Geoff Johns certainly didn't ease into his new role as regular writer on Avengers. He's thrown the team into as big a crisis as Kurt Busiek's Kang storyline, and his grasp of the characters is just as strong. Of course, it comes as no surprise that Kieron Dwyer's art is a pleasure; he's been doing some incredible work during his run on the book (which is soon coming to an end). But there are a couple of things that seemed off in this issue -- and in this story arc as a whole. Still, the strong characterization and co-ordination of a large cast has me looking forward to future issues all the same.
The capital cities of the world have been engulfed in nebulous swirls of energy, and the Avengers cast aside their role as protectors and take up the mantle of leadership. They're going to have to be thoroughly charismatic, as the crisis has caused tensions between enemy nations to rise. Meanwhile, in the void where the stolen cities are gathered, international relations are even more tense, and the Wasp and Yellowjacket get a glimpse of the party responsible for the cosmic chaos.
Never before has the artistic influence of Dave (Watchmen) Gibbons been so evident in Kieron Dwyer's work. The double-page splash on pages 4 and 5 make it abundantly clear. Dwyer captures the immensity of the events with seeming ease, while at the same time, he manages to cram a lot of screen time for individual members. This issue is crammed full of plotlines and character-driven subplots, yet the art never comes off as crowded or rushed.
There are so many moments in the book that I thoroughly enjoyed, and that hint at future storytelling possibilities. She-Hulk's emerging problem has definitely piqued my curiosity, and Johns's has incorporated the public unveiling of Iron Man's true identity nicely into this title. But there are also scenes that didn't sit well with me. I thought the big reveal at the end with the Wasp and Yellowjacket was somewhat anti-climactic, given that it struck me as surprisingly conventional super-hero/villain storytelling. And I found the bickering between Ant-Man and Jack of Hearts to be quite distracting and somewhat illogical. Sure, it serves to symbolize worldwide friction among nations right in the middle of the team of heroes, but I just don't get why Jack is so bent out of shape over Ant-Man's presence. Or why Ant-Man is paying any attention to Jack's griping.
Part of me wishes that Johns had settled into the title on a quieter note. Following up a major crisis storyline with another one strikes me as somewhat... exhausting. Mind you, I love what he's doing with the characters here. I can't tell if he's headed toward an Authority riff by placing the super-heroes in charge, or if he's leaning more toward the notion of absolute power/absolute corruption explored recently in Marvel's The Order. I hope it's something else altogether, actually, yet still with some level of controversy or ethical dilemma.
