Review: Avengers #503

Avengers #503
Marvel Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Finch

I've never been a big Avengers fan. But recently it seems like Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Fantastic Four are having trouble with sales. Ever since the Heroes Reborn debacle, it seems like one of these books is going through another creative revamp.

In store for Avengers is another creative revamp. A new team is on the way consisting of Wolverine, Spider-Man, Captain America, The Sentry, Iron Man, Luke Cage and Spider-Woman. Of course, that means we need to get rid of the old team. On the one hand, I don't think it's such a good idea. On the other, if the current team's sales have been such a problem, maybe a change will be good. Something tells me that by tossing out the traditional Avengers teams, most of the traditional fans will leave the book. But I guess Marvel is banking on the fact that a new influx of fans will come in and outsell the original title. Especially because it's Bendis.

In general, I'm wondering where Marvel is headed with its titles. It seems to me that none of their books are generating the same kind of buzz as DC titles like Identity Crisis and Green Lantern: Rebirth.

But let's get back to the book at hand. This issue marks the conclusion of the "Chaos"/Disassembled stories. I'm not sure how Disassembled tied into other books (for example, the FF Disassembled story seems totally unrelated) but by the end of this issue the title's purpose is clear.

I haven't really enjoyed this story. It's made me question whether or not I will pick up New Avengers (probably not). Something about it doesn't sit well with me. I'll try reading all four issues in sequence but despite the fact that a lot of things happened in this story, it still feels like very little got accomplished. There's a ton of dialogue with Dr. Strange (which feels like a cheap resolution) and I just don't really agree with the events of the story. I think I went into the issue with a negative attitude and so that translates into this review. The artwork by David Finch is pretty good, and I enjoyed the little montages with art from past Avengers issues as well. Also strange about this book was that it dealt with some very heavy continuity, which is an oddity these days at Marvel.