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AVENGERS 2001
Recommended (7/10)
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Marvel Comics
"The Third Man"
Pencils: Ivan Reis
Inks: Scott Hanna
"House Cleaning"
Pencils: Ian Churchill
Inks: Norm Rapmund
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Colors: Tom Smith
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $2.99 US/$4.50 CAN |
Next year, we won't be having any annuals, and I can't say that's a terribly bad thing. While this certainly isn't a bad comic, neither is it up to the level of work that Busiek has been doing on the regular Avengers title, although in fairness that's more to do with the overall plot than the format used to develop it. There are a lot of ideas and revelations that I quite like in this issue, but some of the questions I was hoping to see addressed are glossed over and others are drawn out in far too much detail. That said, the lead artwork by Ivan Reis is terrific, demonstrating once again that his talents are wasted at Chaos! Comics, and Busiek is advancing the long, long developing plot of the Triune by inches this issue, as well as giving Triathlon some focus beyond being the outsider on the team.
In terms of craft, Busiek is one of the best, and he shows that here, nicely setting up a flashback early on that establishes Pym's powers in detail, making for easier explanation of his persona split later on. In addition, although the story relies on stories going back to Steve Englehart's run as well as much earlier issues in Busiek's, everything is self-contained, with any continuity references clearly and quickly explained in context of this annual itself.
I have little patience for some comic-book cliches, though, and one of those is the divided selves of a character warring with each other in some sort of dreamscape, something this issue is rife with. This is particularly true of Hank Pym, who has had more breakdowns and total recoveries than a manic-depressive, alcoholic, smoking sex-addict. I've no reason to think this one will last any longer than the last, and so it seems a shame to spend so much time on the psycho-babble when the more interesting aspects of the story are going on all around it.
Really, for me the integration of Yellowjacket and Goliath is the plot device to get the characters to the Triune Understanding, and once there, things got really interesting. Having Captain Marvel (Photon) as an outside observer was a stroke of brilliance, because she had much the same outsider status as Triathlon for a long time and became one of the most important members of the team, and she also doesn't have the prejudice against the Understanding that others do, giving her someone Triathlon can really talk to. In addition, her loyalty is divided between Triathlon and the Avengers, making the surprise appearance of two Avengers and their request to keep it quiet a bit more tense, as we don't know what Monica will decide to tell or not tell. I also quite enjoyed seeing these two Avengers again, as it made perfect sense and greatly surprised me.
The backup story is one that addresses big questions, but it does so in a manner that essentially brushes them off, and seems like little more than confirming a couple of fan theories that weren't that good in the first place. However, having Ian Churchill do the art serves only to remind this reader of the poor quality that the Avengers title had during the Crossing and Heroes Reborn, and if the goal was to remind me how good it is to have Busiek and his current artists on the title, the backup succeeded. Mostly, the backup seems like a quick joke for the fans, with Jarvis addressing nit-picking questions from the government liaison and tying up silly continuity, and mostly I found it to be half-answers anyway, which is probably half more than they really needed.
While Churchill disappointed me, though, Reis does a terrific job. His work is reminiscent of Alan Davis, the most recent penciller of the main title, with excellent facial expressions and terrific storytelling, and Hanna's inks match his work better than probably anyone else I've seen.
On the whole, while this doesn't stack up
to the regular title for me, it should be a fun read for longtime fans or those
eager for more information about the Triune Understanding.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
