Dark Avengers 14

I'm not breaking ground here when I mention there is a lot of talking going on in this book.

Okay, it's not bad. I did not feel, at all, bored reading this thing. Bendis takes the comic medium to enhance dialog. That has been his schtick for a long time and he excels at it.

As a siege tie in, this book acts as part of a prelude, hinting at how Secret Invasion tie-ins were written by Bendis. Instead of stalling the current story of Siege we get a story of the lead up into the Siege. However, given what happens in this book, this makes it not a Siege tie-in, at all. I honestly find this frustrating. When i pick up a book that ties in to an event, I want that book to actually tie in to it. The book mentions the siege once regarding Norman's future plan for starting a war against Asgard but nothing beyond that. Theres a subtle hint at the Siege at the end of the book, but its just like any other subtle cliffhanger in a comic.

What I'm working towards is a lot of the drama and pay-off for a big reveal gets lessened as its released in a flashback while something that features the immediate consequences of the action can be observed elsewhere. Obviously the Sentry calmly listens to Osborn, or else we'd be having comics where New York is trashed to oblivion right now. Of course the Sentry listens to Osborn, or else how would the Sentry have joined the team in the attack on Asgard? The sentry turning down a darker path isnt shocking given we knew he's gone down the path of the Void in Siege 2. The tension of the Sentry's impending assault and destruction of New York, the thin possability that the Dark Avengers team might have to contend with the Sentry as an enemy instead of ally, for this issue, and the Sentry's loss of humanity are all mitigated and their effects lessened because we already know what the immediate results are.

Now, for my crudest reactions to the story. Victoria Hand is one seriously aggressive lesbian. And, what do you know, the Sentry is once again defeated through the power of conversation. James Lipton could qualify as this man's arch-nemesis.