Siege #4(of 4): Writer: BENDIS! Pencils: Olivier Coipel.
Last Issue: 8 out of 10.
Review: So Asgard has fallen and all of Earth's heroes are trying to halt the onslaught of the insanely powerful Void(Sentry's evil alter-ego). Seeing that the heroes were sure to lose, and never meaning for Asgard to be completely destroyed, Loki steals the powerful Norn Stones away from the Hood and uses them to super-charge the heroes battling against the Void. The Void realizes that something is amiss, and deducts that it was Loki who was empowering the heroes, so the Void simply grabs Loki and murders him right in front of everybody! Even though Loki was a lowlife villain, he was Thor's lowlife villain(not to mention his brother), so Thor flies into an Asgardian rage and throws every ounce of his power at the Void in an effort to stop it from killing anybody else. While Thor has the Void's undivided attention, Iron Man takes command of the HAMMER helicarrier and sends the entire massive ship hurtling straight into the Void. This strategy actually works, and the Void transforms back into regular old Robert Reynolds, who begs the heroes to kill him to end everything he's done. Thor refuses, instead telling Reynolds he'd pay for his crimes by seeking penance for what he had done instead. Unfortunately for the heroes, this brief exchange is all the Void needs to retake control of Reynolds and renew its attack. Finally, having had enough of the Void's madness, Thor just beats the hell out of it with his hammer until the Void was dead at his feet... Well that takes care of THAT! With that, Thor takes the remains of the Void/Sentry into space, and tosses the carcass into the sun. And that's the end of the main story. From there we get a few epilogues... Steve Rogers hands the shield of Captain America back to Bucky and tells Bucky that he was the Captain America the world needed now, not him. Later on though, Steve heads to the White House where the President asks him to take command of SHIELD/HAMMER, and Steve agrees, with the sole condition being that he would run things his way. The Avengers celebrate at Avengers Tower as the news networks report that the abomination known as the Superhuman Registration Act had been thrown out, and that Steve Rogers had accepted the position of America's top cop. While the Avengers/Young Avengers/and for some reason the Fantastic Four live it up, Thor arrives and puts the remains of Asgard atop Avengers Tower and pledges to assist the Avengers whenever they ask him to. This issue ends with Steve Rogers stopping by and asking all of the gathered heroes for their assistance for what was to come next.
What I Thought: Well, I never thought I'd say this, but BENDIS>Geoff Johns... Siege TOTALLY blew away Blackest Night in terms of quality and aftermath. I mean it wasn't even close... Trust me, nobody is more surprised then me! Hell, if BENDIS keeps THIS sort of work up, I'll have to go back to calling him Bendis again... Now, that's not to say there weren't a few small problems here, but for the most part, everything went perfectly. With the exception of the, “No More Mutants” junk, the Marvel Universe is finally headed back in the right direction. The classic Avengers are back(sure Wolverine and Spider-Man are still there, but I can try to overlook that), it's no longer illegal to be a super-hero in the Marvel U, AND Steve Rogers is going to be running whatever comes after HAMMER. Could I really ask for anything more? Well I could(ERASE the No More Mutants decree!!!), but for now, I'm just going to sit back and say good job BENDIS.
Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.
Steve Rogers as the new head of SHIELD? Thank you Marvel!
From what I've heard, a big part of why Siege was better than Blackest Night (and most of Marvel's previous events, for that matter) is that it was fairly short and not too drawn out. That's why Siege appeals more to me, though I haven't read either...I think when Blackest Night comes out in trade there are going to be at least five (expensive) hardcovers, whereas Marvel will probably have fewer collections and you won't have to read them all to get the main story. Plus, Marvel's will come out in softcover a lot faster.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have to agree that scathing reviews are really fun to write. When you feel like a crappy book has wasted your time and money, there's nothing quite like letting your anger flow through the keyboard and onto the computer screen. Speaking of which, yesterday I finished reading a collection that I totally HATED (honestly, I can't believe I finished the whole thing), and it's going to get an absolutely heinous review from me soon. :)
Marc, I agree with you 100%. It was SO nice to read a surprisingly well thought out mini that only lasted 4(!)issues. I honestly enjoyed BN in the beginning(I really did!), but as it dragged on month after month, I was just ready for it to end. Siege was the opposite. I was honestly looking forward to each issue, and the story ended exectly when it should have. Plus I really like the current direction the Marvel U seems to be heading.
ReplyDeleteMarc, the one thing I like more then writing a scathing review is READING a scathing review! I can't wait to read your post! :-) Any hints as to what this collection was?
Hmm...well, it's a "secret." That may not seem like much of a hint, but it's actually a pretty good one. :)
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've read, I like the direction that Marvel is heading in too. I'm not sure Bendis is the best one to helm it since he's the one responsible for basically screwing things up and making everyone WANT a return to the status quo, but I guess we'll see.
Hmm, something terrible, with the hint being, "secret"... It's GOTTA be Secret Invasion! That was one of the worst comic stories in the past 20 years easy! That's the only thing I can come up with...
ReplyDeleteThere's been no bigger critic of BENDIS then me, and I agree that I'd much rather see the Avengers franchise moved to more talented hands(like Ed Brubaker!), but after Siege, I'm willing to give BENDIS another yet ANOTHER chance. Who knows, maybe this will be the time he gets it right... Hopefully...
Good guess...not the one I was thinking of (although you can be sure if I ever review Secret Invasion I will rip it a new one), but you're thinking the right way. :)
ReplyDeleteBrubaker is going to start doing one of the Avengers books pretty soon, isn't he? I'm with you on thinking that would be great, and it should definitely be interesting to see.
Huh, so it's not Secret Invasion? That's too bad, because I bet you'd have me rolling on the floor during that review! Umm, Secret Warriors maybe? Huh, I don't know...
ReplyDeleteYup, Ed is getting the Secret Avengers comic, which I'm most definitely already subscribed to! I've enjoyed every Marvel title Ed's worked on(from Uncanny to Iron Fist to DD to of course Cap), so I'm really excited to see his take on the Avengers, especially the strange line-up he seems to be working with.
Who's going to be on Brubaker's Avengers team? I think I might have seen this online at some point, but I can't remember anymore. Also, I did get my hands on a copy of Bendis's Avengers #1 from this week...I haven't read it yet, but should be able to comment on it by the time you and JT post about it.
ReplyDeleteAs for my mystery review, you'll know what it is when you see it. I'm not sure if I'm going to do it this next week or if it'll be a week or two after that...I'm kind of tempted to do something Iron Man-related due to the movie having come out...but whenever it gets posted, I will absolutely destroy that book.
It's a really weird team, I do know that. I saw an ad for it in one of the Marvel books I read recently, and it was a really strange mixture of characters. I know Nova and Moon Knight were there, and I think Beast, as well as a few others. I'll see if I can find out who's on that team for later.
ReplyDeleteWell, you know I'll be eagerly anticipating that review, whenever you do decide to put it up.
Oh yeah, I remember Moon Knight and Nova now. A lot of people were kind of annoyed by Nova, because they were concerned it could mean the end of his ongoing series. I'm not sure if they ended up cancelling that or what.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I did just read Avengers #1 and I thought it was pretty good. I know you're a fan of "classic" Avengers too, so I think you'll enjoy it as well...it's a nice mix of old and new.
I sure HOPE Nova's series isn't being cancelled! I love that series!!! Man, that would be awful...
ReplyDeleteWell that's certainly good to hear. Who knows when I'll be getting my hands on my copy, but at least now I'll be looking forward to it as opposed to dreading it!
Sentry isn't dead.
ReplyDeleteWell he def looked dead when Thor tossed him into the sun, but I can easily see him still being alive. He was killing gods with ease, so I'd think it would take more then a few whacks with Thor's hammer to finish him off.
ReplyDelete