REVIEW: Avengers Assemble #7 Posted by SamIAM on 13/09/2012 · Leave a Comment

Written By: Brian Michael Bendis

Art By: Mark Bagley

Price: $3.99

There are so many things I want to say about Avengers Assemble, I want to call it a cash grab or a money making scheme. I want to say that is uninspired, or just so full of useless fan service that I can’t see a reason for another Avengers title on the shelves. But then my fan side takes over and my brain screams “We get Bendis and Bagley together again!”, “Guardians of the Galaxy are main characters in this arc and they are getting their own movie!” and the always prevalent thought, “Maybe my non-comic reading friends who loved the movies will read this book!” Out of all those things the third is the one I want the most, it’s the one that keeps me coming back every week.

Full disclosure, I think that Avengers Assemble is just another Avengers book we really don’t need, at least that is what the intellectual part of me is screaming in the dark recesses of my brain. The 10 year old fan boy inside of me is so excited he almost passes out every time I pick up another AA cover. This issue is no exception, Thanos? Check. Dire circumstances threatening our heroes? Check. The undesirable urge to put on my Hulk pajamas and run around my apartment yelling “Hulk Smash!” while eating enough sugary cereal to make a grown man the size of the Blob to enter a sugar coma? Check!…I mean…never…never would I ever do that…I’m an adult. But that is the point isn’t it? There are those comics that are supposed to tell us that Comics are dark and gritty and meant for adults, and then there are those comics that remind us of Saturday morning cartoons and the excitement of picking up our first comic book.

That being said, Avengers Assemble is just plain fun. Bendis is writing the way he knows how. Fast, loose, dialogue with an emphasis on action, banter, and more than a little fun. Bagley has drawn some of my favorite action scenes, and while AA #7 isn’t even in my top 25 of Bagley’s art it reminded me why I’ve always loved his line work so much. Just crisp enough to tell the difference between characters yet dirty and expressive enough to make the action feel palpable.

The beginning of the issue leaves us almost at the same place #6 left off, Thanos talking to the Collectors, The Avengers out in space slowly suffocating, the Guardians trying to save everyone and Black Widow being awesome. By the time we get to the end all of the main players have been saved, the Badoon ship has been defeated and we get a fairly “LARGE” reveal at the end. I am hoping that Bendis has something special planned for #8 since it will be his and Bagley’s last issue before Kelly Sue DeConnick and Stefano Casselli take it over as apart of the Marvel NOW initiative.

While there are many reasons I love this book, the few issues I have with it so far are more nitpicks than anything else. One of the major questions that still hasn’t been really dignified with a straight answer is how these stories affect the 616 continuity. While they are canon it seems to ignore past stories like “The Thanos Imperative” which is more then a little confusing for some of us Marvel U buffs. But none of the things that confuse me are going to stop me reading this enjoyable romp through the Marvel U, at least not yet.

Score: 8.5