The New Avengers, Vol. 2

The New Avengers (2010)

by Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen (Illustrator), Daniel Acuña (Illustrator)

1959: under presidential orders, Nick Fury assembles the first Avengers--Victor Creed. Namora. Kraven the Hunter. Dominick Fortune. Silver Sable. Ulysses Bloodstone. Their mission? Stop the rise of the Red Skull's Fourth Reich--or die trying. Present day: Luke Cage's New Avengrs are settling to life at Avengers Mansion. But as the team begins to gel, Norman Osborn's HAMMER is secretly rebuilding. Stopping these bad guys will test the New Avengers with death and Betrayal--and bring a startling revelation regarding Nick Fury and his 1959 Avengers Initiative.

COLLECTING: NEW AVENGERS (2010) #7-13.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Comic Book, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction

168 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2011

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Tom LA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful art. Mind-numbing, childish, boring, empty, stupid, stupid and stupid content. That describes pretty much 100% of superheroes comics for me.

[Subham · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a meh read.

It has two storylines as we see Fury in 1959 setting a team of Avengers including well known villains in modern times and they go after the Red Skull and meet Cap there and we learn the secrets of Infinity formula and then the present story with Avengers fighting Lady Superia and Hammer agents but when Mockingbird life is at stake, its a big and serious fight and new secrets and status quo for her.

Its an interesting storyline but the way it was told was so disjointed and honestly kind of frustrating to read. I hated this but other than that the present storyline was good and has serious drama moments when Hawkeye gets involved and also the return of Fury maybe? Its a decent one time read for Mockingbird fans for sure and the art in the present was okayish.

Also the beginning ch. has something of Avengers moments as they talk and a good issue with Jess and Luke and her maybe becoming a hero which is a good fun story.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first two issues are great. Luke and Jessica get to go on a date. They love each other, it's super cute, and you can see great character moments.

Then comes a Nick Fury story.

Fuck me. I hate this guy 90% of the time. He's boring as shit. Even worse he's the white Nick Fury, so he's even WORSE. yeah...i can say that. I'm white. Fuck white Nick Fury.

Anyway bunch of twisty turns, way too much talking about nothing, and mockingbird gets shot and then it all leads into Fear Itself event.

Not a great volume. Just two good issues, 4 meh.

[Oneirosophos · Rating 2 out of 5]

1959 arc was such a filler, that broke any flow the main arc had.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out-loud belly laughs in the first two issues. No one does team banter - and something that sounds like my friends, not an episode of Friends - than Bendis. Thanks for continuing to deliver. Especially on Cage and Spidey - two of my all-time faves, never better than in B's hands.

The rest if the book is one long mystery story - and not to give away any of the surprises, but if you like good storytelling you're going to love what Bendis crafts here. I know I did - a couple of times my stomach dropped with how artfully B has crafted an actual long-form, multi-thread mystery story.

I've read interviews with BMB that he claims he's been working on his writing craft, and I think it really shows in the past couple of years. Not all of his current work gets the same level of attention (*cough* that other Avengers book), but when he brings his game he really is to me one of the best in the business.

Bendis could simply continue to write smartass funny books but I really admire the guy his devotion to bettering his capabilities when he's already reached what might be perceived as the top of the industry. He could just slack and collect the checks, but at least on New Avengers he still shows he feels responsibility to his readers.

As for the art, there are a lot of artists represented here, and all of them first-class talents that do justice to Bendis' scripts. Even Chaykin, whose style I haven't cared for, is well-suited to the 50's flashback scenes, and I even like him for it. Deodato OTOH actually seems to be evolving as well - not just relying entirely on black shadows for effect, but some more subtle hand is at work as well. Bravo.

What's fascinating to me is how his scripts "read" with different art rendering the scenes. Deodato makes it seem more serious; Chaykin looks a little goofier.

Plot details I won't remember in the future:

Victoria Hand clearly takes a role. She makes pointed efforts to demonstrate that she works differently with Spidey (whose identity she doesn't know) than the rest of the team. Everyone else starts collecting paychecks, though Cage bristles. Luke & Jessica hire Squirrel Girl as their nanny. Wong (Stephen Strange's manservant) takes over New Avengers' kitchen. Jessica decides to assume an explicit role as a superhero and an Avenger. She almost elects "Power Woman" as her codename, but Cage turns her off it.

59 - Nick Fury assembles "the first" team of Avengers from Kraven, Victor Creed, Namora, Silver Sable, Ulysses Bloodstone, Dominic Fortune. They go after a copycat Red Skull, who has some 'magic thing in a briefcase' they captured, and a copycat super soldier they defeated (which was based on a copycat super soldier serum the Nazis were working  on).

2011, New Avengers attack Superia before she was prepared with a force of former HAMMMER agents. Bobbi Morse gets fatally wounded. It appears Victoria Hand is playing both sides, having set up the NA to get beat up by Superia & HAMMER, and as a way to earn Steve Rogers' trust. Superia is running experiments on a super-soldier formula. Victoria Hand told Cage that Superia went to Cuba.

NA + Spider-Woman go find Superia with the formula, acquire it and capture her. Turns out the formula is Nazi versions of both Infinity Formula and Super-soldier Serum. They administer it to Bobbi. Superia is imprisoned and receives a coded message with Goblin symbol, indicating Hand is still a double agent.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now THIS is what I'm talking about, Bendis. Without any massive crossovers (yet) getting in the way of subtle storytelling, Bendis is free to write the stories it feels like he really wants to be writing. I really love how much Bendis seems to enjoy writing the Luke Cage/Jessica Jones relationship. He takes any opportunity to build that relationship, and there's a great deal of that in here. It's my absolute favorite stuff in Alias, Pulse, and New Avengers, and I'm glad it hasn't been lost in the shuffle of all the massive stuff going on. It's the main reason I'm giving this book 4 stars.

The main arc of this collection is a little wonky, cutting between a present-day fight with former HAMMER operatives and a 1959-based Nick Fury storyline involving former Nazis and the Red Skull. The main problem is, the two stories don't really fit together very well. The art styles representing each time period are wildly, wildly different, which can sometimes work, but feels actively distracting here. The 1959 art is just too cartoony and goofy looking to add any tension or meaning to the present-day story. Also, they don't really overlap thematically, either. It just cuts back and forth without rhyme or reason until the end, when the connection between the two stories is finally explained in about two sentences. It's not Bendis's best stuff, but he still finds time to develop and play with each individual New Avenger, so I left fairly satisfied on a character level.

It's very clear that Bendis is still tied to this title, which arguably is the one that put him on the map in the first place. I'm glad he's still writing New Avengers with a sense of love for it, instead of "I'm still doing this, I guess?" like some writers fall into. For that reason, I'll read any Avengers thing he writes.

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't really have any compliments for this. Once again - if you're looking for a story about the Avengers, you won't really find one here. This volume splits half its time between telling a story about Nick Fury set in the 90s.

The other half is spent watching Luke Cage and Jessica Jones find a nanny and go on a date. That's really it for the Avengers stuff because the case with their "Big Bad" felt secondary to the Fury story with the bad art. There was nothing for me here.

I did notice that just about every female characters refers to herself as sounding "too slutty", or having been a "bimbo" or referring to other women as skank hos. I get that it was 2010 but it's still gross and I don't know a single woman that's ever used the words "skank ho" unironically. It just reminded me that some male writers don't know how to write female characters. I guarantee you, I don't speak this way or get concerned about appearing "too slutty". It seems like such a male thing to presume that women, especially women worried about important shit like saving the world, care about things like this.

So, yeah, I don't have anything nice to say about this volume.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jessica and Luke hire Squirrel Girl as their nanny. this was fun and sets up Squirrel Girl to be a bigger player in the universe.

the rest of the issues are split with a chaykin 1959 flashback eith a weird line up of 'avengers' sabretooth never shouldnhave been part of it. kraven was a cool inclusion. I can believe that. silver sable's dad.

the present day adventure was a battle that it seems Victoria hand set up the new avengers to fail. bobbi is shot and saved by super soldier cross infinity formula.

apparently this is meant to tell the origin of the infinity formula but I dont remember that.

[Graham Barrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Read in 2014, review from 2024)

This one wasn’t as good as other New Avengers material. It was interesting seeing them try to play with the Marvel universe's weird relation to timelines by flashbacking to the mid 20th century with a secret Avengers team before the Avengers was officially founded by the original team. This secret Avengers team line up was weird, mostly villains. The modern day storyline was a bit more interesting with the team trying to save Mockingbird’s life.

[Gabbie Pop · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5
Equally funny and action-packed and I somehow like all of the characters despite having such a vast cast of them.Loving this series.

[Brian Poole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New Avengers convinced Doctor Strange to stick around, dealt with repairs to the Mansion and found a nanny for Luke and Jessica’s baby in Squirrel Girl. They also dealt with a lingering lack of trust for Victoria Hand. Luke and Jessica’s rare night out fell victim to a fight between Ms. Marvel and one of Doctor Doom’s robots. Jessica struggled with her path, but ultimately embraced her role on the team.

In a complex dual narrative, in 1959 Nick Fury gathered a team of adventurers to go on a special mission against some lingering Nazi operatives. In the present, the New Avengers followed info supplied by Victoria Hand to Rhode Island, where unexpectedly powerful villainess Superia was consolidating the remnants of Osborn’s H.A.M.M.E.R. forces as her power base. The New Avengers clashed with H.A.M.M.E.R. and in a horrifying turn of events, Mockingbird sustained a near-fatal injury. In 1959, Fury’s crew invaded a Swedish stronghold to seize an invention from the Red Skull and fought a Captain America clone. Back in the present, Victoria retained Steve Rogers’s confidence, even as her own team accused her of betrayal, but her true loyalties were unclear. The New Avengers, with Hawkeye joining them, pursued and captured Superia. The 1959 acquisition turned out to be the Infinity Formula, the means by which Nick Fury had extended his life and vitality. With Mockingbird at death’s door, Hawkeye insisted they administer it to her, saving her life and increasing her strength.

The first two issues were the sort of character-driven “slice of life” stories at which Brian Michael Bendis excels. There wasn’t much plot development, but the character interactions were well done and some of the interpersonal positioning necessary for the story architecture moved forward. Stuart Immonen did decent work in his final issue on the title, and then Daniel Acuña brought his soft-focus style to Luke and Jessica’s date night, proving to be a good match for that material.

The complex two-era narrative of the rest of the collection was a tricky balancing act that Bendis didn’t always pull off. The stylish throwback adventure of what came to be known as “The 1959 Avengers” was certainly enjoyable and benefited from the ever-distinctive work of artist Howard Chaykin. But the story as a whole felt like it more appropriately belonged in a separate special and even though the MacGuffin of the caper turned out to be important to the resolution of the Mockingbird shooting plot, it felt like a lot of space devoted to something that shouldn’t have been that difficult for the heroes to acquire in their time. The present day sequences were more effective. The transformation of the H.A.M.M.E.R. remnants into some kind of outlaw paramilitary force was an effective use of things Bendis had created in previous stories and Superia was a good antagonist. The jeopardy in which Mockingbird found herself was well-handled and Bendis did a nice job making readers wonder what Victoria Hand was up to. Avengers vet Mike Deodato handled art on the present day sequences and produced his usual dynamic work, with enough grit and shadow to match the darker tone of the arc. With the creators and characters clicking, this was another mostly strong outing and a volume New Avengers fans will want to read.

A version of this review originally appeared on www.thunderalleybcp.com

[Jowel Uddin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The New Avengers
Volume 2
“The New Avengers” volume two starts off with issue number seven of “The New Avengers” series. Captain America or now Commander Steve Rogers, gives Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird, Wolverine, Spiderman, Iron Fist, and the Thing the permission to start their own Avengers and protect the world when they see fit. He also offers them a liaison, Victoria Hand, an old assistant of Norman Osborn. The New Avengers try to do their best, as they are not the original Avengers, and are often not given credit for their efforts. Throughout the volume, the New Avengers stop a H.A.M.M.E.R return and a death scars all of the Avengers. Mockingbird dies at the end of the volume and this proves to be quite an emotional moment, even for Wolverine. My favorite scene is when Wolverine asks the agent of H.A.M.M.E.R if she knows what he is known for. He then takes out one of his claws. The artwork of the volume is also great and so is the story itself. Another side story is told, as our main characters progress, and this story is of Nick Fury's Avengers including Sabertooth, trying to take out the Red Skull in1959. The including of classical characters like Nick Fury and even Hawkeye is incredible. The author also didn't change the classical Nick Fury to the one modeled after Samuel L. Jackson, which I liked, as we rarely see this Nick Fury anymore. Independence, is a big theme within the comic. The New Avengers have formed recently and they don't want to live in the light of greats like the original Avengers. They don't want help from Commander or Captain America. The New Avengers think they can handle themselves and this is extremely evident with Luke Cage. Independence is a major issue even for the superhero community, as the team is very much new and usually new teams need someone to pick them up. Independence as illustrated by the New Avengers is possible, and at times we need to accept help from outsiders. One cannot be independent for too long. Dependency is essential and vital in life, and therefore we must be independent, yet heed advice and help from well wishers. The volume is great for all ages, especially Marvel Fans, and overall is an amazing read.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here again as in New Avengers (1) we have a mixed bag. I didn't really get into the story line in the first collection but found the art, the writing and the book itself in many ways superior to this one. Don't get me wrong, this one does have it's strengths.

First the humor here is a bit more front and center and works very well. As this one opens it actually drew me in a bit more than the first collection. The problem is I found it losing me as it went on. The story isn't bad but neither is it great and I sort of lost interest (even with the semi-cliffhanger ending).

Also, this is a graphic novel/comic book collection and art must be front and center. The "inset story" in the book seems to me to be very weak art wise. I assume it's an intentional change for the point of the story, but still I didn't care for the way it was done.

All in all still a good Marvel read, but will not be among my "favs".

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hurm.

Liked this, but not as much as I would have expected.

The writing did not really click for me until the last two (issues) chapters.

I found the switch between Deodato's and Chakyn's visual styles to be pretty jarring. And not in a good way.

This is strange as I like each artist, but as for "complementing" each other it was like the a music show,

round robin format with a heavy metal band and a new wave band.

They both do cool things but they each make the other seem absurd,

in different ways.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real turn around from the previous volume. This is Bendis Avengers at its best. It's fun and full of great character moments. The action is exciting and here not too badly decompressed. There's even some nice intrigue, with us not really knowing what's going on with Hand.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fury flashbacks were fun, and more pointed than I thought they would be. Bendis' patter is perfect, of course. No one does witty comic book dialogue like him.

[Eddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found comic sale I continue the quest of catching up with the Avengers series, sadly out of order. Glad Benis kept his love for Nick Fury alive. This almost a 4. Not a fan of History rewrites.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Marvel's so-called “Architects”, Brian Michael Bendis has been a thorn in my side for the last 8 years. See, The Avengers are “my team”, which means that, much like the two dozen Detroit Lions fans out there, I must follow my team even if they've been losing under “coach” Bendis all of these years. Bendis is no “Architect” at all, merely a smartass drunken fratboy renting out the House of Ideas.

Issue 7 is a series of conversations, most of which occur around the breakfast table. I love reading idiot message board banter where people criticize you and call you a dinosaur if you don't like the latest flavor. I don't dislike Bendis because he's “now”, I dislike Bendis because his dialogue sucks. Let's pretend for a minute that kids actually give a rat's ass about comic books, and that some kid who watched The Avengers cartoon on Disney XD wanted to read an Avengers comic book. Let's say that said child was lucky enough to live near a comic shop (or bought a digital copy, what have you) and paid his $3.99 for that single issue. He would open it and read it, and not one damn thing happened in it that would excite a kid enough to want to read the next issue. This is a failure on Bendis and Marvel's part. I am a dinosaur in the respect that I believe that every issue could be somebody's first. Issues like this are what I call fanboy* tripe. (*Word used in the original, pejorative definition.) I will admit that the nanny interview segment was kind of funny, but they could have eliminated a good 6 or more pages of table talk and showed some sort of action. Do it for the kids, man!

Issues 9-13 are pretty good. Mike Deodato has continually refined his craft over the years and has emerged as one of Marvel's top artists. Things actually happen in these issues, and it prevented me from throwing this book against the wall in disgust after the crapfest that was issue 7. I enjoyed the story, but the 1959 ret-con Avengers were lame. When Hollywood cannot create, they reboot. When comic books writers cannot create, they ret-con. Ret-con is short for retroactive continuity, where a writer inserts events into the past to make something in the present make sense, or eliminate something from the past to make something in the present make sense. So now there was supposedly an Avengers Initiative in place back then. Whatever, Bendis. Godzilla forbid that H.A.M.M.E.R. just discovered some Nazi Super Soldier formula. No, we have to create a lame fake Avengers with Sabretooth, Bloodstone, Dominic Fortune, Kraven the Hunter, Namora, and Silver Sable's father. That last one is reeeeeaally stretching it, Bendis.

Bendis is a decent plotter and would likely make a good editor. The problem lies in his “witty” dialogue and decompressed storytelling style. He takes what would be a good 2-3 issue story and stretches it out to 6 or 7 issues. Any sense of urgency that there would have been is rendered impotent by this stop and smell the roses style of scripting. I will say this for him, though: he does know where he's going. He has a series of dots and connects them all flawlessly. Of course, he takes so long to do this that it would be inexcusable to do otherwise.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bendis took a step down in this comic.
By no means is this the worst thing in the world. Its perfectly serviceable. The writing is all right, the characters are still kind of fun. This is the setup for darker things to come in the Heroic Age of the Avengers. But honestly, most of it just feels pretty pointless, a status quo that isn't going to change in a superhero comic. Mockingbird's been shot, and now we have to go through the melodrama of resuscitating her. Hawkeye's pissed since they're ex lovers, and he's out for blood.
But not really.
Clint seems to be in this dark path of wanting to kill Superia, but he won't do anything about it. There's no speech that he's going to do it, no overdramatic emphasis as to why. Carol just punches her in the jaw and Clint basically says he was supposed to get a hit in.
The art ranges all over the place. Immonen does the first issue of this volume, but then the rest gets carried out by a number of artists. Daniel Acuna is an excellent artist in my eyes, wish he'd gotten more than one issue to shine. Mike Deodato's also pretty good; his characters feel realistic and the use of shadow is great. I will say, all of his characters in costumes look practically naked, like they just spray painted the patterns of the costume on their body.
But Howard Chaykin is HORRIBLE.
I honestly do not understand how this man has been allowed to draw for as long as he has. His art has not improved even remotely in the comics I've seen him draw for. Its consistently ugly, barely coherent, and the bare minimum of what I expect comic art to do in telling a narrative. Nothing interesting in terms of camera povs, panel layout, or even body types/facial structure? There's no compliments to give to that man, I honestly hope he either improves VASTLY or outright retires.
I don't know, little more disappointed with this one. Wish Stuart Immonen were the main artist still, but I understand that his art is crazy detailed and keeping up on a monthly title can be rough at his caliber. Not a horrible book, just wished for more.

[Aidan Roraback · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second volume of New Avengers written by Brian Michael Bendis was a great and fun read. It begins to get into the relationships of the characters on the team, especially Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. This book goes back and forth in two timelines; the present with the New Avengers, and 1959 as Nick Fury assembles the first team of Avengers to take down Hydra. In the present, Victoria Hand sends the team to shut down a secret H.A.M.M.E.R. base but they soon finds themselves in trouble when a mysterious woman named Superia attempts to stop them. In 1959, Fury and his team hunt down Red Skull and his Reich but encounter a surprise that may just link the two timelines...

What I loved about this book were the sequences in where the characters were just casually talking. Bendis (the author) has proven that he is very good at using scenes like two married superheroes talking at a restaurant to add some backstory and character development. I liked how Nick Fury's story tied into Luke Cage's situation the way it did and I think this way there was more depth than if it was just a normal Avenger story. I also really liked how they gave more to Victoria Hand's character, and I can't wait to see what they do with her and Superia in the next one.

What I didn't like was the art of the 1959 story. It was a little strange at first and it took me a little to get used to the style. However this did not affect the story. The last thing that I would say is that I was a little confused with Superia's character, but I am sure that this will be cleared up in future issues.

Great comic book! Make sure you read the first one if you can before reading this.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 2 out of 5]

Si el primer arco de Nuevos Vengadores había estado bastante entretenido, este segundo arco la verdad es que no tanto. En este caso, tenemos un número que sirve de presentación para el nuevo equipo, con la incorporación de Extraño al grupo y el primer encontronazo entre Spiderman y Victoria Hand, uno de esos números de diálogo y situación que tanto le gustan a Bendis, y que sería el último que realizaría Immonem en la serie. Ah, por cierto, por fin Jessica y Luke se deciden a contratar a una niñera, que será ni menos que Chica Ardilla. Después habría un número de relleno, dibujado por Daniel Acuña, en el que una cena entre Jessica y Luke se ve interrumpida por la aparición del Doctor Muerte...

Y después llegaría Vengadores: 1959, una historia contada a dos tiempos y que presentaría algo llamado La Iniciativa Vengadores, un equipo organizado por Nick Furia a instancias del presidente y que pondría a Furia al frente de un equipo formado por Dientes de Sable, Dominic Fortune, Ulysses Bloodstone, Namora y Kraven para enfrentarse a Cráneo Rojo en 1959... y al mismo tiempo, los Nuevos Vengadores reciben un chivatazo a través de Victoria Hand sobre una reunión de un nuevo proyecto de HAMMER, donde tendrán que hacer frente a un nuevo personaje, la científica Superia, y uno de ellos será gravemente herido.

En 1959, las dos partes están separadas por los dibujantes, el de la parte del pasado es Howard Chaykin, y el de la parte actual es Mike Deodato, y si bien es cierto que Deodato me gusta muchísimo, Chaykin me horroriza en el mismo nivel... y la historia no es muy allá, la verdad, me da la sensación de que está demasiado alargada.

[Mr. Stick · Rating 4 out of 5]

"WHEN I DEDICATED MY LIFE IN SERVICE TO YOU AS SORCEROR SUPREME... I REMEMBER I CLOSED MY EYES AND I PRAYED THAT ONE DAY I WOULD GROW UP TO BE A SECOND-RATE JARVIS FOR A SECOND-RATE PILE OF AVENGERS.
ONCE I GET IT SET UP... IF ANYBODY TOUCHES MY KITCHEN, I'LL BURN IT TO THE GROUND."
- Wong to Dr. Strange and the New Avengers.

This was honestly better than the first volume.
The Mansion's still trashed from previous issues.
Luke and Jessica go on a date. Not as superficial as it sounds. There's a lot of one-liners and a serious doombot beat down.
Next, we get a series of flashbacks to 1959, when Nick Fury recruited the first group of Avengers to hunt down Nazi zealots. In the present, Superia and H.A.M.M.E.R. get stomped by the modern lineup of Avengers. A new super-soldier formula?

On a side note... Squirrel-girl and Wolverine had a "thing?" I need more here. Time travel. Group hallucination. What? Damn it, Bendis, I want answers!

I expected less, but I was surprisingly entertained. Four stars.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the team begins to come together, the New Avengers confront a cell of HAMMER agents, leading to one of them being mortally wounded. However, through flashbacks to Nick Fury's first team of Avengers in 1959, we learn of a possible solution to the situation.

This was a much better book than the first one, feeling much more character-focused and giving us some real stakes to get invested in. Also, the remnants of Norman Osborn's HAMMER are a much more credible threat than some mystical long-dead sorcerer.

I also enjoyed the flashbacks to the 1950s Avengers, a black ops unit targeting the remains of the Nazi regime. It's line-up is particularly interesting, with the likes of Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Kraven the Hunter, Sabertooth and others.
For a while, however, it felt like the earlier timeline story was totally failing to link in any way to the 'current' timeline events, but right at the end we see where it's all been leading.

*More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Kyle Berk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two very good first issues here. After that it gets into a very basic plot where you have one storyline following Nick Fury for seemingly no reason for four issues.

Though I want to state the first two issues are good character issues that zero in on Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. And the heroes recover from the end of the previous volume. They focus on dialogue and character interaction and they are the primary reason I liked this volume.

The subsequent story of the New Avengers hunting down H.A.M.M.E.R is by the numbers and twists for twists sake. It’s enjoyable enough but it isn’t any better or much different then what came in the previous New Avengers series, they’re working with the same cast of characters is sort of kinda the same situations, while also playing off The Dark Avengers title.

Yet I’m still here reading so it’s enjoyable enough on its own.

The art is not my style. It looks like the event Original Sin and I didn’t like the art their either. It serves its function though, even if it is a bit stiff.

3 stars.

[Joshua Buhs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but limited.

Bendis is a supple writer in the comic book medium, able to juggle several characters (though Mockingbird and Wolverine are wasted here), layer a story, and allow his artists room. The problem here is that someone obviously thought the conceit of this story arc would be kick-ass--having Nick Fury gather an earlier iteration of the Avengers, involving the likes of Sabretooth--then parallel that team's deployment with the the current New Avengers. But there was no reason for this earlier Avengers Initiative (the baddie is not very bad) and so the story bows up the entire Marvel continuity for reason other than to be, ya know, kick ass. It might've worked back in the seventies, when there was less premium put on the interpellation of the universe, and as a back-of-the-book extra, but here, it falls flat.

So: fun enough, though to no end.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collects New Avengers (2010) issues #7-13

I think this is where Bendis should have started this run of "New Avengers." It is a better story than what we got in Volume #1. In this collection we have two stories running side-by-side. One is about the New Avengers trying to stop a team of still-active H.A.M.M.E.R. operatives. The second story is a flashback to the 1950's. Nick Fury is recruiting super-powered beings for something called the Avengers Initiative, and that first team is made up of:

-Sabretooth
-Kraven the Hunter
-Namora
-Dominick Fortune
-The original Silver Sable
-Ulysses Bloodstone

This collection introduces Squirrel Girl to the team as the nanny for Danielle Cage.

I will give this book a generous 3.5-star rating

[Kahn · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a general rule of thumb, you won't go far wrong when on board the Bendis bus.
The guy gets how to write a story - characters shine through, the action is tense, and there is usually some proper, good ol' fashioned drama.
And so it is in Vol 2 of The New Avengers.
Interweaving two stories - today, as the new bunch take on some Hammer goons, and 1959 when Fury took on Red Skull - gives us twice as much fun, and allows Bendis to bring events from the past into the present day.
There's a few funny lines, there's at least one genuinely shocking moment, and there is real suspense and a bit of a cliff-hanger.
Why can't all comic books be this good?

[Terry Collins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A step above the first volume in giving us more time with the characters. Loved the Avengers 1959 saga intercut with the present day storyline (complete with shout outs to The Infinity Formula). Plus - Spider-man showed some smarts and wasn’t a doofus. The shallow way he’s presented in these Avengers stories most of the time is a disservice to the character. Peter is the driving force behind Spidey, and we don’t have that at all ... so getting to see it was a pleasant surprise as short lived as the sequence might have been.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally things are starting to feel like New Avengers again. This volume deals with the return of Osborn's H.A.M.M.E.R, while flashbacks show us Nick Fury's 1950s black ops Avengers team, consisting of himself, Dum-Dum Dugan, Sabretooth, Namora, Kraven the Hunter, Dominic Fortune, Silver Sable's father, and Ulysses Bloodstone. Is the idea that there was a 1950s group called the Avengers really silly? Yes. But it's not nearly as silly as Jason Aaron's Stone Age Avengers group.

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this volume, might be one of the strongest ones I've read regarding this Bendis Era for the Avengers. All of the characters have been fun to read, with each being different than the others. Luke Cage is a great character and this run proves why he needs a modern solo run. H.A.M.M.E.R and Hand are intriguing foes for our group of misfits and would love to see how this story evolves from here. I would recommend this run and this volume. Grade: B+