Iron Man 13 & 14
In his own title we get a more human side to the Iron Avenger, as Tony Stark wrestles with his conscience. Try as they might though writers Daniel and Charles Knauf can’t make me like the guy. Patrick Zircher’s pencils are good both in the action scenes and the quieter character moments,his panels having a nice cinematic flow to them. Grade: B
New Avengers 24 -27
Bendis is the best Avengers writer for years, really taking you inside the characters heads yet not skimping on the action. Issue 24 has The Sentry trying to avoid the Civil War on Earth by hiding on the moon where he encounters The Inhumans. It’s hard not to feel sorry for the hero, he’s only just got his sanity back when his world is turned upside down with friend battling friend and it’s no wonder he tries to get away from it all.
Iron Man faces a disgruntled employee in 25, a man who disables his armour and threatens to blow up Avengers Tower. It’s a great piece of storytelling but once again won’t win Tony Stark and fans.
The real gem in these four issues is issue 26 in which Bendis gives a character he’s killed and resurrected a couple of times in recent years a little piece. Hawkeye comes face to face with Scarlet Witch, the woman who "killed" him and the confrontation is as unexpected as it is beautiful. Hawkeye has been a favourite character of mine since his introduction and while I hope this isn’t the last we see of him it’s nice to have someone written out on a happy note for a change.
The mysterious Ronin is at the centre of 27 and while the issue has lots of action it falls apart at the end with some duff repartee between the team, Iron Fist is especially badly written. Still it’s not often Bendis drops the ball and it’s more than made up for by Leinil Yu amazing art. Few pencilers can come close to Yu when it comes to depicting kinetic action sequences and he’s excels himself here. Grade: B+
The Sensational Spider-Man 28 – 35
Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has taken what was a decent enough title and turned it into the best Spidey book currently on the shelves. Packed with villains, these eight issues alone contain Doctor Octopus, Electro, The Chameleon, The Scarecrow, Will-O’-The-Wisp, Swarm, Molten Man and Rhino, yet managing to be even more character driven than Amazing Spider-Man.
Article comments
1 - Q
Dude, invest in a spellchecker.
2 - Ian Woolstencroft
Thanks for the insightful comment.
3 - manfred
The Spiderman series are great and JMS is really leaving the title. The rumours are confirmed. The Spiderman teams are losing their top artists / writers with Mark Bagley and JMS leaving. Hopefully the next team will do grand as well but it's going to be tough to live up to the legacy left behind.