After being disappointed with Avengers Disassembled, I was a little leery to read about the "replacement" Avengers. However, the story was pretty good, and Spider-man's quips kept it entertaining. I'm interested to see where this is going. ( )

Merideth says: Following the dissolution of the Avengers, a jail break on 'The Raft' -- an ultra-high security facility for dangerous super-criminals -- leads to Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Iron Man, Captain America and Wolverine forming the New Avengers.

Shield Agent Jessica Drew (alias Spider-Woman) leads Matt Murdock (recently outed as Daredevil) and his partner, Foggy Nelson into the Raft, a prison for the super-powered. They are accompanied by Luke Cage, hero-for-hire. The purpose of their visit is to talk to one Robert Reynolds, the Sentry, who asked to be locked up, following the death of his wife. While there, another criminal stages a jailbreak, releasing 87 super-criminals. Drew, Murdock and Cage do their best to contain the outbreak, while Nelson convinces Reynolds to assist. Capt. America, Iron-man and Spider-man soon arrive, and together, the team captures 42 of the released criminals. Capt. America sees the assemblage of heroes on the Raft as a signal that the Avengers need to be reinvigorated, and the heroes agree, for various reasons. Only Matt Murdock declines the offer, and Jessica Drew seems to be funneling information to some unknown party. The team works out of Stark Tower, and soon travels to the Savage Land to apprehend one of the escaped criminals. There they meet with Wolverine, who was also tracking the criminal. While in the Savage Land, the team makes startling discoveries.

I liked this book more than I thought I would. Although Bendis has a tendency to throw the most popular heroes together at any given time, for any reason (see Secret War; House of M;) the set-up here feels more organic than some superhero team ups. Also, Luke Cage and Jessica Drew throw a little bit of mystery into the mix, as I am not that familiar with those characters. Things move pretty fast in this title, most likely because Bendis knows the core readership for this series are 1) already familiar with the players and 2) not really in it for character development. The artwork looks very 'Marvel' and in the first section of the book, the prison setting and 87 villains make for a dark and cluttered page. Things improve after that, although the Savage Land looks like a Roger Corman movie, but I doubt that's Finch's fault. Overall, a sold beginning to an interesting series. (cross-posted from MeriJenBen) ( )

Collects New Avengers #1-10, New Avengers most wanted files, and New avenger featuring the fantastic four. ( )

Following the dissolution of the Avengers, a jail break on "The Raft" -- an ultra-high security facility for dangerous super-criminals -- leads to Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Iron Man, Captain America and Wolverine forming the New Avengers.

Shield Agent Jessica Drew (alias Spider-Woman) leads Matt Murdock (recently outed as Daredevil) and his partner, Foggy Nelson into the Raft, a prison for the super-powered. They are accompanied by Luke Cage, hero-for-hire. The purpose of their visit is to talk to one Robert Reynolds, the Sentry, who asked to be locked up, following the death of his wife. While there, another criminal stages a jailbreak, releasing 87 super-criminals. Drew, Murdock and Cage do their best to contain the outbreak, while Nelson convinces Reynolds to assist. Capt. America, Iron-man and Spider-man soon arrive, and together, the team captures 42 of the released criminals. Capt. America sees the assemblage of heroes on the Raft as a signal that the Avengers need to be reinvigorated, and the heroes agree, for various reasons. Only Matt Murdock declines the offer, and Jessica Drew seems to be funneling information to some unknown party. The team works out of Stark Tower, and soon travels to the Savage Land to apprehend one of the escaped criminals. There they meet with Wolverine, who was also tracking the criminal. While in the Savage Land, the team makes startling discoveries.

I liked this book more than I thought I would. Although Bendis has a tendency to throw the most popular heroes together at any given time, for any reason (see Secret War; House of M;) the set-up here feels more organic than some superhero team ups. Also, Luke Cage and Jessica Drew throw a little bit of mystery into the mix, as I am not that familiar with those characters. Things move pretty fast in this title, most likely because Bendis knows the core readership for this series are 1) already familiar with the players and 2) not really in it for character development. The artwork looks very "Marvel" and in the first section of the book, the prison setting and 87 villains make for a dark and cluttered page. Things improve after that, although the Savage Land looks like a Roger Corman movie, but I doubt that's Finch's fault. Overall, a sold beginning to an interesting series. ( )

The Avengers are refashioned into Marvel's equivalent of the Justice League in this suprisingly good relaunch by the talented Brian Michael Bendis. Two great story arcs accompanied by some terrific art makes this well worth the money. ( )