The Revolution has never been shy about expressing our displeasure with Bendis’ Civil War tie-in issues. This has been a string of extremely unimpressive and boring issues. Seriously, Civil War cannot end quickly enough just so we can go back to getting actual Avengers related storylines in their own title. It seems like it has been forever since we got anything that could be remotely confused with an entertaining story in the New Avengers. I predict that we will get plenty more of the standard Nazi references toward the pro-registration side. I predict that Iron Man will act more like Iron Dick Cheney than Tony Stark. Blah, blah, blah. It will be more of the same garbage that we have gotten over and over in ever Civil War title. Let’s go ahead and do the review of one of the most predictable storylines ever.
Creative Team
Writer: Brain Michael Bendis
Penciler: Adi Granov
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: This issue begins with a mopey Sentry sitting on the moon trying to collect his thoughts. Sentry thinks about how he is powerful enough to end the Civil War immediately. That he could kill all of them. However, the Sentry questions whether he should be fighting on his friends. He is also disappointed with himself for running away when called upon by Tony Stark to help end this Civil War.
Suddenly, the Inhumans appear and attack The Sentry. The Inhumans don’t take kindly to humans hanging around their area. The Sentry suddenly remembers that the Inhumans live on the moon. The Sentry tells them that this was an unintentional mistake. Crystal then tells Sentry that the Black Bolt wants to meet with him.
We shift to the Black Bolt’s throne room in Attilan. Medusa asks Sentry why he is here. He tells her that this was a mistake. That he was simply trying to find a place to be alone and to think. Medusa then invites Sentry to be their guest at dinner and tell them all about the Civil War on Earth.
We cut to the dinner scene. The Sentry has finished telling the Inhumans about the Civil War. Medusa then tells Sentry that he can stay the night. The Sentry accepts the invitation.
We shift to The Sentry in his guest quarters. Crystal enters the room. Crystal asks Sentry if they knew each other at some point in the past. Sentry tells Crystal that they were lovers. Crystal tells him that she can’t remember any of it. The two then start kissing. The Sentry tells Crystal that he is married. Crystal responds “But…Only on Earth, right?” (Hey, nice logic! I like this woman!)
Suddenly, Iron Man appears in Sentry’s room and tells him that it is time for him to go home. That the pro-registration side needs him. The Sentry says that he doesn’t want to fight his friends. Also that the only way to stop Captain America is going to be to kill him and The Sentry doesn’t want to kill him. Iron Man says that they can stop Captain America without killing him. Iron Man says that he hates all of this as well. That it is hard on Iron Man, too. That everyday he thinks about sitting alone in a room with a bottle of Johnny Walker Black and forget all of this. Iron Man tells Sentry that the world needs heroes like him.
The Inhumans then enter the room and tell Iron Man that he is trespassing. Iron Man apologizes and says that he is just here to get Sentry. Iron Man assures the Inhumans that the Civil War will not come to their doorstep. Iron Man and Sentry leave. One of the Inhumans who can see the future tells Medusa that the heroes of Earth are not ready for what happens next. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Zzzzzzz, huh, what? Oh, I’m sorry. I fell asleep reading New Avengers #24. I guess it is time for the comments, huh? Ok, what did I enjoy about this issue? Well, we had no references to Stalin, Hitler or the Nazi Party. We got no comparisons to the Holocaust or the Institution of Slavery. We got no lame Tom Leher show tunes. I think that is cause for celebration when reading a Civil War-tie in issue. Other than that, there wasn’t too much about the story that I was really impressed with.
Now, the artwork is a totally different story. I was psyched to see my boy Pasqual Ferry throwing down the artwork for this issue. I am a new fan of Ferry’s art and I thought he delivered a wonderful looking issue. The beautiful artwork is the only thing that kept my interest while reading New Avengers #24.
The Bad: New Avengers #24 can be summed up in one word: BORING. This issue was a real snoozer. It was slow, uninteresting and a total waste of time. New Avengers #24 was the very epitome of a filler issue. Bendis is clearly focusing most of his energy over on Ultimate Power and Ultimate Spider-Man and is totally mailing it in on the New Avengers. This issue really reflected the impression that Bendis put absolutely no effort at all into writing New Avengers #24.
This issue was so unnecessary. Absolutely nothing happened. Zero plotlines were developed or introduced. It wasn’t even a good character study. Bendis presents one of the most mopey and uninteresting versions of the Sentry. I dig how Jenkins writes The Sentry. I can’t say I’m particularly impressed with how Bendis writes The Sentry.
It wasn’t that New Avengers #24 was horrible or abysmally written. It was just totally and completely pointless and a waste of paper. I would have preferred that Marvel just suspend publishing of the New Avengers during the Civil War mini-series rather then have them foist these useless Civil War tie-in issues on readers.
Overall: New Avengers #24 continues the trend of dull and meaningless Civil War tie-in issues. New Avengers has been stuck in neutral ever since the start of the Civil War mini-series. Unfortunately, it looks like we are still due several more pure filler issues. I can’t wait for the New Avengers to return to telling interesting story arcs involving the Avengers. Unless you are a die-hard Bendis fan or a die-hard Civil War fan, I’d recommend waiting on buying the New Avengers until the Civil War has ended.