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AVENGERS #46
"Absolute Mastery"
Recommended (8/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Manuel Garcia
Inks: Bob Layton
Colors: Tom Smith
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
Busiek's latest Avengers epic, involving Kang's siege against the 21st century, has become more interesting and complex with the introduction of another villain, the Master, into the mix. The Avengers have turned into something of a scattered and large special operations force, and these new logistical details are being tested with a war on two fronts, as they can't really trust the Master's help given his motives and they have to worry about defeating Kang's plans and defending from his armies all at the same time. Busiek, Garcia and Layton have given the feel of a super-heroic scale war, done more effectively in this single title than in DC's sprawling "Our Worlds At War." This is classic, meat and potatoes super-hero stuff, well worth the time of anyone with an interest in other super-hero team books like JSA, JLA or Titans.
I'm often impressed by how Busiek manages to
do complex storylines without losing new readers. His dialogue can sometimes
seem a little heavy on the exposition as a result, but really I thought he did a
great job of dropping us into the middle of an ongoing war, bringing new readers
up to speed without sacrificing the attention of those who have been following
the story issue-by-issue. There's a lot going on in these pages, with defense
against the Master's assaults, investigating his plans and technology, fighting
Kang's armies and going on the offensive against Kang himself. And that's not
even mentioning the personal dynamics or the Triune subplot. There's a lot going
on in this book, but it never feels too crowded.
I'm really enjoying the feel of the Avengers
as more of a 21st century superteam. They use coordinated communications across
a global set of locations to keep several squads working at different
objectives. Really, they're more like a superhuman special forces unit than your
standard superteam right now, albeit with a more public profile than your
average military special forces. Combining the notion of using backup,
intelligence and technology, the best elements of police and military, makes the
Avengers an extension of law-enforcement and military power, which is really
what superhumans have amounted to all along.
Although last issue I complained that Garcia
and Layton were letting down a tad in the art department, they're back on form
this issue. (Either that or I was seeing things when I wrote last month's
review, but I prefer the other explanation, naturally.) The spacious layouts and
sheer scale of things, combined with details on faces and bodies, really helps
to maintain an artistic flow from George Perez to Alan Davis to Garcia to
(hopefully) Kieron Dwyer. The book has changed artists, but the look remains
much the same, and that's a very good thing.
Busiek is playing a dangerous game with the
build-up of the villains, establishing Kang and The Master both as incredible
strategists and powerful people, and he's going to have to work hard not to
cheat on the ending where the Avengers defeat them. However, he's done that
before, and so I'm inclined to trust him not to pull out the deus ex machina.
Though Avengers has lost a bit of excitement for me, and I don't look forward to it as much as I do something like Flash or Ultimate X-Men, every month it remains a solid read, and
it doesn't show any signs of slowing down.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
