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AVENGERS #47
"In The Heart of Battle"
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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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 |
Every so often, Kurt Busiek seems to go into "continuity clean-up" mode. His stories never feel as pedantic and silly as some of the projects John Byrne gets himself involved in, but there are stories where I feel the plot and characterization are secondary to clearing up a story in the past. This issue of Avengers felt like just such a story, an interlude
during the Kang War going on in which Warbird deals with her complicated
relationship with Scarlet Centurion, complete with a recap of what that
relationship was for newer readers. It's not bad stuff at all, and it gives us a
nice spotlight on Carol Danvers, more insight into a couple of the villains and
some pretty solid action as always, but it didn't really push my buttons the way
the last few issues have.
Although I know Carol Danvers mostly through her imprint on Rogue over in the X-Men, the character has become a favorite, and I was
glad to see a little more insight into her in this issue. The very odd
relationship she has with Marcus is obviously some kind of defining moment in
the eyes of Busiek, and he did a nice job of building upon that without making
her seem paranoid or delusional but still conveying an off-kilter wariness about
this new Marcus. In so doing, he also shed some light on who this new Scarlet
Centurion is, and whether he's lying or not, we do have a better sense of this
character now, as sort of an honorable right-hand man to Kang.
Of course, the original story between Warbird and Marcus is downright weird and sexual, particularly for a mainstream Marvel comic, and Busiek doesn't shy away from making it weirder. I can't decide if the line "Oh! I'll just be you'd like me to grasp your halberd, pal" is meant as a double-entendre or if it just wound up that way. Either way, it's rare to see this kind of strange sexual tension in a super-hero comic, much less wind up the focus of the issue. This was quite different from the last few issues of Avengers, and though it felt like a bit of
an interruption in the overall story, I have to give credit to Busiek for doing
something different.
I seem to be going on-again,
off-again with Manuel Garcia's work, and this month I'm off again. It's
certainly solid enough stuff, but it lacks much in the way of dynamic energy in
some places and the attempts by the colorists to make it more exciting through
digital blurring hinder rather than help. In addition, in a setting as rich as
the Master's secret lair, Garcia has done a surprisingly bland job on
backgrounds.
This issue is an interesting
read, a look into the mindset of Warbird and Scarlet Centurion and a glimpse of
what the Master has to offer as a villain. However, when compared to the rest of
the Kang story so far, it falls a little short, and feels like something that
should have been interspersed with other story elements to keep the overall plot
thread moving.
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