This New Avengers annual is clearly designed to be read back-to-back with the New Avengers The List. It continues the story of Clint Barton going off half-cocked and getting himself captured. If you haven't read The List you could probably skip this Annual as its main purpose seems to be to undo the main events of that issue. There is some good Osborn/Barton back and forth and some nice female Avengers action. If you wanted to see Mockingbird kick more people in the face, this is the issue for you. But when all is said is done the only major outcome is that the Avengers had to move again.

I also had some trouble with a few of the characterizations. Osborn is not as smart as he thinks he is, but he is not actually stupid. I had some trouble believing he would make such a dumb mistake. I also did not buy how easily everyone moved on from the fact that Clint tried to kill Osborn all by himself. Your man sneaks off in the middle of the night to commit cold-blooded murder, putting your entire super team at risk, including a baby? Dealbreaker.

All in all not my favorite Bendis. It feels a bit like he sees the Siege finish line and is more concerned with moving his pieces into position than writing the best story. The final page is pretty damn sweet. I don't blame him for spoilers. You can only juggle so many creators going into a big event like this and it is not Bendis' fault everyone couldn't get their ducks in a row.

I tend to like painted art more than many. I will put up with a lot of stiffness (and many of these panels were stiff) in exchange for really beautifully rendered figures. This just seemed like too much book for Mayhew. Some pages were stunning, others seemed really sloppy.  For half the book I could feel his deadline looming. He renders nice, expressive eyes though. Definitely not the Greg Land dead look. And finally, for a book that otherwise embodied female empowerment, did we really need Mockingbird in her black lingerie on the rooftop? She doesn't own a robe?