Thursday, April 29, 2010

New Avengers #64

We're maintaining our spoiler-free zone here, but this issue of New Avengers doesn't make it easy.

That's because events in the issue (slightly) spoil a few key events from Siege, although they are (hopefully) only minor spoilers.

The issue focuses on The Hood, a clever criminal who has been running the super-powered underworld for Norman Osborn.

Past issues revealed the source of his original powers, which were magical in nature, and when those were removed he was given new, even more lethal powers by Loki.

Here we see The Hood's part in the attack on Asgard, and how it parallels (and diverges from) Ronin's experience in the same battle. It's a clever bit of storytelling, and the end result spins The Hood into a new direction.

Since the Siege started, this title has been a sidebar to the main events, and while it's been fun, it's not really vital to the story in the mini-series. Next issue is the wrap-up to the New Avengers title, as the group spins off into a few dozen new Avenger comics (or maybe it just seems that way).

Kudos to artist Mike McKone and colorist Dave McCaig for providing the moody but powerful artwork here. Brian Bendis, as always, provides a strong script with sharp dialogue and a fast-paced, action-packed story.

If I had to complain about something, I would wonder why The Hood fires a dozen shots but we only see one person hit, and he obviously isn't hurt - yet earlier the Hood's bullets are shown to have devastating force. Well, it's a minor quibble for an entertaining comic.

Grade: B+

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