Mighty Avengers #16 Review

For the most part, the Secret Invasion tie-in issues continue to surpass the story that Bendis is giving us over on Secret Invasion itself. I expect much of the same with Mighty Avengers #16. In this issue we will learn how Electra got replaced by a Skrull. Considering that I have always felt that Electra should have stayed dead after Frank Miller had Bullseye kill her, I have no problem with her character getting killed of again. Let’s go ahead and hit this review for Mighty Avengers #16.

Creative Team
Writer: Brain Michael Bendis
Pencils: Khoi Pham
Inks: Danny Miki

Art Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 4.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with a scene from “several months ago.” We see Electra paying Electro to pull off a huge distraction so that the authorities will not even know what has actually happened until it is long past.

We slide backward in time to a several months earlier to Osaka, Japan. We see Electra meditating when suddenly; she is attacked by one of the Super Skrulls posing as Electra. Electra begins brawling with the Skrull and ends up killing the Skrull despite the Skrull’s obvious power advantage. Electra even kills the Skrull in the same fashion that Electra was killed by Bullseye. (Eh, not so cool as the first time.)

Electra is stunned when the Skrull reverts back to its natural form. Electra then senses others outside of her building. We cut to Electra on the rooftop of her building. Suddenly, she is attacked by a Super Skrull in Daredevil’s form and a Super Skrull in Wolverine’s form.

Electra locks horns with both Skrulls. The Daredevil Skrull displays all of the powers of the various X-Men. After a pretty vicious fight, Electra manages to kill both the Wolverine Skrull and the Daredevil Skrull.

Suddenly, another Super Skrull using Invisible Woman’s powers sneaks up on Electra and beats the hell out of her. The Super Skrull then kills Electra. The Super Skrull then assumes Electra’s form.

We zip forward to a few weeks later in New York City where the Electra Skrull is meeting with the Skrull Queen. The Skrull Queen says that the Electra Skrull’s death will bring this world’s heroes to their knees. The Queen asks the Electra Skrull to turn the heroes’ world upside down and to make them come after her.

We cut to one week later where a Hydra officer is talking to the Hand. The Hydra officer states that the Hydra and the Hand are now joined together and the timing is perfect as news of the Avengers disbanding has just been announced.

Suddenly, Electra arrives on the scene and kills the Hydra officer. Electra then chastises the Hand for allowing themselves to be errand boys for terrorists like Hydra. The leader of the Hand and Electra then square off and fight. Electra kills the leader of the Hand. Electra then assumes leadership of the Hand and promises them all that they will die with the honor and power that they have earned. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: I do not really have all that much to say about Mighty Avengers #16. This issue lacked any real substance. I found Mighty Avengers #16 to be an average read. Still, there were several positive aspects to this issue. Clearly, the strength of this issue is all the kick-ass fighting that we get between Electra and the Super Skrull soldiers. As a matter of fact, Mighty Avengers #16 is incredibly action packed for a Bendis penned story.

Not only do we get tons of furious action, but Bendis treats the reader to some wonderfully choreographed fight scenes. Bendis rarely impresses me with how he stages brawls, but he does an excellent job handling the flow of the action in Mighty Avengers #16. I loved that Bendis allowed Electra to kick tons of ass despite being outnumbered and outgunned.

I thought that Electra received a pretty bad-assed death. Electra gets to go out like the true warrior that she is. Electra kills not one, not two, but three Super Skrulls who were loaded up with powers from various characters in the Marvel Universe. And Electra only falls in the end to a fourth Super Skrull who employs a cowardly attack by attacking Electra while invisible.

Bendis does a fantastic job stressing what a phenomenal warrior Electra is and that the only way she was going to lose this fight was by the Skrulls being sneaky and underhanded. This also reinforces the perception of the Skrulls as being un-honorable and devious villains. At the end of this massive fight scene, the reader has plenty of respect for Electra and absolutely none for the cowardly Skrulls.

The Bad: Mighty Avengers #16 was an extremely thin story. This was a shallow read that presented no substance at all for the reader to chew on. Mighty Avengers #16 is one of the few Secret Invasion tie-in issues that have really felt like being mostly fluff and filler. The past two issues of Mighty Avengers have felt like Bendis just burning time in order to stretch out these tie-in issues over the course of the eight issue Secret Invasion event.

Bendis’ dialogue was very ordinary. Bendis also fails to deliver any character work at all in this issue. Of course, both are to be expected when the issue basically consists of one large brawl. Mighty Avengers #16 also fails to progress the main story of Secret Invasion. And we do not even learn anything that interesting or important concerning the events that led up to Secret Invasion #1.

While it was nice to find out when and how Electra got replaced by a Skrull, I do not think that it deserved an entire issue. I just did not find it to be that big of a deal. I think that Bendis could have easily combined Mighty Avengers #15 and #16 into one nicely paced issue. I do not feel that we needed an issue a piece on how Henry Pym and Electra got replaced by the Skrulls.

I will admit up front that I just do not like Khoi Pham’s style of art. And I have never been a huge fan of Danny Miki’s inks. Putting the two of them together pretty much guarantees that I am not going to like the art for Mighty Avengers #16. I find Pham’s artwork to be way too sketchy and sloppy. And Electra looks downright hideous.

Overall: Mighty Avengers #16 was a rather average read. You certainly do not need to read Mighty Avengers #16 in order to enjoy the story over on Secret Invasion. This issue also may not appeal to many Avengers fans since the story pretty much has nothing to do with a single Avenger. On the other hand, action fans will probably love all of the furious fighting that we get in Mighty Avengers #16. If you are in the mood for a huge mindless brawlfest then you might want to get this issue.