This is Brian Michael Bendis at his best as a comic book writer.  The dialogue generally serves to illuminate character, without any of the characters sliding into silly, redundant, blabbering.  Bendis is not one of the best plotters in comicdom, but the plot for this issue is surprisingly tight and well constructed.  Some malevolent presence wants the Eye of Agamotto, and Dr. Strange and the Avengers need to figure out how to keep this individual from getting it.  Along the way, Bendis builds and expands on the magic sector of the Marvel universe.  We learn who Agamotto was, and every time someone uses a spell, instead of the sorcerer mouthing some gibberish, we are told what the spell is and in what book it is written.  Nice touches.  I have found Daimon Hellstrom to be an interesting character ever since his marvelous mini-series of a few years back, and Bendis uses him well here.  Hellstrom can’t resist putting his two cents in every time Dr. Strange says something.  This is right in character for Hellstrom, who has been portrayed as having an oversized sense of self importance in his recent appearances.  Apparently someone is going to die in the next issue.  Is this really necessary?  Lots of comic book readers think someone has to die or the comic universe has to change as a result of a major story.  Why?  A comic story becomes important merely by being good.  “The Dark Pheonix Saga” is not a great story simply because Jean Grey dies in it (only be by resurrected eventually, as significant comic characters almost always are) but because it’s a great story with emotional heft.  I hope the death in the next issue makes sense, and is organic to the story.  There is also a bit of a mystery concerning Hawkeye in this issue.  Since when could Hawkeye lift a car?  I suppose this situation will be explored in future issues.

            I am actually enjoying the Avengers oral history sections in recent issues.  Bendis has made some continuity mistakes I believe, such as when Steve Rogers says he never saw anything like Thor before Rogers was thawed out.  Actually, I think Captain America met Thor during WW II in the pages of “The Invaders,” but this is nitpicking.  For the most part, I like how Bendis is building on character in these oral history installments.

            Stuart Immonen is a good penciler, although I find it difficult to warm to his style, which has a very fluid line.  Characters and objects all seem to tend to roundness and soft curves.  I love the new white and gold Iron Fist costume.  For some reason, the white and gold seems a lot sexier than the dark green and gold.  In the hands of a master of anatomy, like Dale Eaglesham, the white Iron Fist costume would look amazing.