i dove right into new avengers this week, reading it in the car on the way home from the comic shop.

i love a comic that takes its time to show different angles of a story, and doesn't sink into predictability. new avengers is not just pushing through story arc after story arc - it's willing to take an issue to focus in on the details and the relationships between primary characters. this reminds me of the issue a few months ago that dealt largely with the hood giving a speech to his villains crew; the story didn't move forward, but we got a great insight into who he is and what he's about.

this book is dominated by luke and jessica dealing with her decision to seek refuge with tony stark, in order to protect their child. if you forget that the argument was sparked by an alien shapeshifter invasion, and that the danger involved an all-out brawl involving a bunch of super-villains last month, this wasn't a superhero conflict; it was just two people i care about dealing with a very real relationship issue. maybe luke hanging on to his masculine pride seems a touch cliche, but that's only because it rings so true in the real world - you meet people like him, who have a hard time reconciling their values with real-world circumstances. i was actually torn while reading this - part of me wanted him to join jessica and register, while part of me needed him to fight the good fight. does he go with jessica and be a good father? or does he leave, and continue to be a good super hero? this is the conflict of the book, and it's really a compelling one.

i enjoy yu's art on this book, but with this story being a bit more grounded in reality, the fill-in work seemed to fit just right. loved it.