Stephanie Kay
Oct 13, 2007, 11:23 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/4images/details.php?image_id=10401" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/newaveng26t.jpg" align=left alt="New Avengers #26" hspace="5"></a></a>Reviewer: Jason Grasso, Desperad07@aol.com
Story Title: The Ballad of Clint Barton and Wanda Maximoff
By the whoary hosts…
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Letterer: RS & Comicraft's Albert Deschesne
Assistant Editors: Molly Lazer & Aubrey Sitterson
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (http://www.marvel.com)
The much anticipated return of Hawkeye to the Marvel Universe proper is finally here. As is our first extended glimpse of the Scarlet Witch since the immediate aftermath of the House of M. Those two sentences together should’ve led one to a feeling of hope and excitement. Unfortunately the anticipation of the event was a lot better than the event itself.
The issue kicks off flashing back to right after the world was righted after the House of M. Hawkeye wakes up outside of the decimated Avengers Mansion. There he finds an article about his death. He leaves his uniform and quiver behind (as seen in House of M #8) and heads off to see Dr. Strange.
The entire interaction between Dr. Strange and Clint is well done. It plays as a logical conversation, building to Clint’s ultimate decision to find Wanda. Maleev illustrates Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum with the right blend of light and shade, the former adding a rather spooky effect to the inherent mystique of Dr. Strange’s home. Make no mistake, at this point in the story, this issue is running on all gears and appears headed towards an enjoyable conclusion.
Unfortunately, once Clint leaves for Genosha and then on to Wundagore Mountain, the story starts to slip. Upon arriving at a town near Wundagore, Clint helps apprehend a thief who just happened to victimize Wanda Maximoff. Wanda seems to cast a spell on Clint who passes out and wakes up later in Wanda’s home. There they introduce themselves, seemingly unaware that they already know each other. (Wanda references her Aunt Agatha too.) They converse about mutants and the Avengers and Clint’s “friend” that he came looking for.
At this point, the story takes a turn for the bizarre. Clint and Wanda inexplicably share a night of passion. Clint wakes up the next day and attempts to look in on Aunt Agatha before thinking back to Dr. Strange’s words of warning. There’s a hint that at this point the spell is broken and he realizes what he has done or that he’s gained closure. Unfortunately, there’s nothing remotely overt about anything that transpires at the end of the story. The reader can’t be entirely sure if Wanda is playing coy or if she too really has no memory of Clint. If she has put him under a spell, than that defies Strange’s comment about her having not used magic at all. (Unless this is her first time.) If it wasn’t Wanda, then there is no explanation as to who else it could be. But if we devise that it was her, then there isn’t a whole lot of logic behind her actions. In the circles I travel, apologizing via sexual relations isn’t exactly the way we gain closure.
Perhaps we will learn more the next time Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch show up. Or some valiant reader will help unveil some aspect I simply did not comprehend. In any event, the story doesn’t do a great job conveying what it set out to. If this had been part of a longer arc, than perhaps there would be time to see it out and peel back the layers of the metaphorical onion. But here too much is left to interpretation without any promise that whatever transpired will even be picked up by whichever writer is next to detail their adventures.
Maleev makes a long-awaited return, collaborating with his long-time Daredevil partner. (The two are still set to launch a Spider-Woman series that has fallen to the backburner.) His take on Dr. Strange is muted yet wholly effective and enjoyable; despite a traditional alliterism, the sorcerer is played mostly for realism and less eccentricity. Maleev’s obligated to do more storytelling than usual with Bendis backing off his typical heavy dialogue. He succeeds to his best abilities and does a wonderful job painting a somber mood for the story. Though I’m not sure that we needed an entire page of mostly artistic design as a background to two small frames that tell us nothing that we didn’t see the prior page. (And kudos to Marvel for putting an ad for toy cars next to an act of passion!)
Unfortunately, the story ultimately fails in its weird detour and inability to progress either character too much further than they were on Page 1. It’s a shame since the story started off with such promise. This particularly ballad had a great intro and first verse, but after the chorus, the sudden appearance of sensual beats and a lackluster solo sent it spiraling into a disappointing fade out.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save! ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=21257)
Story Title: The Ballad of Clint Barton and Wanda Maximoff
By the whoary hosts…
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Alex Maleev
Letterer: RS & Comicraft's Albert Deschesne
Assistant Editors: Molly Lazer & Aubrey Sitterson
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (http://www.marvel.com)
The much anticipated return of Hawkeye to the Marvel Universe proper is finally here. As is our first extended glimpse of the Scarlet Witch since the immediate aftermath of the House of M. Those two sentences together should’ve led one to a feeling of hope and excitement. Unfortunately the anticipation of the event was a lot better than the event itself.
The issue kicks off flashing back to right after the world was righted after the House of M. Hawkeye wakes up outside of the decimated Avengers Mansion. There he finds an article about his death. He leaves his uniform and quiver behind (as seen in House of M #8) and heads off to see Dr. Strange.
The entire interaction between Dr. Strange and Clint is well done. It plays as a logical conversation, building to Clint’s ultimate decision to find Wanda. Maleev illustrates Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum with the right blend of light and shade, the former adding a rather spooky effect to the inherent mystique of Dr. Strange’s home. Make no mistake, at this point in the story, this issue is running on all gears and appears headed towards an enjoyable conclusion.
Unfortunately, once Clint leaves for Genosha and then on to Wundagore Mountain, the story starts to slip. Upon arriving at a town near Wundagore, Clint helps apprehend a thief who just happened to victimize Wanda Maximoff. Wanda seems to cast a spell on Clint who passes out and wakes up later in Wanda’s home. There they introduce themselves, seemingly unaware that they already know each other. (Wanda references her Aunt Agatha too.) They converse about mutants and the Avengers and Clint’s “friend” that he came looking for.
At this point, the story takes a turn for the bizarre. Clint and Wanda inexplicably share a night of passion. Clint wakes up the next day and attempts to look in on Aunt Agatha before thinking back to Dr. Strange’s words of warning. There’s a hint that at this point the spell is broken and he realizes what he has done or that he’s gained closure. Unfortunately, there’s nothing remotely overt about anything that transpires at the end of the story. The reader can’t be entirely sure if Wanda is playing coy or if she too really has no memory of Clint. If she has put him under a spell, than that defies Strange’s comment about her having not used magic at all. (Unless this is her first time.) If it wasn’t Wanda, then there is no explanation as to who else it could be. But if we devise that it was her, then there isn’t a whole lot of logic behind her actions. In the circles I travel, apologizing via sexual relations isn’t exactly the way we gain closure.
Perhaps we will learn more the next time Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch show up. Or some valiant reader will help unveil some aspect I simply did not comprehend. In any event, the story doesn’t do a great job conveying what it set out to. If this had been part of a longer arc, than perhaps there would be time to see it out and peel back the layers of the metaphorical onion. But here too much is left to interpretation without any promise that whatever transpired will even be picked up by whichever writer is next to detail their adventures.
Maleev makes a long-awaited return, collaborating with his long-time Daredevil partner. (The two are still set to launch a Spider-Woman series that has fallen to the backburner.) His take on Dr. Strange is muted yet wholly effective and enjoyable; despite a traditional alliterism, the sorcerer is played mostly for realism and less eccentricity. Maleev’s obligated to do more storytelling than usual with Bendis backing off his typical heavy dialogue. He succeeds to his best abilities and does a wonderful job painting a somber mood for the story. Though I’m not sure that we needed an entire page of mostly artistic design as a background to two small frames that tell us nothing that we didn’t see the prior page. (And kudos to Marvel for putting an ad for toy cars next to an act of passion!)
Unfortunately, the story ultimately fails in its weird detour and inability to progress either character too much further than they were on Page 1. It’s a shame since the story started off with such promise. This particularly ballad had a great intro and first verse, but after the chorus, the sudden appearance of sensual beats and a lackluster solo sent it spiraling into a disappointing fade out.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save! ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=21257)