Brave New Worlds

Dark Avengers #16 Brian Michael Bendis (w), Mike Deodato (a)

End of an Era Marvel’s top-selling book of the past year concludes as the events of Siege are wrapped up.  We find out (sort of) what happens to everyone’s crazy team of Avengers as we truly witness the dawn of Marvel’s New Heroic Age.

Run for It Hands on their heads, kneeling on the ground, Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers are in custody at the ruins of Asgard, but of course it does not end there.  Wait until you see who makes a run for it, and if they actually get away.

Where Did What’s His Name Go? Yep, someone did not get caught, and made it out of Dodge, with a BANG!

Second Chances Steve Rogers allows one of Norman’s crew to remain free and continue the good fight they were convinced they were fighting for with H.A.M.M.E.R.

Fitting Conclusion The final three-and-a-half pages is all Norman, including a dialogue to kill for – here’s a taste; “I was right.  The world is a mess and the wold needed me to fix it. And I would have.  I could have.”

Thumbs Up or Down In a week of some really awesome books, this was hand downs the best one.  Bendis put the icing on the cake, the cherry came on the final page with a letter to the fans you don’t want to skip.

Siege #4 Brian Michael Bendis (w), Olivier Copiel (p), Mark Morales (i)

As Promised Heroes and villains fall in this issue.  The hero you probably already sort of figured out, but wait until you see the bad dude that got what was coming to them.  Granted, this is comics and nothing is ever permanent, but still …

Final Battle Some of my compatriots have complained that they felt the resolution to the final fight was a little quick and maybe contrived.  First, it was only a four-issue mini-series.  Second, when you take into account how much was jammed into the final chapter, I felt like the resolution was just right.

The Trinity Marvel’s trinity of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor were operating at maximum awesomeness this issue. the dawn of the new Heroic Age starts here.

New Roles We do get an answer as to who will wield the shield (sorry to everyone who bought that one-shot), and what happens to the odd man out (don’t worry, they will have something cool to do).

Justice League: Generation Lost #1 Judd Winick & Keith Giffen (w), Aaron Lopresti (p), Matt Ryan (i)

Aftermath In case you forgot some of the evil doers that returned during Brightest Day, no worries, the JLA are all over that and Maxwell Lord becomes target number one.

The Reveal The issue and probably the series main mystery comes together quickly in this issue as we find out what Lord is up to immediately.  Now it’s trying to figure out why.

The Gang’s Almost All Here Of course not everyone from the original JLI is back (R.I.P. Ted Kord), but most of the surviving members get back together to do their own search.

Welcome Back Ice I liked the fact that this issue did not spend all 32 pages getting everyone back together.  That being said, I would have liked to seen a little more of the distraught that Ice was experiencing.

Best Line It was a quote thrown on the final page – “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist,” Charles Baudelaire.  I like where this is going.

Batman The Return of Bruce Wayne #1 Grant Morrison (w), Chris Sprouse (p), Karl Story (i)

Something in the Water Yes, I do realize that for the second-straight week I have tabbed a Grant Morrison book to recognize, but this was a really interesting issue and I am hooked like a crack addict now.  Damn you Morrison!

Remember No, I am not referring to when Spock did the whammy to McCoy and gave him his katra at the end of Wrath of Khan, I am talking about the final page of Final Crisis.  Remember that last image?  Well, that’s where we pick up.

What is that Doing Here? Not sure how some of the artifacts discovered in issue #1 found their way into our hero’s hands, but it was pretty cool just the same.

Like Riding a Bike Although he does not really seem like Bruce right now, he’s Bruce and up to his old tricks in the issue that takes place dialogue-wise from the natives of the place or time bruce has been omega-beamed to.

Pretty Cool Search Party Rip Hunter, Green Lantern, Superman and Booster Gold. After figuring out Bruce is somewhere in town, now the trick is when.  And since this is issue one, they probably did not find out this time.

Quantum Leap Loved how this issue ended.  That’s all I’m going to say.