Overall, this was a pretty solid issue. I’d give New Avengers #15 a 4 Night Girls out of 5.
New Avengers #15 starts off with Carol Danvers (I have no clue if she is Warbird or Ms. Marvel this week) narrating the story through her blog. It was a pretty nifty way to give the dialogue. Carol takes care of Klaw, who was trying to escape, and afterward, a guard asks her if she was a part of the new Avengers. Carol finds out the Avengers are announcing their new lineup today and she decides to crash the party.
Carol arrives at Avengers Tower (original name, huh?) and has a chat with Captain America about how House of M has changed her life and has made her want to be an A list hero like Cap. It is a nice exchange and well done by Bendis.
Tony Stark then prepares the team for their press conference. Logan decides he will not participate since he is a mutant and a known killer and would be bad press for the team. Spider-Man has his reservations since J. Jonah Jameson has been giving him bad press forever. Tony says don’t worry. He then introduces JJ himself and offers him exclusive coverage and exclusive access to the Avengers in exchange for him laying off Spider-Man.
Then in an unbelievable scene, JJ shakes Spider-Man’s hand and agrees to the deal. Again, it was well done by Bendis and had a great impact on the reader. The unveiling is given a two-page splash shot with some nice touches including Cap with his arm around a nervous Spider-Man in order to give him confidence and to show the public that Cap supports him despite the negative press.
The issue ends with JJ Jameson pulling a swerve on the Avengers. He rips then him his paper calling them a terrorist (Spider-Woman), a convicted heroin dealer (Luke Cage) and wall-crawling murdering menace (Spider-Man). The issue ends with the traitor Spider-Woman talking to her Hydra superior.
Frank Cho’s art absolutely rocked. Of course. I expect nothing less. Cho has done a great job on the Avengers and gives the title a wonderful look. I am not a big fan of the Avengers Tower. I thought the mansion was much more original and way cooler. Avengers Tower is just a generic HQ like every other super-team has. Avengers Mansion was a cool throwback to the old JSA brownstone.
Bendis was solid. He had a nice scene with Carol Danvers and Cap as well as a cool scene between JJ Jameson and Spider-Man. But, beyond that, his writing was just average. While a title like Daredevil or Ultimate Spider-Man shows off Bendis’ talent, the New Avengers does not. Bendis struggles with mainstream characters as well as with a major-league superhero team like the Avengers. Plus, the team’s surroundings starting with Avengers Tower feels generic.
Bendis is absolutely horrid at writing Wolverine. It is painfully clear that Bendis has absolutely no clue how to handle this character. I know Wolverine is rough around the edges, but c’mon, Bendis writes him like he is a knuckle-dragging Neanderthal.
The rest of the characters just have a rather neutral and generic feel to their dialogue and personalities, with the exception of Spider-Man. Bendis’ talent shines through when he writes Spider-Man’s dialogue. You can tell he is comfortable with Peter Parker just like he is with Ultimate Spider-Man.
I’m sticking with the New Avengers because it is a solid comic. However, it doesn’t blow me away and I don’t think that Bendis is suited for this title. The New Avengers feels a bit generic, but the writing is not bad and the art rocks. So, I’ll keep reading. Oh yeah, bring back Hawkeye, you bald runt!
