Siege Dark Avengers TP NM Brian Michael Bendis Mike Deodato Venom Sentry 1st print

Description

Dark Avengers: Siege Paperback
Writer Brian Michael Bendis
Art Mike Deodato, Chris Bachalo

After years of mystery, the secrets of the Sentry are revealed! How deep is his madness and who is really in control of him? What is the limit of his power, if any? And what deadly mystery surrounds him causing mortals and gods to tremble in fear?

Plus: In the middle of SIEGE, Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye take center stage in a sick twisted battle, and launch their own agenda, revealing their true relationship, and their personal plans for Norman Osborn.

Collecting Dark Avengers #13-16, 2009 Annual

Publisher Marvel
Paperback 144 pages
ISBN-13 978-0785148128
Weight 8.9 ounces
Dimensions 6.75 x 0.5 x 10.75 inches

One of the most innovative parts of the Siege event, for me, was the supervillains disguised as superheroes – Dark Avengers. This Siege tie-in follows that group in and around Siege, even recounting events already seen but from a slightly different perspective (e.g. Doom’s attack at Avengers tower). While it felt somewhat incomplete, due to a couple of dangling storylines, it was still very enjoyable. Evil can be so much fun in the Marvel universe.

The book opens with No-Varr, a Kree warrior recruited by Osborn to be his team’s Captain Marvel. However, No-Varr quickly abandoned them when he realized they were villains, and insane to boot! This first story follows his efforts to contact the Kree Supreme Intelligence to discover his purpose on Earth. This leads to a new hero rising from Siege. This is one of the dangling storylines, as this book does not provide closure on No-Varr’s status. And, I’m unsure where to go to find out.

Most of the rest of the book concerns The Sentry, how he came to be and the sad fate of his wife. Despite a split personality, I don’t find this character very compelling. He’s almost a Macguffin; something to push the storyline and challenge the heroes in a way their usually nemeses do not. But the background on him was welcome since I was unfamiliar with the character, and he plays such a pivotal role in the finale. The character is also a mirror into Osborn’s soul in just how far he is willing to go to keep control. And that is very far indeed.

The book closes with the villains under arrest, but Daken making a clean get-away. This is the second dangling storyline for me. I don’t know what his fate is from this point, and I’d be peeved if he truly got away scot free. Still, these two loose ends don’t ruin the book but I would have liked them to have resolution none-the-less.

Overall, this book was very entertaining but also extremely dark. There is more than one brutal murder committed within these pages, which keeps in the forefront the fact that these characters are villains. Highly recommended tie-in for the Siege story. And, I intend to order Dark Avengers , so I can get these villains’ entire story.

978-0785148128

Collects Dark Avengers 13-16 and Dark Avengers Annual # 1. Near mint condition, 1st printing.