Tuesday, February 11, 2014

New Avengers #14

   Despite its relentlessly dark nature, I've been really enjoying the New Avengers as written by Jonathan Hickman,

   The team (made up of the Illuminati - Black Bolt, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Namor, Reed Richards and the Beast) are dealing with incursions of alternate Earths, and to save "our" Earth, the others must be destroyed.

    And the problem continues to escalate, as we get glimpses of Earths that have potent defenders - ones that threaten to overmatch Marvel's heroes.

   So that's interesting, and the art by Simone Bianchi is appropriately dark and intense - but something else about this issue troubles me.

   It's the depiction of Dr. Strange.

   The good Doc is one of my all-time favorites, but few writers are able to manage the character.

   Stan Lee and Steve Ditko co-created the character, of course, and established a coherent (and trippy) world. Among others who did excellent work with the character: Roy Thomas and Gene Colan, Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner, Roger Stern, Marshall Rogers and Paul Smith.

   Past those luminaries, it's been hit-and-miss with the character - and now Hickman is taking the Sorcerer Supreme in a dark and dangerous direction - and I fear the worst for the character.

   Hopefully the Doc can be redeemed - but it may be  rough road ahead.

Grade: B-

                                                                                   

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Spot on.

B.