Written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Olivier Copiel
THE MARVEL BLOCKBUSTER OF THE YEAR!! This double-sized finale brings the Dark Reign to a shattering conclusion and brings with it the bombastic new HEROIC AGE. Every single page of this book is a shocker: Lives are changed. Heroes fall. Deaths. Revenge. Villain comeuppance. And when the dust settles, who will be in charge of the Marvel Universe?? You will find out here and only here. This is the one they will be talking about.
What did we at Multiversity think of the finale 7 years in the making?
Matt’s Thoughts: And just like that, we’ve come to the end of an era. A story 7 years in the making, and one that we’ve all been attached to at various points in our comic book collecting careers. In just four issues, Bendis managed to fix everything that he’d destroyed with the hopes of ushering a brand new era of comic books for Marvel in.
So when we last left off, we had the Sentry as a giant tick sucking the life of the universe, and everyone else having no clue what to do. Well, thanks to some other comics, we kinda knew what was coming, including both major “deaths” (in quotes due to the firm belief that we have not seen the last of either character), and in this respect the end of Siege is a seemingly play by numbers story. The Sentry/Void is defeated, Captain America fixes everything, and we’re all set up for our four new Avengers on-goings and two minis. That’s all well and good.
It’s a tad underwhelming though, even when teamed up with it’s three epilogues. Perhaps it’s my not being used to the idea of a four issue event yet, and wanting to see more out of a story this big. I mean, a LOT has happened, and a LOT needed to happen to fix it. This is essentially a no holds barred battle royale that ends with the death of David’s favorite character. That’s not a bad thing, and Bendis writes it well. I’m actually looking forward to the future of both his Avengers books and lots of copious exposition and jokes from Spider-Man, who is apparently present on both teams. And this does effectively wrap up what is simply a mini. I suppose my expectations ay have been a bit high given Bendis’ previous events, though.
I must add – Copiel’s art is fantastic on this. We’ve seen him kill it in House of M, we’ve seen him kill it in Thor, and now we’ve seen him annihilate it in Siege. The first issue had us a bit worried in some sequences, but this issue was just fantastic with it’s epic scope of widescreen visuals. Pulling off the uber-Void was a bit difficult, and you can see in some of the tie-ins that others were not as able to pull it off so well. Not Copiel, though. His world ender is fantastic, with enough space tentacles and Kirby krackles to please everyone and anyone.
I like where the issue ends. It’s a nice jumping in point/gateway for the Heroic Age, and there is a lot of clear room to expand and conquer. I’m looking forward to the return of the Avengers, and what the future of Marvel’s premiere superhero team has to bring.. And most of all, I’m glad that Bendis was able to give a good enough send off to such a fantastic and epic 7 year story. Here’s to the next one!
David’s Thoughts: So that’s it…the full out transition from Dark Reign to The Heroic Age is complete, all in the pages of the final issue of Siege. How does it stack up?
Well, if you’re looking for anything besides a knock down, drag out fight featuring a couple memorable deaths and a transition into a new status quo, you’re going to be sore about this one.
But if you go in knowing what to expect (and why shouldn’t you, given the nature of the first three issues we’ve been given so far), this is a damn fun issue that both wraps up the mini in exciting fashion and gives us a really exciting look at the future.
Continued belowBefore I get into the events of the issue, I’ve got to say: DAMN (or whoa, perhaps). Oliver Coipel killed it on this issue. This was a freaking heroic undertaking by Coipel, and he just got better and better throughout the series. He managed to turn the fight against The Sentry into a thrilling battle of epic proportions. There are a number of pages where my jaw was hanging on the floor underneath me as I read it (Helicarrier bullet scene…wow). Even in the smaller moments, like when Thor is reacting to Loki’s apparent death at the hands of The Sentry, we’re given A+ work. The look on Thor’s face will go down as an all-time moment for Coipel.
The only complaint remains the reliance on completely absent backgrounds — I know it’s a mini-armageddon, but to have nothing in the background because there is a huge fight going on just seems sort of messy. This has been commonplace from Coipel in this whole mini, but it’s nothing to really deter the visual feast we’re given.
Bendis himself handles the issue ably, giving us a virtual how-to guide on proper event storytelling. The way he handled the final fight with The Sentry and the clever use of characters throughout really showed us why he was the perfect man for the job. Even the last effort by The Sentry and his own attempts to get himself killed were effective on me, making me feel pity for a character I like less than any character ever. It was a fitting coda for such a troubled character.
Bendis sculpted all of those bits like the grand master he is, and I felt all of the emotions he wanted us to feel: fear of The Sentry, grief for Loki and The Sentry’s last moments, jubilant at the last page…it was very, very solid work by Bendis.
It also gets me even more excited for The Heroic Age. Steve Rogers is in charge, the band is back together, The Hood and his crew are still on the loose, and I get the feeling Loki just pulled his greatest bit of mischief yet. Who knows what hides behind the red curtain, but in the hands of writers like Bendis and artists like Coipel, I don’t doubt it will be exciting to find out.
Gil’s Thoughts: Now that Siege is over, I’m left wanting a bit more. Bendis, a writer of whom I’ve always considered myself a fan, put together a book that was touted as being “7 Years in the Making,” but it ended up feeling like it was “7 MINUTES in the making.” The plot was so hastily conceived and not entirely fleshed out that I feel like if this were a summer blockbuster, it would have gotten the same reviews as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” By the end, everything is in perfect harmony, quickly pasted back to what seems like before Disassembled some years back. While I’ll admit the final panel had me looking forward to the future, I did not look fondly on what I had just read. There was what felt like a perfect ending, where The Void would earn his comeuppance way back in the first issue, but instead, no. We get some utterly nonsensical developments from our heroes (though I’ll admit turning the H.A.M.M.E.R. Helicarrier into a bullet was pretty awesome)
But was it pretty to look at? Well, just like that aforementioned movie from a couple years ago, it sure was. Coipel was really on his game here. It’s a crazy action packed book and he absolutely killed it. But to be fair, so did the special effects artists on that movie.
Brandon’s Thoughts: This be a review with spoilers me mateys! It just isn’t possible for me to discuss the issue without getting into the nitty gritty of it. So proceed at your own risk.
::Spoilers::
So what essentially boils down to a whole era of Marvel coming to an end happens here. Is it a good change? Is it a bad change? Is this 90’s X-Men style reminiscent? Well, only time will tell. This book though had it’s up and downs as well as some gorgeous panel layouts and art.
Continued belowI want to start with what I really liked. I really loved Coipel’s art on this book. In some spots I was literally muttering, “daaaaaaammmmmn”, when my eyes followed along. What I wouldn’t give to own the original page of Thor throwing the Sentry into the sun. That page is an amazing example of how a comic page can be a whole story unto itself. It’s such an epic page as the story is told fluidly from being to bitter end. There were more like this in the book but none as gripping.
As far as the story itself, I found it enjoyable but not Earth shattering. I’m not sure if I’ve been desensitized by all the big events of recent years but this just didn’t feel as important to me as he finales of the others. This could be because the title shipped after many titles dealing with the end of the event itself. I also felt like the story was rushed to a close much like I was concerned it might end up being.
So was I entertained? Yes. Was I blown away? Not by a long shot.
Walt’s Thoughts: When I first started reading Siege, I wasn’t expecting much. Marvel’s status quo had been shaken up for years, and now it was time to get things back to normal. No big, that’s just unfortunately how superhero comics go. I’ve never been a big fan of anything Brian Michael Bendis writes that isn’t street-level, and like fellow Multiversity writer David Harper, I have had a deep-seated loathing for The Sentry ever since he became introduced into the mainstream Marvel Universe (I will admit, his first mini was alright). Dark Avengers gave me some hope, but for the most part I was proven right with the first two issues of Siege. However, once we got to the third issue, my faith in Bendis was restored. Sure, it was still just an action story, but one that was intense and well told. For the first time ever, I was legitimately excited for the next installment of a high-level comic by Bendis.
Warning: Many spoilers ahead!
Talk about a let-down. Siege #4 really just wasn’t up to snuff, in my opinion. Are we somehow supposed to believe for a second that The Sentry, who, in a Bendis-written book, reconstructed himself from nothing, would be killed by the helicarrier and a crack of lightning? I don’t care if it was some all-or-nothing last ditch effort from Thor (which the book didn’t even imply), that still just doesn’t compute with the information regarding The Sentry that Bendis has given us. If he does come back, it won’t be surprising in the slightest; conversely, if Bendis meant for it to be “real”, then that’s just poor writing. Throw in the poor characterization of Loki, a few other gaffs with the Sentry’s power level and some odd pacing, and you have a script that’s ultimately forgettable.
Even more of a disappointment though was Oliver Coipel. I normally absolutely adore Coipel’s art. The penciling he did on JMS’ Thor run was amazing, and I was excited to hear that he was picked for this event. The previous issue, again, had particularly excellent illustration, what with the destruction of Asgard and all. This issue, however, wasn’t near as good. I’m certainly not saying it was bad, but it was just nothing special or particularly interesting. When you’re someone of Oliver Coipel’s caliber, though, the last thing you want to be is nothing special. Also, that pose off at the end was rather lame and didn’t make much sense.
All in all, I feel for Siege about the same as I do for the infamous One More Day: it might have been executed poorly, but it should lead into good things from here on out. Reading Siege was my personal litmus test to see if I was going to give Bendis and Romita Jr’s Avengers a chance, and it failed. I am interested to see how Kieron Gillen picks up the pieces in Thor, though.
