Saturday, July 18, 2009

The Mighty Avengers #27

When this comic first appeared, I picked it up because Brian Bendis was writing it and Frank Cho was drawing it.

I stayed with it while it slogged through the aftermath of Marvel's Civil War, and enjoyed it while it acted as a supplement to the Secret Invasion.

Since then, the book has moved in a different direction, with a new writer - Dan Slott - and new artists. The creative team has made a game effort at making this team of supporting characters interesting, but like the infamous Detroit Justice League, it just isn't working for me, so this will be my last issue of The Mighty Avengers for now.

Which is not to say that the story doesn't have its good points. I'm glad to see Hank Pym restored to being a leader and one of the smartest men on the planet. The characters on the team are fine, but there's no characterization going on here, no real interaction - they just fight the bad guys and make occasional jokes. I also like the new headquarters, though it's a little too fantasy-based for my tastes.

What's not to like is the story, which starts out with the creation of a big new bad guy whose origin is thin and whose powers are ill-defined (basically, he can do anything). And the story never really goes anywhere from there. It just all feels like it was plucked out of thin air.

The art by Khoi Pham isn't bad at all, but it just seems to run together - a few splash pages and lots of panels of medium range shots. A little more variety in "camera angles" and line width would go a long way.

Maybe I'm suffering from "Avengers overload," or maybe this creative team just isn't working for me. Whatever the case, it's time to take a break from this title. Sorry.

Grade: C-

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