You know there is
a problem when you look at a weekly solicit and instead of joy entering your
heart, will it fills with fear. Since issue #1 I have feared the release of each
month and why? No it’s not because I have some weird dream where Nova flies out
of the book and kicks my ass… . No it’s fear of disappointment,
after the somewhat lacklustre start to the series I have continued buying it in
the hope that Brubaker (one of my favourite Marvel writers) will throw in some
Captain America, Sleeper brilliance… just a glimmer is all I need, just so I
know it’s brewing in the background. Instead we once again get a messy book,
with characters struggling to find a voice or place on a team that has hardly
justified it’s place in the Marvel Universe.

It just seems to
be rushing forward without cause. Before the team is even set up or any kind of
dynamic or relationship between characters is set up we have been thrust to
Mars with a rag-tag bunch and then been left to watch as they dysfunctionally
fall apart while Steve sits helplessly on the sidelines. The situation they are
in seems like it has come to soon, especially when a lot of the characters
either haven’t had treatment in the spotlight before or for a long time have
been on the fringes of various stories, universes and long forgotten memories.
Nova for quite easily the most interesting member of the team, how would a
space cop do in these situations and all the elements he could bring is a sure
fire way to liven up the tried and tested Avengers stories that Bendis has been
feeding us for 10 years.

Well Nova would
have been the most interesting if he hadn’t essentially been out of commission
since #1… I am now bracing for not an exciting conclusion, but instead a
ridicules way of taking down an enemy who is more powerful than anything else
on seemingly any planet at this stage in the game. Another major gripe is the
way Brubaker is handling some of his other characters. Valkyire is coming off
as an Asgardian parody, Beast is seemingly stupid for a man of such supposed
intelligence and the way in which he is setting up this major villain twist is
ham fisted at best. I really hope he can turn this around, but if he is setting
up whom I think he is setting up as the villain … well then considering where
and what this person has been doing for the last two years, I sincerely doubt he
would have time or energy to be dicking around behind Captain America’s back.

The art redeems
the book somewhat; Deodato is producing some stunning work. His levels of
detail and pencil work are out of this world (pun intended!) As said before I
will see the arc through to the end because Brubaker is essentially a Crime
genre writer. I’m expecting a twist very soon and then a very major curveball
twist near the end, because…well this is what he does best… I’m holding out
hope, but I’m not crossing my fingers just yet.

-Josh “Dredd” West

Origami Kid

Twitter.com/origamikid