Friday, August 27, 2010

The Avengers #4

The Avengers, like the Fantastic Four, always seem to work best on a big stage - and the setting for the ongoing story is about as big as it gets.

Time has come undone, so different eras (and different menaces) are piling up in the streets of New York City. To solve the problem, the Avengers have taken a classic approach - they've broken into two teams.

One has gone into the future (where they see a super-powered battle that's right out of a fanboy's nightmare), and one group is still in the present, fighting a holding action against the time-tossed intruders.

The end result is, this is an issue that's a heck of a lot of fun even if you're not familiar with the Next Avengers, who first appeared in a direct-to-video adventure.

They are the children of the Avengers (at least in one alternate reality), and their part in all this is still a mystery.

You really get the sense that Brian Bendis is having a great time writing this comic - the story is over the top, the dialogue crackles, and the action is intense. And it's always great to see Killraven again!

Of course, it never hurts having artists like John Romita, Jr. and Klaus Janson working on your comic - they turn in some stunning pages here, and I especially enjoyed watching Thor cut loose on the bad guys - something we don't see often enough.

If you haven't been following this story, you'll want to wait for the collection - but this is one of my "read it in the car" comics. In other words, after I pick up my comics at the shop (usually over my lunch break), I drive back to my parking space at work, and if it's an issue I'm anxious to read, I'll do so before going back to work.

This is one of the few that I always read in the car - that's how much I look forward to it. So, highly recommended!

Grade: A

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