I have waited a long time…..a very long time. Waiting, searching, wanting…..All I wanted was THE Avengers. Not a ‘New’, or a ‘Mighty’, or even a ‘Dark’ Avengers team. I want my Avengers back. The team that I knew from my childhood. Now I may not have a huge history with comics like so many of you. But I know what I want. A team involving Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man; to me that is what the Avengers are. Finally after all of these years, Marvel and Bendis are giving me my Avengers back. Was the wait finally worth it?

No, it wasn’t.

For a man who has wrote these characters for so long, everything I read here felt so flat. It feels like a new writer came on board and stole Bendis’s name. This isn’t the Steve Rogers I know, Spider-Man is way to annoying (yes that’s in his nature but I don’t remember this being so overdone in New Avengers), Tony Stark feels so generic (might as well have War Machine cause there’s no difference here). How the hell does Thor not know who Bucky is? (Okay that’s a nitpick, but still….Really?) I don’t understand why this team was formed, especially if Rogers isn’t going to be involved. Everything just feels so clunky and quickly thrown together. Wonder Man has it right, there is no reason to form this team again. But Bendis gives us no reason to counteract this argument. The stuff with Kang is so melodramatic as well. I don’t have a huge history with Kang to be fair; but still….this felt more like Doctor Doom talking then anything else.

This brings me back to my original point. This issue doesn’t have any of the charm that Brian Michael Bendis can bring. There’s no good character moments, all of the characters read generic, there is no funny side to this. The last point we may not need, but when Bendis does try to inject humor into it it just comes off annoying. Even if it is a #1 issue, Bendis should have no problem trying to sway me into liking this new team. But for a guy who has been in this business so long and has basically shaped almost all of these characters into his own voice….There was nothing unique about this.

Then we get to something even more disappointing then the writing. What the hell happened to John Romita Jr? Good lord I haven’t seen so many off modeled faces in my life. I can go down the list on how many people look so bad in some of these panels. The biggest problem is with Steve Rogers….or should I call him Richie Rich? To me, Rogers looks like an uptight Harvard graduate then a super soldier. Even the characters in costume look off. Hawkeye doesn’t look like Clint Barton under the mask, Iron Man’s helmet seems to change shape every panel, and Thor….woof he looks bad. But there is some panels here where it looks amazing. Like when Kang comes teleporting in/out, or the moment right after Kang appears, and finally the last page reveal. It can’t be the inker or colorist, cause Romita has been working with Jansen and White for years. The models are just so inconsistant with each panel. I literally think the book Kick-Ass has something to do with it. He’s been stuck doing grim and gritty things for so long, I don’t know if he has the handle on doing a regular looking comic anymore.

As I type this, part of me is very sad then disappointed. This Avengers team just feels lifeless and their first mission just seems so trivial. (Seriously? A tie-in to a horrible DVD release?) I want to like this team. I want to read an Avengers team that I can sit back and enjoy. None of this ‘Secret’, ‘New new new new’, or Avengers Academy nonsense. There’s no life with this comic….and even if I am willing to give a second issue on this…..I just don’t think a big team book involving Bendis/Romita Jr. matters anymore.