The Avengers #14

Once again, a terrific issue of Avengers, with a great story by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Spencer (as the mystery of what a godlike alien has done to the Earth continues to grow) and terrific art by Stefano Caselli (with all kinds of strange aliens on the move).

The creative team is really building something original - a complex and compelling story that's just a delight to follow.

But that's not what I want to talk about. I've been praising this series since it started - surely our faithful readers are getting tired of my raves, so let's find something to bash on.

So let's talk about the cover, which is problematic for several reasons. The image depicted by the talented Leinil Francis Yu and Sunny Gho doesn't represent anything actually in this issue (perhaps it will work for the next issue). The pose is rather odd - my first reaction was, why are these heroes taking a nap together?

Then there's the logo, which is muted, tiny and almost invisible in the upper left-hand corner. I almost didn't pick up this issue, because I didn't see the logo.

And finally, there's the subtitle, "Prelude to Infinity," which partially covers the Avengers logo (it was already hard to spot), and as near as I can tell, there's nothing in this issue that relates to that upcoming event that features Thanos. (Events may prove me wrong, of course, but I see no evidence of Thanos here.)

So the cover doesn't really work for me - but once you get past that, this is a fantastic comic and highly recommended!

Grade: A-

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