God. Fucking. Dammit. And everything was going along so smoothly until this issue...

If you read my review of Dark Avengers #10 awhile back, you know of my gripe with this series. For a book with "Avengers" in the title, there really hasn't been much Avengers action going on. Sure, there have been some great dialog between the characters in previous issues, but I feel that some action and big fight scenes are at least a little integral to the success of a book like this. I mean there HAS been some fighting, but nothing really that memorable. In issue #10, it looked like the cogs were in motion so that this team of Avengers could finally have a good threat to go up against and finally prove themselves as a team, and not just a punching bag for the rest of the Marvel U. Then in issue #11, we had an issue devoted to introducing us to Molecule Man, who seemed like a nice sizeable advesary for the team. So forgive me if I was expecting a solid conclusion since everything was set up so nicely. I certainly wasn't expecting more of the same crap that has been plaguing this series.

For one thing, the Avengers don't factor into this issue at all, as they are almost literally swept under the rug by Molecule Man. I get what Brian Michael Bendis is trying to do, as it's now apparent that this arc was supposed to be a vehicle to delve into Victoria Hand's character, but I feel this type of solo character study should be done after the team has some memorable stories as an altogether team. Its obvious that in the 12 issues there have been, BMB hasn't really allowed any of these stories, and instead chose to focus on Norman Osborn's interactions with the Marvel U. If this book wasn't called Dark Avengers, I definitely wouldnt be as pissed as I am for the lack of Avengers stories. However, since the title advertises that this is a book about Avengers, I feel that I have a right to be pissed about this lacking factor, even if the stories are competantly written. Because dont get me wrong, the dialog is as solid as any BMB dialog, but I just wish he would just allow this team to shine in the field as well as they do in the meeting room.

And enough with the fucking Sentry! I feel that BMB is forcing The Sentry onto the audience so much and so hard that it can be considered rape. Just like pretty much every other Dark Reign book, there's a huge suprise full-page Sentry reveal, and he's all powerful and shit, and whoop-de-fucking-do I still don't care. The worst thing about this (and probably the worst thing about this issue) is the way this whole arc ends, with by far the worst Sentry related deus ex machina of them all. Basically, The Sentry finds out an omnipotent power of his in a manner of how most of us find $20 in our pockets. He beats Molecule Man by...rearranging molecules better than him? It's such a left field revelation and seems like the byproduct of really lazy script writting. "How do you beat a foe who can manipulate molecules? Make another character who can manipulate molecules better than him!" Fuck me.

A hugely dissapointing end to a promising short arc. What makes this even more upsetting is that with Siege around the corner, the future of this team seems highly uncertain, thus we will most likely never see a memorable story beyond Siege featuring this team. Looking back at the past 12 issues, all we have are a couple of mediocre action scenes, Norman Osborn manipulating the Marvel U, a  bigger focus on the Avengers team in the meeting room and not in action, and more Sentry than I ever care to see. While all these scenarios were well written (except for all the Sentry stuff), I can't help but feel bamboozled. I feel that I bought something that Marvel very explicitly advertised as an Avengers book where the Avengers are villains, but instead what I got was "Norman Osborn: Director of H.A.M.M.E.R." This issue was a prime example of this gripe, as reading this has become an exercise in frustration in knowing that this series will probably never reach its true potential.