Was the Siege worth it?The first issue of the Siege feels like an episode of Lost, rather than an issue of a comic book. There is so much going on in the book, that without a roadmap the average reader will be lost. If you want to avoid spoilers, turn back now. All the major players are introduced in some way or another. For those of you out of the loop, like me, here is a quick round down of the Marvel Universe status quo. The heroes are all in a sorry state in the start of this book. Tony Stark is sick in a small house in the middle of nowhere, being cared for by Dr. Donald Blake, the alter ego of Thor. In the meantime, Captain America, Steve Rogers, is home watching everything go down on TV. The rest of the Marvel heroes are in hiding as enemies of the state. We also get an update on the villains, or should I say the Avengers. Most of the villains are on a government pay role with the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn, as their boss. Meanwhile, Osborn is being manipulated by Loki, the God of Mischief, while the rest of the villains-led “Dark” Avengers team is going into battle with the Norse Gods to get out from under Norman’s thumb and return to being villains again. Everything feels huge in this opening to this year’s first big Marvel event. What worries me is how inter-connected the characters are, and how the average reader will view this story. Without knowing how big a part Thor was going to be in this series, I picked up the most recent Thor graphic novels this summer, and was addicted to the story line. Without reading those arcs, the set up for this story would have felt like something out of left field. The whole basis for the book is the return of Thor and his home, Asgard, on American soil. With this so-called threat looming over the heartland of the country, it was only a matter of time that there would be a battle between the mortal Gods and the actual Gods. The Death of Captain America and his subsequent return is also central to the story, which, once again, if not for my curiosity about the return of Steve Rogers, I would be confused by him being in the book. His return was not revealed in his own book, rather in almost every other Marvel book connected to the Avengers. He was only shown at the very end of this major crossoverThe only character I am not caught up with is Iron Man, so for that I headed over to Amazon. I was able to pick up the last 3 volumes of Invincible Iron Man to get caught up with the events that landed Tony Stark sick in bed. I have been reading all the Avenger books, and while I know all about the problems that the teams face, it was not enough to understand the first issue of the Siege. You had to be a Marvel addict to understand everything going on in this issue. You can follow the story, but you might not catch the little details that Bendis puts into this book. Luckily Joe Quesada, the EIC at Marvel, put in his own run down of events at the end of the issue that started Avengers Disassembled almost 7 years ago, as well as a dialogue between Norman and his team about the attack of the gods, that readers of the first print will have go on-line to read. There was a printing error and some of the pages were left out. This book is the culmination of all of Bendis’s work over the last 6 or 7 years, starting with Avengers Disassembled. I have no doubt that Bendis can pull this all off, and I for one am along for the ride.
Was the Siege worth it?
The first issue of the Siege feels like an episode of Lost, rather than an issue of a comic book. There is so much going on in the book, that without a roadmap the average reader will be lost.
If you want to avoid spoilers, turn back now.
All the major players are introduced in some way or another. For those of you out of the loop, like me, here is a quick round down of the Marvel Universe status quo.
The heroes are all in a sorry state in the start of this book. Tony Stark is sick in a small house in the middle of nowhere, being cared for by Dr. Donald Blake, the alter ego of Thor. In the meantime, Captain America, Steve Rogers, is home watching everything go down on TV. The rest of the Marvel heroes are in hiding as enemies of the state. We also get an update on the villains, or should I say the Avengers. Most of the villains are on a government pay role with the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn, as their boss. Meanwhile, Osborn is being manipulated by Loki, the God of Mischief, while the rest of the villains-led “Dark” Avengers team is going into battle with the Norse Gods to get out from under Norman’s thumb and return to being villains again. Everything feels huge in this opening to this year’s first big Marvel event.
What worries me is how inter-connected the characters are, and how the average reader will view this story. Without knowing how big a part Thor was going to be in this series, I picked up the most recent Thor graphic novels this summer, and was addicted to the story line. Without reading those arcs, the set up for this story would have felt like something out of left field. The whole basis for the book is the return of Thor and his home, Asgard, on American soil. With this so-called threat looming over the heartland of the country, it was only a matter of time that there would be a battle between the mortal Gods and the actual Gods.
The Death of Captain America and his subsequent return is also central to the story, which, once again, if not for my curiosity about the return of Steve Rogers, I would be confused by him being in the book. His return was not revealed in his own book, rather in almost every other Marvel book connected to the Avengers. He was only shown at the very end of this major crossover
The only character I am not caught up with is Iron Man, so for that I headed over to Amazon. I was able to pick up the last 3 volumes of Invincible Iron Man to get caught up with the events that landed Tony Stark sick in bed.
I have been reading all the Avenger books, and while I know all about the problems that the teams face, it was not enough to understand the first issue of the Siege. You had to be a Marvel addict to understand everything going on in this issue. You can follow the story, but you might not catch the little details that Bendis puts into this book.
Luckily Joe Quesada, the EIC at Marvel, put in his own run down of events at the end of the issue that started Avengers Disassembled almost 7 years ago, as well as a dialogue between Norman and his team about the attack of the gods, that readers of the first print will have go on-line to read. There was a printing error and some of the pages were left out.
Quesada
This book is the culmination of all of Bendis’s work over the last 6 or 7 years, starting with Avengers Disassembled. I have no doubt that Bendis can pull this all off, and I for one am along for the ride.
