New Avengers, Volume 3

Norman Osborne is like a cockroach- he just never seems to die. In the New Avengers, he’s back having just sprung himself from SHIELD’s super-max prison. His goal- to end the New Avengers once and for all with his team of New DARK Avengers. Along with some heavy recruiting, Osborne’s going to do what he does best- manipulate; primarily he’s looking to turn the media against the New Avengers and make the public loose not only faith but love in the team. This plan seems to be working as threats the former Green Goblin make strike very close to home to a couple of members of the team causing them to go AWOL.

A very good book. Having Wolverine, Spider-man, the Thing, and Daredevil make for some great ‘buddy cop’ moments. The surprises in the book were thrilling, shocking, and fun. The art was really good though I should mention the first chapter of this book.

This book was published in 2012 and the first chapter was penciled by John Romita, Jr. JRJR has been getting some flack lately for his art. It definitely looks different than his early stuff but I don’t think this is his fault. Old age is the comic book artist’s greatest enemy. Carpal Tunnel, arthritis, swollen joints, scar tissue, and even injury can change how someone draws over time. I think that’s the problem here.

The art is still top notch but everything has a more embellished feel to it. Faces and fingers are particularly enhanced as the look enflamed and gnarled. They say that you tend to draw yourself as it’s the thing you are most familiar with. As I noted, the knuckles on the hands of many of these characters look like my mother’s when her rheumatism acting up. So, maybe that adage is on to some and Romita JR’s hands have become deformed with overuse and age. He’s still one of my favorite artists and I hope people will lighten up on him about the dramatic changes it’s had over the years.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.