A return to greatness...is just around the corner
The Avengers are the Avengers, and all is good in the world. Iron Man, Thor, Cap, Spidey and Hawkeye (who is suspiciously missing from JRJ's cover) are back together and ready to be heroic once again.
What can you say about a team that has been together so many times in so many situations starting all over again? Only that this comic will not disappoint. I have nothing but great expectations for this new era and the combo of Bendis and Romita Jr. tells me Marvel wants me to take this seriously. The characters are the same, the locations are the same, the relationships are the same, but you get a strong sense that this veteran group of superheroes have made it through thick and thin to get to this point. The point where they can look each other in the eye and see trust and heroic aspirations to do good by everyone, and not see the worst of them and of themselves.
Make no mistake, this is a reset and a fresh page in Avengers lore, which means the story is just beginning. It's not an action packed issue and more of a setup. Yet throughout this issue I never got the feeling that Bendis or Romita were trying to write/draw over the last few years and gloss over the relationship problems each character has with his fellow Avenger. Bendis does a fantastic job of simply evolving these characters into their next career milestone as Avengers.
You should be the judge of how Bendis deals with each remaining issue between Steve and Tony, Tony and everyone, and the re-introduction of Hawkeye. However, as much as I understand that Marvel wished this new volume to start with a bang in terms of art, Romita's place as an interior artist in this era is slowly coming to and end, in my opinion. I love his facial expressions and his uncanny ability to show particular emotions at any point, but he falls down in other areas. There is only one piece of action involving Thor, and it really doesn't do the scene justice. I don't believe that he can carry this volume.
That being said, I can't wait for more of this from Bendis, and the Heroic Age is truly...just around the corner.
