Oct 28, 2009 > New Avengers > #58

New Avengers #58

Review by ohcaroline:

WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
PENCILS: Stuart Immonen
INKS: Wade von Grawbadger
COLORED BY: Dave McCaig
LETTERED BY: Comicraft
COVER BY: Stuart Immonen

Price: $3.99

This review contains spoilers, click here to read

This comic really sucker-punched me, and I mean that in the best possible way.

I read the beginning and thought it was just going to be an awesome fight issue. And it IS an awesome fight issue; I could look at that panel of the *real* Ms. Marvel punching Iron Patriot all day.

But then there's a scene I didn't expect -- Jessica Jones talking to her mom (stepmom, actually) about her reasons for staying with the Avengers. It's a great scene that shows how much Jessica has grown, not just from the character Bendis created in 'Alias,' but from the uncertain new mother who defected to Stark after Civil War. Jessica has had her crisis of faith and she's grown past it. What's gut-wrenching about that moment is knowing her faith is about to be tested, as the Avengers are coming to her with very bad news. I love the scene where the other Avengers have to tell her that her husband is not only badly injured but in Osborn's custody. I love that it's her old friend Carol Danvers who tells her, and her instinctive reaction, and Carol's move to comfort her, is one of the most moving scenes I've encountered on a comics page in a long time. It's also incredibly dynamic and physical, with Jessica flying out a window and Carol coming after her. The knock against Bendis has always been that his writing is too talky, and not visual enough. But here he and Immonen have created a perfect marriage of character and what my writing teachers used to call 'gesture', the action that illustrates emotion in a way that talking about it never can. It's a thing good comics can do like no other medium, and this issue reminded me why I love reading them so much.

The funny thing is, I don't have any doubt in my mind that Luke Cage will be fine. The circumstances in the story are the kind of thing that happens to these characters all the time. But the story is done so well that I don't care. I'm there with Jessica and Carol, I'm feeling what they're feeling, and I'm desperate to read what happens next, no matter what it is.

Story: 5 - Excellent Art: 5 - Excellent

654

pulls

Avg Rating: 3.8

Users who pulled this comic:

TheGrumpyHatter johnthrax Marie ArchMerc Sweedy NawfalQ Seba dusman7 LexSanz jubal1

Users who reviewed this comic:

frodog28 ohcaroline joeycardgame

Comments

I completely agree. :) Also, dude, Jessica really CAN fly when she's upset enough!

Posted by sigridellis1 on 10/30/09 at 09:04 AM

Well said.

Posted by joeycardgame on 10/30/09 at 10:11 AM

I love how the cover of this issue has nothing to do with the contents of the issue, its kinda funny. But yeah, that Jessica Jones scene when she's coming to the realization that Luke isnt coming home was especially rough, a definite home run scene.

Posted by comicBOOKchris on 10/30/09 at 12:14 PM

Even though I rate the comic as a four on both story and art, I agree 100%.

Posted by Diabhol on 10/30/09 at 12:21 PM

I agree with everything you said, even though I rated this story lower. Like you said, since you get the sense that everything is going to be alright and that this has been done before, it takes some of the mystiq away. Luke Cage is Bendis' baby. He's not letting anything happen to him!

Posted by VicDeZen on 10/30/09 at 12:50 PM

Immonen's just such an amazingly talented illustrator. He got so much across in so little space.

Posted by genaverse on 10/30/09 at 01:12 PM

@vic I think you're probably right about that, but it reminds me of Paul's column about the end of the rainbow vs. the journey. I feel like one bad effect of the over-event-iness of comics is that we feel like anything that isn't huge and status quo changing doesn't count. I'm thinking of all the weekly TV shows I've watched where I knew the main characters weren't going to die in a given episode, yet they still created suspense and stakes for the characters. I think a lot of comics these days don't even try to make the stories resonate because they know we know it 'doesn't matter' (like any of it matters, it's fiction). This is a situation, though, where Bendis really seems to have said, 'forget that' and pulled out all the stops and it works beautifully.

@genaverse -- Totally agreed. I think Immonen makes Bendis better, and I hope he sticks around this title for a while.

Posted by ohcaroline on 10/30/09 at 01:37 PM

@comicbookchris Yeah, that cover is random. I know they have to do them in advance of the issues being written, and sometimes the story beats change, so I wonder if that happened here. Just as well because I am NOT a fan of the Hood. :).

Posted by ohcaroline on 10/30/09 at 01:38 PM

@ohcaroline:

Not a fan of The Hood, eh? You must be pissed at like 50% of the issues of this title then haha

Posted by comicBOOKchris on 10/30/09 at 02:52 PM