Dark Avengers #1

Bendis had a lot of making up to do in this book, and he surprisingly delivered.
Dark Reign is officially here, and this flagship series is a thing of beauty. The very first page took me aback, as Morgana seeks out her ex-squeeze, Victor, who is in the middle of the SI: Dark Reign’s conference meeting with Norman, Jean Reno, etc. This page alone makes me so happy to see Deodato on a book of this caliber, if only to see smiling Norman Lee Jones once again. The art and facial expressions only get better with each page.

As for Bendis himself: well, I don’t know what to say. He really knocked this one out of the park. Took him long enough, yes, but it’s still a home run. For a book that didn’t have much action, I was hooked for every moment. As far as characterization goes, Norman and his former Thunderbolts – possibly due to Deodato’s art – all feel like they’re straight from Warren Ellis’ run on the book. The present Avengers with which Bendis has familiarity with, Sentry and Ares, are as respectively crazy quiet and crazy fun as before. Daken and Noh-Varr round out the likes of Ares and Bullseye – who I imagine will be bosom buddies in this book – with their own means and reasons to brood and speak sparsely.

In conclusion? I actually had a lot of fun reading this. I laughed. I went “oh shit!”. I was satisfied. It seems Bendis has finally reached where he wants to be, and we don’t have to be reluctant to reap the benefits anymore.