New Avengers #1 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

 Avengers: Disassembled.

It was the darkest day for Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The Scarlet Witch realized that her twin boys, Billy and Tommy, weren't real. It just wasn't humanly possible for a mutant and an android to produce biological children. Going into severe psychosis, Wanda destroys the Avengers Mansion, murders her husband, the Vision, and kills a couple other Avengers, including one of the Ant-Mans. Public and government sentiment of the Avengers reached an all-time low seeing Tony Stark and Steve Rogers disband the team in return.

Now it's 6 months later. There's one less super group to save Manhattan. Freshly outted as Daredevil, Matt Murdock travels to the Raft, an ultra-top security containment facility for most of Earth's most dangerous villains underneath Ryker's Island. With Luke Cage in tow as a bodyguard, and perhaps to keep up the appearance that he's not really the Man Without Fear, Murdock is conducting legal business on behalf of Mister Fantastic with one of the inmates. 

Meanwhile, a mysterious person has hired Electro to take out the prison's electrical grid and free as many of its occupants as possible. The motive behind this action is just as unknown as Electro's new benefactor, but the member of the Sinister Six is ready to prove the he's got what it takes to bring Manhattan and the World to its knees all by his lonesome. All those he frees have to do is one day owe Electro a favor.

Though issue #1 of New Avengers has quite a bit of action, don't expect the team to be back in action just yet. This issue is to primarily get most of the players onto the game board. Along with Murdock and Power Man, this episode adds Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and Captain America to the fray. There's also Reed Richard's mystery client. But I am pretty sure that there's still a couple more heroes to add to the roster who are unaccounted for.

Brian Michael Bendis penned this opener into a new chapter of the Avengers. I know he's got a lot of detractors out there. But I like him. He's a lot like Tom King in that he makes a lot of enemies by screwing around with fan's favorite characters by either killing them off, or making them gay or trans or making them into bad guys. But unlike with King, I am mostly okay with Bendis' changes because they're very well plotted and make sense. I think Tom King just has a singular plan to ruin my childhood...

David Finch is the artist for this issue. He did an amazing job. However, I think it must be said that it wouldn't have been so amazing if not for the masterful brush strokes of Danny Miki as the inker. It's got that George Perez/Frank Quitely quality to it of which I am such a fan!

The iconic, and oft recreated cover was crafted by colorist Frank D'Armata.

An amazing 2005 issue that kicks off one of my most favorite incarnations of the Avengers!

Completing this review completes Task #11 (An Avengers Comic from the 2000s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming! 

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Secret Defenders #1

You remember the Defenders? Well, they’re back- Darkhawk, Nomad, Spider-Woman, and Wolverine! What? That’s doesn’t sound familiar! That’s because in this new series, the original team has broken up- though they never really were officially a team. Now, Doctor Strange finds his powers greatly diminished and unable to travel across the country to fight a new supernatural threat. So, with what little powers he has left, the Sorcerer Supreme has recruited this new squad to prevent the powers of darkness from making Phoenix their new headquarters.

The premise is great- the team will change every 2-3 issues and fans votes are supposed to pick the team. I am very interested in reading the rest of the series and seeing the new and bizarre team-ups loyal Marvelites from the 1990s came up with.

Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Avengers Assemble, Volume 2: Science Bros (Marvel NOW!)

A friendly wager between Tony Stark and Bruce Banner takes the heroes on a global race against time to locate and rescue a missing scientist with Captains Marvel and America playing the role of referees. But this competition is no longer fun and games when the Avengers come face to face with a bio- terrorist whose kinda a big deal. Well, at least in HIS mind…

  Then the Black Widow's past comes back to haunt her when she is summoned by the widow of one of her hits requests that she find her missing daughter. Widow's search joined by Hawkeye and Spider-Woman will lead them to a mysterious sewer lair where the laws of nature have been horribly perverted.

  Quests seem to be the theme of this volume as the final story involves a newly reconstructed Vision who is struggling with his role in a world that passed him by after being disassembled by his ex-wife, the Scarlet Witch. His latest mission is to locate a corporate hero who has recently learned that he's outlived his usefulness to the execs at Roxxon. As the Vision sees how discarded this fellow hero is, it causes the Avenger to reevaluate his own position on a team that he no longer recognizes.

   Avengers Assemble starts off with the humor and fun banter that won me over as an Avengers fan. After some pretty heavy plots involving the end of the universe and numerous betrayals, it’s great to finally get some laughs. It just seemed weird to up and forget these horrors that had yet to come to a definite conclusion. It was also a little confusing but I got over it and enjoyed the stories regardless. I figured they'll get back to those crises eventually.

Well…

  See this book is actually a series I haven't gotten into yet. Since Marvel has this unfortunate habit of canceling titles and renumbering them all under the Marvel NOW! Imprint, I accidentally skipped volume 1. Plus, now Marvel has started to carry over different series into the trades instead of issuing them as separate works making for even more confusion. (For example, All-New Hawkeye #1-6 were collected as Hawkeye Volume 5 instead of ANH Volume 1.) So just what exactly did I read?

Avengers Assemble is a series from 2012 meant to reflect the cinematic version of the team. To be a starting point for new readers is all well and good, but Spider- Woman, Captain Marvel, and the Vision don't even appear in the first Avengers movie. But these characters do play heavily into the plots of the 2014 Avengers series that I thought this book was a continuation of. Geez… no wonder I was confused.

  Still, this wasn't a bad read and I'm more than willing to give volume 1 a go. But come on Marvel- get with it. You're giving my wish list fits with your convoluted numbering!

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD (Hardcover Edition; includes motion comic DVD)

  In the aftermath of the Secret Invasion of the Skrulls, Jessica Drew, AKA Spider-Woman, is having trouble finding her place in the world. The Skrull Queen kidnapped the heroine, impersonating her, and nearly enslaving the human race. Restored to humanity and looking very much like the face of the Skrull invaders, Drew has lost friendships, relationships, and her self-esteem. 

   So when a woman with green hair comes around offering Spider-Woman a chance to get revenge on the Skrull race who did her wrong (and make a little money to boot) it's not very hard for her to ask 'Where do I sign?'  Spider-Woman might want to eat those words when her first assignment sends her to the seediest place on earth- Madripoor. 

    This mini-series from 2009 was originally released as a groundbreaking motion comic through iTunes. It was supposed to the be the first in a long line of comics that Marvel would publish in the new digital format for years to come.  But due to a score of delays, numerous burnt-out artists, and a general lack of interest, the Marvel motion comic project fizzled after just a couple of releases. 

   Thankfully, that was not the end of Jessica's story as Agent of SWORD was later released in single issue form a few months later. This volume collects all 6 issues and includes a copy of the comic in the digital form as intended by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Alex Maleev. 

   While Bendis doesn't disappoint with his deft storytelling, it's the art that is what makes this book worth owning. Maleev uses real models and then through the magic of digital paint, he renders the subject into an array of heroes, villains, and everything in-between. His painted covers are a sultry delight as well.

   The coloring of this story was quite dim and it doesn't translate very well online. Maybe the choice of colors was some sort of cameraman's trick to make the special effects pop,  but I just didn't like the motion comic version of this story. I also didn't like the voice actors used. Now, I think the big problem with that was not so much that they weren't talented but since I read the print version before watching the DVD, I had built up the voices in my head, so that what I heard just didn't fit my preconceived notions. 

   I bought this book on discount and I was very excited to own it. Now that I'm done, I feel like I got a really good read out of it and a disappointing cartoon version to boot. To be honest, I'm not going to keep this one. It's going to end up in my pile of books to sell. If you live in the central North Carolina area, keep an eye out as my copy might be popping up on a used bookstore shelf near you.

   Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Essential Spider-Woman, volume 1

I remember owning many of these issues when I was real young. Like 2,3,4. Do I remember anything other than the pictures? Not a bit. But I did like them. I think it had to do with being big on Spider-Man at the time.

So now, 30 years later, I’m back giving them the ole college try. Some of these issues are really good, especially the Marvel two-in-one issues, and the first 7 issues of Spider-woman. But when she starts to become a bounty hunter, the series loses it spark some. The interesting thing about this series is the weirder the story, the better. Plots involving a killer clown, Werewolves, and spies are really kitschy. But, involve an ego-maniac trying to take over L.A. and I couldn’t care less.

BTW, is it just me, or does anything think that the Shroud is a huge knock-off of Batman???