by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), John Romita Jr. (pencils), Klaus Janson (inks), Dean White (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)
The Story: In the future, the Avengers encounter the Next Avengers and their masters while in the present, the remaining Avengers meet an unlikely ally and struggle against total chaos.
What’s Good: This issue is basically total mayhem and, honestly, the crazier and wackier it is, the better. Spider-Man bumping into Killraven riding a dinosaur and Thor blowing up War of the Worlds style aliens are just part of the fun. Really, at times things get so ridiculous that they border upon comedic, and certainly Bendis’ dialogue helps that along. Much like last month, there’s a strong old school vibe here, but also a slight sense of self-awareness. While a lot of it has to do with Spider-Man, particularly his conversations with Killraven and Jessica Drew, this is an unexpectantly funny book. Things are completely insane and the fact that the characters are hyper-aware of it makes for a generally fun read.
That feeling of absolute chaos and insanity also makes for Romita’s best issue thus far as he continues to improve after the first two underwhelming months. Bendis really lets Romita stretch his legs here and let his imagination run wild. Pretty much every splash and double-page spread is a lot of fun and all of them had me staring for quite a while. There’s so much packed into them that it feels like a cosmic Where’s Waldo at times. It’s as though Romita just through as many random, awesome things onto the page as possible. His work is, overall, just a lot of fun this month.
Overall, this is a fun, light read. The dialogue is generally light-hearted and the sheer nuttiness of the book lends it a pulpy feel that summons the comics of old, but in a very subtly tongue-in-cheek manner at times. Essentially, imagine an old Avengers comic cranked up to eleven with cartoony, but old-school artwork starring modern characters that can’t help but go “wtf.” That’s Avengers #4 at it’s best.
What’s Not So Good: Strangely, I’m actually favoring the total mayhem over the actual story Bendis is trying to tell. The scenes featuring the Avengers stuck defending NYC against the hordes of….aliens/robots/etc……are far more enjoyable than the ones centered on the Avengers who are actually trying to right things in the future.
I think that’s just because the NYC bits are geared towards pure fun, while the future portion ends up being a little tied down by its supporting characters. For instance, I don’t really care about the Next Avengers and, either than establishing their lineage and some half-baked foreboding warnings, Bendis has yet to give me a reason why I really should. The same goes for their two “masters” who have really nothing compelling about them except for name value. The thing is, all of these characters tie up the plot, and I missed the humour and fun of the off-the-rails New York.
The Next Avengers don’t exactly do much to endear themselves either. Bendis oscillates a bit too much on the old “are they good or bad” issue. There’s also a completely pointless action scene between them and the Avengers that makes little to no sense, even less so when Bendis tries to explain it.
Conclusion: A really fun romp but one where what I was supposed to care about didn’t catch me, but what was secondary had my utmost attention.
Grade: B –
-Alex Evans
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