There's a lot to enjoy about Avengers Prime - the inclusion of Marvel's "Big Three" Avengers, a fun story and terrific art - but I also have a bone to pick.Writer Brian Bendis is all about the characters and getting their voice right, and he largely succeeds - Thor is brash yet regal, Iron Man (Tony Stark) is glib and overconfident, and Steve Rogers (Captain America) is confident and in control.
But it's with Steve that Bendis stumbles badly. He depicts Steve getting cozy with a beautiful maid - which means either Bendis or Steve have forgotten about Sharon Carter, the former SHIELD agent Steve loves (she was carrying his baby, for crying out loud). Of course, perhaps he's the victim of a spell - we'll see. But Steve's not acting in character, and that's surprising, coming from Bendis.
The story centers around the three Avengers being tossed into a world of magic, and they're immediately separated and face some serious bad guys along the way.
The real star of the issue, though, is artist Alan Davis, working with inker Mark Farmer and colorist Javier Rodriguez. They turn in a textbook example of outstanding artwork, with great layouts, energetic characters, humor, action, beautiful women, handsome men, gruesome monsters - what more could you ask?
I could quibble with a few story points, and a key player's involvement seems to contradict an ongoing story in Thor's comic, but this issue is so much fun that I can't fault it for these minor problems - any reader would easily earn a No-prize explaining these things away (if they still gave out No-prizes).
Lots of fun!
Grade: A-
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