THE NEW AVENGERS #16

In which the Avengers don’t appear and bad things happen to good Canadians.

by Frank Pittarese

Remember that excess energy floating around at the end of House of M? Apparently, it’s back, and it ain’t happy. After destroying an Alaskan city, the energy (appearing humanoid in a Human Torch kinda way) easily takes down a squad of Helicarriers, then sets its sights on Canadian super-team Alpha Flight. It’s not sexy, people. Now, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Hill might have to swallow her pride and ask the Avengers for help.

Despite using six silent splash pages to begin this story (comics are for reading, too, Bendis, and they ain’t cheap), this was a good start to what could be an exciting “official” debut for the team. They’ve been around for sixteen issues and have only just gone public, so a threat of this scale could put ’em on the map. It would have been nice, of course, to actually see a few members appear on-panel (Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, shows up for two pages, but that’s it), but what’s here, works. No-nonsense Agent Hill is a bit of a hardass, but she’s not as instantly dislikeable as Agent Gyrich was, some years ago, and I’d like to see her stick around.

Bendis’s dialogue, as usual, is a pleasure to read. His characters are always engaging; his conversations always flow with ease. The art is nothing short of fantastic, although a huge credit must be given to the unnamed colorist for making some beautiful choices which really bring McNiven’s art to life.

Next month, I’d like to see an Avenger or two. Please and thanks.