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Review: Avengers Prime #5

By | January 6th, 2011
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Alan Davis

The blockbuster Avengers series that brings the holy trinity of Avengers brotherhood together comes to a whopper of a conclusion as Captain America, Iron Man and Thor team up for the first time in years to bring down Hela, the goddess of death, who threatens the existence of the whole of the Nine Realms! From Avengers writer Brian Bendis and comics legend Alan Davis!

And so the story of how Cap, Iron Man and Thor became buddies again between the end of Siege and the start of the Heroic Age finally comes to its conclusion. Find out what I thought of this five issues in eight months mini series after the jump!

It saddens me immensely to have to say this, so I will just say it and get it over with…

This was a bad Brian Bendis comic.

I honestly never thought I’d utter those words given how absolutely in love I’ve been with ol’ reliable Bendis’ work over the last ten (give or take) years, but I just could not get into this series almost from the start. Unlike some readers (and indeed, some of my fellow writers), I have an extremely low tolerance for throwaway mini-series. Let’s face it, Marvel is a business, and any opportunity to capitalize on their latest status quo shift was going to be taken. However, of the myriad of Heroic Age blah blah blah, this particular mini-series did carry a little bit of pre-release weight despite not really needing to be published (especially since I’m not really sure anyone cared all too heavily about the story…except the Steve/Tony shippers…and their opinion matters even less than mine.) The team behind it historically created great comics and its always nice to see Alan Davis drawing full issues, period. Still, I just couldn’t shake the throwaway feeling each time I picked it off the shelf, somehow hoping that it would prove its legitimacy and staying power. Sadly, now that the final curtain call has come on the series, I feel a lot like I wasted 20 bucks.

Picking up where the last issue left off, the Big 3 rushes into battle against Hela’s fiendish hordes. While I am not opposed to giant, widescreen fight scenes (especially ones drawn by Davis), the fact that this one took up roughly half the issue didn’t really help matters of its legitimacy. Sure, Bendis’ pacing and dialogue was at its usual quality and the art was superb, but I just couldn’t seem to care when everything was put back to normal since nothing about the series MADE me care about anything that was going on. Especially that weird thing with Steve and the blue chick. However, there were a few reasons for this other than the series’ throwaway nature, and one that really stands out. Namely, Hela acting noticeably out of her current character and actively operating against the status quo established for her during Kieron Gillen’s run on Thor.

Yeah I know, most people would think that since Bendis rules the Marvel Universe with an iron fist and ultimately whatever is established during a fill-in arc by a lesser known writer can be overlooked if he says so. One, I don’t buy that for one second. Continuity is the single most important aspect to maintaining comic book legitimacy moving into the future. Ongoing stories must respect and build from what came before, because if not they’ll be reduced to flash in the pan stories that won’t matter once they are done being told and, eventually, won’t matter even WHILE they are told. And Two, as soon as Hela was revealed as the big bad of this mini and people brought up the Gillen run, Bendis PROMISED that everything would line up and the continuity police would be happy. This never happened. The friendship and agreements Asgard and Thor established with Hela during Gillen’s run were completely overlooked and all the character development that was put into Hela was thrown out the window, reducing her back to her former cackling villainous ways. NOT cool, Bendis.

Continued below

In all honesty, this story could have been told in one issue. Yeah I know there was beef between the Big 3 before all of them returned to this mortal coil or from being brain dead or whatever, but not five issues over eight months worth, especially after banding together during the Siege itself. Especially since said beef was only really addressed at the beginning of the first issue and at the end of this issue. Another bit of evidence for the “throwaway” argument.

The only saving grace here is Davis’ art. I have loved his work for quite a while and he has been consistently good for quite some time. While never really taking any chances with his art, I’m going to pull the “if it ain’t broke it don’t need to be fixed” line of thought and say it doesn’t matter. Some artists need to evolve their style in order to stay relevant, but Davis’ smooth lines, accurate proportions, detailed backgrounds and superb facial expressions will never seem dated or boring. Which might have been why he was put on this one in the first place.

Overall, if this issue was a one-shot, or I had borrowed it from a friend rather than paying $3.99 an issue for a story that won’t matter and will be completely forgettable, I might not be as pissed. But as it stands, I feel let down and more than a little bit crooked, especially given the superb books I COULD have thrown that 20 bucks down for.

Final Verdict: 5.9 – Browse


Joshua Mocle

Joshua Mocle is an educator, writer, audio spelunker and general enthusiast of things loud and fast. He is also a devout Canadian. He can often be found thinking about comics too much, pretending to know things about baseball and trying to convince the masses that pop-punk is still a legitimate genre. Stalk him out on twitter and thought grenade.

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