The novel retells 2004-05's origin of the New Avengers with the titular super-crook jailbreak and the subsequent adventure in the Savage Land. Daredevil, the Sentry and Wolverine are excised from this version and replaced by film favourites, Hawkeye and the Black Widow. The burgeoning relationship between the rough-diamond archer and the devious super-spy drives the plot, providing a couple of (very) mildly titillating scenes a la Bond and vague references to The Hunger Games.
I've come to this pacy, (fairly) teen-friendly techno-thriller only couple of weeks after reading Bendis's "End Times" arcs for Marvel . Avengers featured a romp through the world of the Micronauts that restored both Wonder Man and the Wonderful Wasp to the ranks. Meanwhile, New Avengers offered an exciting murder mystery that saw Dr. Strange framed for the killings of Victoria Hand and the Son of Satan.
It's safe to say that Clint and Natasha would not currently be so prominent had Bendis not been offered the book; reinvigorating it with a marquee name cast and creating a franchise that grew to include Mighty Avengers; Dark Avengers; Secret Avengers; Avengers Academy and Avengers Assemble.
At the start of the Noughties, DC golden boy Geoff Johns had been succeeded as Avengers scripter by Chuck Austen, who revived the Invaders and introduced Lionheart, the female Captain Britain. It was not an auspicious period. It seemed that, after the late- 90s success of Kurt Busiek (an adept imitator of Roy Thomas who crafted a loving homage to the Bronze Age with George Perez), the Avengers were crying out for a fresh, creative force.
Bendis moved the team out of the privileged environs of Stark's mansion and focused on "street-level" heroes, while adding some of Marvel's headline names. Like a number of readers, I was resistant to his approach for many, many months, citing decompressed storylines, snarky dialogue and interchangeable characterisation. I also drifted in and out of the innumerable tie-in event series that snaked through the expanding roster of titles: House of M; Civil War; Secret Invasion; Siege and Fear Itself.
Finally my biggest frustration was his penchant for "one-trick pony" members who contributed little to either the action or the badinage: Ronin/Echo; Iron Fist; the hypermasculine Ares; Protector ( Grant Morrison's Marvel Boy) ; the Red Hulk; Daredevil; Quake and most egregiously, Storm- one of Marvel's most celebrated heroines, who did virtually nothing during her brief tour of duty.
I was never a fan of the snivelling Sentry, the Superman-Gone-Wrong whose psychotic breaks seemed enigmatic but interminable. Nor was I entirely comfortable with the double duty of the Thing or Wolverine, a hero as ubiquitous as Bronze Age Batman.
But "every once in a very long while...when the wind stands fair" ( to quote River Song) Bendis could deliver stories to equal the best of Thomas or Englehart: the formation of Marvel's Illuminati; the rise of The Hood and his criminal empire; Lady Ultron; Nick Fury and the stylish adventures of Avengers 1959; the death of Brother Voodoo; the Cult of Osborn and the movie-inspired epic that re-imagined the Zodiac and led to banter with Rocket Raccoon.
Bendis also made some valuable additions to the Assemblers: Spider-Man, who had been the Nearly Man on at least three earlier occasions. Luke Cage and Spider-Woman: two Bronze Age cult favourites who became vulnerable, three-dimensional people (Cage deserves a spot in the next Avengers movie.) And of course, Squirrel Girl, a quirky comedy character portrayed with immense warmth and charm. Any of these are always going to be better than Triathlon or Silverclaw.
Without Bendis, there would be no Avengers Tower, as seen at your local multiplex. >Oh and what about the time he brought back Thought Balloons?<
When he felt the time was right, Bendis moved on but not without putting all the toys in the box: the Vision, the Scarlet Witch and Avengers Mansion itself have all been restored. In the next instalment, we'll examine the first Avengers issues under the stewardship of Jonathan Hickman and discuss how the baton has been handed on...
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