Does 'the Man' have a moment of clarity here?
Great art as usual plus I'm beginning to think that the story of forgiveness and redemption which is surely following the Civil War will be far more interesting in terms of personal loyalties and private soul searching than the main event ever could have been.
You'd be forgiven yourself for missing some of the gentle realisations that must surely be dawning on Tony Stark during this issue amidst all the action (Go giant Wasp...Uh-Oh Giant Wasp just turned into giant carnage..bummer). Not only do the rebels, the outlaws, the free spirits, namely the New Avengers, stand in line against the threat of a world wide infection of Venomness with the Official, Autority figures of the Mighty Avengers (representing 'The Man')but after fighting toe to toe with those who are officially the good guys, they are allowed to walk away without a word or a challenge. Just look at Tony's eyes peering from the protection of his helmet when Ex-friend and fellow avenger of old suggests that it was his actions that led to the death of Captain America, someone they both had previously placed on a pedestal, as the epitome of all they ever hoped to be. It is this moment, captured in a couple of frames rather than the two page spread of Iron-Man asking himself if he'd been 'played' that is the bullet point in this issue.
Mind you someone is going to pay it seems, a certain Doctor Doom has, it appears, picked the very worst time to pick on the Avengers...Methinks he's about to have his arse handed to him on a plate!
I do enjoy reading the Mighty Avengers as a companion to both the Avengers Initiative and to the New Avengers, but as we no longer have to see both sides of the coin...we've made our minds up, not over who's right and who's wrong (that would be Spidey's crew right?), but over who's the coolest team, and that would be the New Avengers everytime! I wonder just how long Marvel are going to make us splash out on two (or more)Avengers comics a month before they kiss and make up and we have an amalgamate of the 2 teams? I'm looking forward to seeing who makes the cut in that book!