The Avengers #13

It would be easy to hate this issue of The Avengers.

That's because it's all teasing and talking and virtually no action.

Since the recent relaunch of the Avengers line, a backup text feature has featured an oral history of the team through the eyes of different team members. Now that feature has expanded and filled this issue, which is mostly made up of 12-panel grids featuring members taking part in that oral history.

There are a few story and splash panels mixed in, but they just give glimpses of the Fear Itself story.

But I have to admit... I enjoyed this issue!

As always, writer Brian Bendis is a master of clever dialogue. And there's a lot more to the story, too, as the different interviews take place at different points in time (it's up to you to figure out when), focusing on the personalities of the heroes and offering up some surprising insights.

The other big plus is the artwork by Chris Bachalo, who manages to jump effortlessly between small personal moments, crowd scenes and detailed splash pages of intense destruction.

Your mileage may vary - some will not enjoy this comic at all - but I thought it was an entertaining experiment, carried off with great skill.

But hopefully next issue will give us just a bit more action.

Grade: A-

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