In a lot of ways, team books represent much of what I don’t like about comics – especially the first issues of team books – because they tend to feel very all over the place to me, with way too much information crammed into 22 pages that tends to build on lengthy and complex character and event histories that I rarely have at my fingertips.

New Avengers #1 wasn’t bad at all, but it felt to me that it fell somewhat into the patterns outlined above. This issue felt like it was rushing through information that I would have much rather have seen teased out.  I don’t feel like I got the story of the team coming together, just the details. I don’t feel like I got a clear or compelling sense of what exactly is happening with Dr. Strange, and Doctor Voodoo, just a bunch of information and the rough idea that there is some kind of danger.

I don’t feel like I got any sense of the characters in this book that didn’t strongly rest on back story from previous books.  More specifically, I don’t feel I particularly got anything out of reading this issue that I couldn’t have gotten from reading a synapses somewhere. 

I don’t necessarily blame Bendis, but rather the nature of issue #1 of a team book.  You need to cover the team coming together, provide some sense of context and back story for your team members, and establish stakes to move the action into the first story arc – all of this happening in 22 pages. That’s a lot to ask, and while this was readable, it wasn’t compelling enough to make me consider buying issue #2.