Cry me an Avenging river
I see all sorts of posts and comments here and there in comics blogland ragging on New Avengers. Bendis can’t write a team book; these aren’t my Avengers; there’s no action; people talk for 20 pages; why do people buy this crap; blah blah blah.
Am I the only one who remembers that, not long ago, Avengers really, really sucked? Before the Bendis relaunch, Chuck Austen was writing this book! Maybe this isn’t the Avengers of your childhood, but for the love of God, when I was a kid, I bought pretty much any comic I could get my hands on at the local drugstore because those were the only comics I was going to see, and I stopped buying Avengers because it sucked so bad. And I highly doubt that I thought it sucked because it was over my 12-year-old head.
I would probably grant the argument that team books aren’t the strength of Mr. Bendis. I would also grant that he tends to write Spider-Man as Ultimate Spider-Man. Fair enough. I personally didn’t like Disassembled for the same reason I tend to dislike the climax to nearly every Bendis arc. But to warrant the type of assault I’ve seen this book receiving online would require a steaming turd smeared across two dozen glossy pages. And that’s not what it is, no matter how many tears you want to shed.
The bandwagonesque mentality of people with keyboards and monitors amazes me sometimes. This book does not suck. It might not be what you wish it to be, and it may have its flaws, but if that’s your point, argue that. If you want to tell me this is one of the worst books on the shelves, get off your high horse.
I thoroughly enjoyed every issue of The Avengers I had ever bought until Bendis took over. That’s every issue between Heroes Reborn and Avengers Disassembled. Yes, I liked Chuck Austen (for the record, I liked his X-Men work too). Bendis stopped me from buying Avengers.
But that’s where it stops for me. I don’t hate New Avengers because I don’t read it. Besides, if I’m looking for “classic” Avengers I can turn to Young Avengers or Thunderbolts.
I think it was one of 2 Guys who made the wonderful point that all the haters should just quit buying and reading it. Which is what I did almost a year ago.