much stronger and more entertaining title than the core Avengers series, and for a few reasons. First of all, the lineup. Spider-Man and Wolverine fit in with this title much better than the other book, and the back-and-forth between Spidey and the Thing is funny and entertaining. Jessica Jones playing mom works with this story too. (There aren’t that many superheroes who are also parents, but it seems like half the time there’s an event like this they forget about their children entirely while the go about with the fisticuffs.) There’s even a very good cliffhanger as the villain of the piece is revealed, and it’s genuinely somebody I never would have suspected.

Also not hurting things at all: Stuart Immonen. His artwork has always been magnificent, and he does a fantastic job with these characters. His Spider-Man and Ben Grimm are top-notch, and the scenes of Iron Fist trapped in that other dimension are stark and weird, all in a good way. His faces are fantastically expressive, full of life and energy, and the same thing goes for his over-the-top fight scenes.

This isn’t a great comic book, but it’s a good one, and for now, I’ll take it.

Rating: 7/10