7 posts tagged “bendis”

When I first heard of the concept of the Illuminati I wasn't sold on it. I thought it was just an excuse to have yet another secret society of superheroes. Reading this mini changed that impression though.
 
I thought seeing these heroes band together and intervene in some of the important events in Marvel history was neat. The first three issues were about three crossover events from the past. These were all interesting in how they deal with the problem.
 
The fourth issue was about the new Cap Marvel, which I am not sure who it is. I guess it's just too recent, so I haven't read it. This didn't resonate with me like the previous issues exactly for that reason. And as much as the opening dialog is funny/amusing, it didn't feel necessary.
 
The last issue is the big reveal of who is a Skrull, and it is the official start of the Secret Invasion. The war has begun, but there is no united front to deal with the enemy, especially after Civil War.
 
The art by Jim Cheung is again outstanding. He truly is my favorite artist at the moment. He tends to draw everyone as young kids, even his Iron Man suit looks "young", but they all have a distinct look, which is what matters. His storytelling is also very clear.
 
This mini has me pumped for what's coming up in Marvel next year.

 

Bendis is really laying the ground for next year's big event at Marvel. So in preparation for that I am catching up on his New Avengers. Spoilers follow.
 
His Civil War arc on New Avengers 21-25 showed us which side some of the Avengers chose and what were the consequences. Each issue stars one particular character and is penciled by a different artist.
 
Even though these stories are well integrated with the main Civil War series, they are basically self-contained stories that go deeper into the character's thoughts and some of their history. I thought these were well thought out character stories, as well as giving us some action and tie-ins with Civil War.
 
The art was mainly good, but reading them one after the other the difference was jarring. No matter how good Civil War was (or not), these felt like fill-in stories. I can't wait to read more and get closer to the Secret Invasion threads later on.

The next arc is Revolution (#26-31) where things really start heating up in the Marvel U. There are two time lines being

told in parallel. One is the aftermath of Civil War, where Cap's group is hiding from Tony Stark and his Mighty Avengers in Doc Strange's place. There is another confrontation between the two Avengers teams, which establishes their motives again.
 
The other time line takes place in Japan, and it involves Maya Lopez (Echo) being kidnapped by the Hand, lead by Elektra. Of course this is where the big reveal about the Secret Invasion is. Bendis also summarizes in very few words what's been happening since the beginning of this title, and ties everything to the Skrulls, though it's just a supposition at the moment.
 
There is also the return of Hawkeye, which is fine by me, but how he comes back isn't even explained, actually Hawkeye himself makes a comment about how that doesn't really matter.
 
After the big reveal in 31, the current arc deals with Trust (#32-37). Nobody trusts each other, everyone is suspect and Bendis does a good job of showing us that everybody could be a Skrull. However he also gives us a way to believe that everybody in this team is not a Skrull, thanks to a spell by Doc Strange. But of course we don't know if that really works.
 
The other thread in this arc is The Hood and his band of villains. The way Hood deals with Tigra is interesting, but in the middle of the Invasion as well as things happening in Mighty Avengers (Ultron, Venom etc...) this feels like filler.
 
The art in the last two arcs is by Lenil Yu, which I always liked but here is a little bit different. His line is rougher, making this a very dark book. However his layouts are always inventive.
 
There are 3 more issues before the Secret Invasion event starts. I usually read comics in arcs, not single issues, however I don't think I can do that with this series anymore. I am really excited about this storyline. This series has been conceived with the Secret Invasion, so everything will culminate in that story. My only worry is what is Bendis gonna do after that story?

 

When Brian Bendis took over Avengers, he started a truly new direction for this classic team. Here are my thoughts on his run so far.

The first arc of the New Avengers brings a number of Marvel superheroes together during a prison break out. It being in New York, it is not surprising to see these characters together during a massive crisis like this. But these characters were obviously chosen for Bendis' familiarity with them. He written them in the past, so it made sense to put them together. It was weird to see Spider-Man and Luke Cage accept the offer. This arc also sets up subplots which will be developed during the course of the series. The main plot involves Shield and the forces behind it, ever since Fury left in Secret Wars. Art is by David Finch, whose style recalls the early image years, in particular Silvestri. It is very dark, which at times does not suit Bendis' jokes.

The second arc involves the Sentry, a character created by Paul Jenkins. In fact, Jenkins is actually drawn in the comic, in a comic inside the comic story. I read the original Sentry mini drawn by Jae Lee, but I don't remember the details, so I am not sure how much of this story is a summery of that mini and how much is new material. It was fun to see the X-Men cameo, and I am waiting to see how such a powerful character will be used. I loved Steve McNiven's art, a very clean and clear style. This is almost as good as his Civil War art.

Next we have an arc involving Ronin, Silver Samurai and the organized crime in Japan. I didn't feel this story arc had meat at all, it just served the purpose to set up the situation in Japan, and introduce Ronin to the Avengers. Sure there's lots of ninja action, but at times I felt the action was confusing, again due to Finch's art. We also find out who Jessica Drew is working for.

Secrets and Lies is all about Jessica Drew's past and current affiliation with Hydra and Fury. Fury also makes an appearance since Secret Wars. Everything seems to work out ok, until we see the last pages of the storyline. I got an Alias (TV) vibe here. And the art by Frank Cho is gorgeous. I wasn't too familiar with his style, and it blew me away. It is so crisp and beautiful.

Next is The Collective, a follow up of sorts to House of M. I don't want to spoil it, but there is an appearance by Magneto at the end. I was actually a little bit confused by the final reveal as to the Collective identity. Also I wonder if Hill was just acting for Iron Man's ears, when dealing with the president. Art is by Deodato, which is not bad, but I am not a big fan of his.

Overall I like this series so far, it has big events, mysterious subplots, espionage, some kick ass action sequences, and some funny lines by Spider-Man, which spread to the rest of the group, even Cap ("I can make jokes!"). The art team seems to change often, but I like that each arc has its own artist for the whole duration. Looking forward to a regular artist though.

After reading the Pulse I was curious about Secret War, and I was a little bit disappointed. Secret War is a standalone mini-series, which really didn't affect other series. It is not an event crossover like the original Secret Wars.

This is the story of a secret mission started by Nick Fury involving some of the Marvel heroes. This mission happened a year ago, however nobody really knew about it, including the members of Nick's team. At least until now, when their victim has come back for revenge.

The appeal of this story lies in the mystery of the mission, which is actually already clear from the first issue. It didn't spell out what exactly happened, but we could already deduce what did happen. So the final "revelation" in the last issue really isn't a revelation at all.

One thing that did not disappoint is the art. Gabriele Dell'Otto's painted art is excellent, and even though it is probably more suited for pin-ups or covers, it still is very pretty. I love his interpretation of all the characters.

A beautiful book to look at. Many cool action scenes, but the plot is quite simple and disappointing.

Even though Alias has a n uplifting and satisfying conclusion, the story of Jessica Jones continues in The Pulse. This series stars the people working at the Daily Bugle, who hire Jessica for a new column about superheros called The Pulse.

The first storyarc (Thin Air) is basically a Spider-Man story, from the point of view of the reporters. It is about the Green Goblin and how Ben Urich takes him down with the help of Spider-Man. But it is also about Jessica and Luke dealing with their new life, and upcoming baby. Mark Bagley handles the art perfectly, being essentially a Spider-Man story.

 

The second arc deals with Secret War, a mini-series written by Bendis himself. This story actually does not require to have read Secret War, in fact it is almost better to not read Secret War. This way we don't know what is going on, just like Jessica Jones. Trust me, I haven't read Secret War yet, and I enjoyed this story because of not knowing what was going on. But it does make me want to know, so I will read SW. Art wasby Anderson and Lark, all doing good work but not particularly inspiring.

Issue 10 is a House of M tie-in, where suddenly mutants are the majority in the world, and a mutant is head of the Daily Bugle. Not a very interesting story by itself, but it works as part of the House of M crossover event.

The last storyarc (Fear) is the real continuation of Alias, especially because Mike Gaydos is back on art duty! This arc is all about the birth of Jessica's baby, running parallel to Ben Urich's story about D-Man. And the last issue tells how Jessica met Luke and her second stint as a costumed superhero. This really brought back the same feeing I had when reading Alias, and I think should have been included in the Alias Omnibus. Jessica's use of language hasn't changed, it's just being censored with *&@#^%.

After reading this last storyarc I realized that I've grown attached to Jessica, and that says it all about how good of a writer Bendis is. Her story is not over, Bendis will have the opportunity to continue telling her story in New Avengers. In fact he continues the story in New Avengers Annual #1, which I read without reading the regular New Avengers series. I found it very confusing, and only worth reading for the last few pages which are about Jessica and Luke. The fight between the Avengers and the villain was just confusing the hell out of me.

Oveall The Pulse is a good series about investigative journalism in a superhero world, as well as continuing the story of Jessica and Luke. If you have read Alias I highly suggest you pick up the last storyline.

I recently got this Alias Omnibus, which collects the complete Alias series by Bendis and Gaydos. This is a mature readers series, and it takes place in the Marvel Universe. Jessica Jones is a P.I., who used to be a superhero. She still has powers, but this is more a detective story. In this series she goes through a few cases, all featuring Marvel characters.

My favorite case was the one involving Matt Franklin, a very sad tale about how some superheros are involved in drug dealing, but not any normal drug. Another great story is "Rebecca, please come home", where Jessica is asked to find a teenage girl in a small town plagued by racism and prejudice. Another deep and sad tale.

We also see her relationship with men, including Scott Lang (Ant-Man) and Luke Cage. These are very endearing relationships, complete with sex and the consequences of Jessica's choices.

Throughout the series, we are also teased about Jessica's past, and why she quit being a superhero. We've been shown that she was known as Jewel, this flying superhero, and we know that something terrible made her quit. And that is what we get from the final story arc, right after the 2 part origin story of Jessica Jones.

The art by Michael Gaydos is perfect for this story: gritty and expressive, it conveys Jessica's strong emotions flawlessly. Some of the layouts are tipycally Bendis', especially the double page spread full of expository dialague by Jessica's clients. Mark Bagley draws the few scenes set in Jessica's past, where she was Jewel. David Mack provides beautiful covers, and also some interior art. Mack is my favorite painter.

There is one last What If.. story to close the book, as well as sketches, deleted scense and unused art. Overall a great book: good packaging, great story and art, nice bonus features, excellent price ($44.09). Get this!!