Or - “Human Sacrifice, Dogs And Cats Living Together - Mass Hysteria!”

Peter Venkman was right! The world has gone mad, topsy turvy, everything you know is wrong! New Avengers (the Avengers book that I normally really enjoy) made me angry this week, and when I chose my reviews for today, I intended to start with the new issue of Captain America. My perusal of Mighty Avengers changed my mind. Four issues into the fight with Ultron, and we still have little-to-no idea what the heck is going on with this book, but in this age of six issue arcs for trade consumption, you might suspect that the heat would get turned up in chapter V. You, dear Spoilerite, would be right…

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Or - “For The Love Of Pie, SOMEBODY Do SOMETHING!!”

It’s been a little more than two months since we saw the last issue of Mighty Avengers, and, I admit it, I whined about the last issue. Indeed, I’ve whined about the last three issues, with their glacial plot development, tons of cheesecake shots and still almost no hints as to what in the Aitch-Ee-Double-Hockey-Sticks is going on. Finally, we have some developments on the explanatory front, but is it enough to overcome seventy-odd pages of standing around saying one thing while thinking another?

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Or - “Well, At Least The Damn Talking Has Ended…”

It’s been three issues, and FINALLY, we get to see the Mighty Avengers do something other than snipe, get recruited, or talk about how they can’t fight the horrible, horrible menace. There’s still some questions in the air, the damn thought balloons are still here, there’s a couple of inexcusable cheesecake shots (like 2/3 of the cover), but at least there’s no Iron Dictator in evidence, forcing the other heroes to step up and actually act heroic. How did they do, you ask?

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Or - “Making The World Safe By Standing Around And Talking For Roughly A Decade…”

If you’re a regular Spoilerator, (And if so, thanks! If not, welcome aboard! There’s dip by the radiator, and remember our only rule: ‘Tom Grice is WRONG, Sir! WRONG!’) you won’t be surprised to hear that the new, awesome, world-changing status quo of the Avengers titles hasn’t really done anything to blow my dress up thus far. I mean, yes to the setup of the two conflicting team, yes to the use of less-spotlighted characters and old favorites (the return of the Wasp and the induction of Iron Fist and Ares all get thumbs up) but the split of the Avengers is much like the time the transporter split Jim Kirk: neither of the entities left behind is complete.

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Or - “Behind The Curve Is Where I’ll Be…”

Okay, so I admit it. I’ve been dragging my feet on recapping this title. I was of the opinion that I wasn’t going to cover it at all, until I managed to stay on my daily schedule long enough to actually exhaust what was in the review bag (though not buying last week’s comics due to budgeting catastrophe may have been in large part responsible, as well.) The honest truth is: I’m a big Frank Cho fan. I’m a conditional Brian Bendis fan (though I enjoy him better on his self-created characters than on Marvel’s core titles). And I’m an Avengers fan, Old-School, through and through. I remember The Vision taking over the world, I remember “Emperor Doom”, I remember the debut of Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel II. So, what would make me into such a weenie about simply reviewing a new comic book if I go in knowing I like the characters, the artist and the writer?

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