REVIEW: Avengers Prime #1

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Avengers Prime #1

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Pencils: Alan Davis

Inks: Mark Farmer

On Shelves: June 2, 2010

With the coming of the “Heroic Age” I had in my mind an image where Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and Thor were best of friends and most of the friction between these three that have plagued (to beautiful dramatic effect) the Marvel Universe for the last decade.  They might be playing poker together, hanging out, and being all warm and fuzzy with each other.  I enjoyed the friction and was thinking I was sorry to see it go with the end of Siege, which is what the Heroic Age has been touted as a little bit.

I’m happy to say that with Bendis’ Avengers Prime #1, all the rivalries we’ve come to expect from the holy trinity of Avengers is alive and well.  Steve and Tony seem truly ready to kill each other in this tale of the aftermath of the Siege.

Though the Avengers are helping Thor put Asgard back together, and they all have common purpose, Steve still blames Tony as the lynchpin for everything bad that has happened in the Marvel Universe, starting with the Civil War, handing power of S.H.I.E.L.D. over to Norman Osborne, and The Siege.

But it seems as though Thor couldn’t care less about any of that.  His father’s kingdom is in ruins and needs to be put back in place.  Unfortunately, someone else has other plans for them and they all end up being transported somewhere they didn’t expect to go and encountering a villain that is one of my favorites, but hasn’t been around in quite a while.

I really felt like this was a fun, compelling issue and it laid to rest any worries I had that the Heroic Age was going to take the teeth out of the characters I’ve come to love seeing argue, bicker, and fight.  In some ways, this book feels like Thor and the Warriors Two (Iron Man and Cap) and that works just fine for me.  I think Thor’s adventuring in the Nine Worlds are some of the best stories Marvel has ever told and while I’m sad to see that he’s not with the actual Warriors Three, it’s nice to see that he’ll be forging ahead with his two most favoured allies of Midgard.

This is a great book, Bendis is always a good read.  If he can keep this up and it turns into an adventure book with these three characters I’ll be reading this religiously.

This comic book review was brought to you by Dr. Volts Comic Connection.