This cover in itself is a bit of deceptive hype all on its own. The description of the issue does match up however, and even if the New Avengers make nary an appearance, it remains one of writer Brian Michael Bendis’ best scripts thus far for the series. Based on this, and the solo Civil War issues, I would say Bendis should stick to single-issue stories over arcs and epics. He’s much better with the done-in-ones, despite the continuing subplots.

New Avengers #35 concerns The Hood and his rise to power as the kingpin of super-villains. We begin with one of Bendis’ favorite tools, Punisher foe Jigsaw, whose robbery attempt is foiled by Tigra and some ill-informed or simply ignorant police. In typical Bendis fashion while Jigsaw fails and gets away, he does get the better of the good guys. And it should be noted that in this Jigsaw appearance, no arms are broken, right or left.

Following this, at the invitation of The Hood, Jigsaw joins in on Parker Robbins little cartel meeting. This is a meeting that has taken place days before, before last issue for those of you keeping track. In attendance is an interesting assortment of super-villains. Of course they do have that same dubious commonality of being those who escaped from The Raft in the event that created the New Avengers, as well as being those most recently profiled in Marvel’s Handbooks. It stinks as if Bendis isn’t trying or hasn’t informed Yu of who should be there.

We see the Crusader, who apparently survived his almost lethal encounter with Wolverine, and who logically shouldn’t be in the same room as these other villains. Doesn’t he have some off-kilter religious beliefs, and wouldn’t The Hood’s endeavor go against them? There is also the Armadillo, recently tossed off of the Texas Initiative team, the Rangers, and even more recently recruited by MODOK. While the Armadillo is currently surfing the other side of the law, one would think he might be a bit too busy to play with The Hood. And by the way, both of them are this issue’s review’s suspects for Skrulliness.

There is also the Purple Man, a curious recruit, as he was one of the first returned to the Raft after the big breakout. Also one would think he’s a bit too much of a heavy hitter these days to be involved with The Hood. Bendis’ handling of the character in Alias puts him more of a Graviton or Nefaria class to my mind if not a Doctor Doom. We also see the Wrecking Crew, as well as the Grey Gargoyle in attendance, and while yes, it’s good to see some remotely familiar Avengers foes, one wonders if they would have learned by now that they’ve had nothing but trouble following other villains, let alone rookies like The Hood. Why are they there?

The rest are the same old faces. Crossfire, the Ufoes, Mister Fear, Crossbones, and basically a serious lack of Avengers-related villains. Is that Nitro? How'd he get out of Atlantis? And speaking of the Sub-Mariner, shouldn’t the Griffin be a savage animal with limited intelligence? Should Mentallo or the Controller be there? Although I have to admit serious curiosity as what Dr. Demonicus, and old favorite from Marvel’s Godzilla series is going to use his seed money for. It would be totally cool to see Yu draw some giant monsters.

Then we get to the meat of the meet, and The Hood’s plan. Bendis weaves The Hood’s dialogue flawlessly in a way that Chris Claremont wishes he could. Usually blocks of words this thick put me off immediately, but BMB held me spellbound. This is the kind of work I was expecting when I first heard Bendis was going to write the Avengers – about freaking time! As stated in the story he’s borrowing some courage and inspiration from Murder Inc. as well as the Triads of Hong Kong, a brutal and organized payback and extortion system to keep the good guys at bay. It’s a method he demonstrates, for Jigsaw and the other potential members of his new cartel, on Tigra.

Which brings us to Tigra, poor Tigra. Let’s talk a little bit about hype, shall we? Below is how New Avengers #35 was hyped for solicitation:

The Hood makes his play for the big time by gathering the most ruthless rogues gallery of evil the Marvel Universe has ever seen.

What does a guy who wants to be the "Kingpin of all super-villains" do to make his point? You have to see it to believe it.

Guest-Starring Tigra. Poor Tigra. Poor, poor Tigra.

“ Poor, poor Tigra”???

Why Tigra? is really my question actually. Why? Because Bendis doesn’t like her. Of course I’m just assuming, because he also claimed to love Hawkeye, and he killed him, twice. But Tigra takes the brunt of first a botched clash with Jigsaw and then becomes the first hero to face to wrath of The Hood. And he pistol whips her, shoots her, threatens her and her family and makes her cry like a, well, you get the picture. The bad guys win.

Again, why Tigra? Not only doesn’t Bendis like her, he doesn’t know her. First and foremost, Tigra is an Avenger. And we’re not talking about Rage or Darkhawk or Moira Brandon. Greer Nelson has served lengthy terms with both the main team and their West Coast branch, and thus trained under both Captain America and Hawkeye. She was also a solo heroine as both Tigra and as The Cat. Too often folks either forget or just don’t know that Greer was The Cat – one of Marvel’s finest if short-lived super-heroines. Granted, she’s no Ms. Marvel but she’s no newbie either – Tigra is a seasoned Avenger.

Furthermore Bendis either doesn’t know or has chosen to ignore Tigra’s power level. Superhuman strength, endurance, reflexes and agility, not to mention enhanced vision hearing and sense of smell. In my opinion if Wolverine can last five to six pages with The Hood, so can Tigra. You mean to tell me she couldn’t smell him coming sooner? She couldn’t block or evade his blows or gunshot? Avengers training plus enhanced reflexes mean zip to The Hood? Apparently so.

How about the other kind of Avengers training? Much like The Hood is trying to organize the underworld, the Avengers established such power for the superhero community. Good guys stick together, and they’ve gad that deal going for a while before the bad guys ever thought of it, and they’ve made it work. In theory, if you take on one Avenger, you’re taking them all on. Once an Avenger, always an Avenger, remember?

Logically, Tigra should go right to Tony Stark, and he has the power and capability to protect her family. Surely SHIELD can protect Greer’s mom, and if not Iron Man and the Mighty Avengers certainly can. Despite all his bravado and power, I seriously doubt The Hood can breach Stark security. Iron Man has had practice with invisibility old school, the Ghost is a member of his rogues gallery, remember?

All of the above is futile though in the face of the idea that Bendis doesn’t think much of Tigra to begin with. Just the fact that he has delegated her to the Arkansas Initiative says quite a bit – he thinks of her as third or fourth tier at best. Heck, even the Armadillo rated joining a team in his home state of Texas. But to find out really why Tigra we have but to look at the last time BMB wrote the character.

Over in NA’s sister title Mighty Avengers, Tigra made an appearance with another character Bendis doesn’t think much of – Dr. Henry Pym. Dum da dum dum. Yep, that’s right. It is all a set up, and only the discontinuity caused by the latter title’s chronic lateness throws it off. Tigra beds down Pym, which at first seems appropriate, as they did have a past, but with this new information at our disposal I have to wonder if she was instructed to do this by The Hood. Also her double agent status during the Civil War also comes into question, who was spying on who there?

And worse yet, what does The Hood, and Tigra, have in mind for Hank Pym? If Bendis is writing it, no matter how heroic Dan Slott makes Pym look in The Initiative, it can’t be good. Is another Pym-as-villain plot brewing, or worse yet, is it a Pym-as-patsy plot? As I said, it can’t be good. Pym fans, hold on tight for the next few months.

Of course as to whether or not it makes sense continuity-wise is a whole ‘nother kettle of fish. The Mighty Avengers title is very late. And this unfortunate fact has caused artist Frank Cho to leave the book after its first arc to be replaced by Mark Bagley. Hopefully everything will be on time and continuity will sync up between the two Avengers books at that time. Although, I have to say, that Frank Cho’s art is well worth waiting for. I would gladly buy a quarterly book to see his work.

None of the above speculation and dissection makes the attack on Tigra any less gruesome and intense. This kind of action and violence is what Leinil Yu excels at. He is wonderfully adept at this type of storytelling. Yu is at the top of his game with this title. I can see and feel his confidence in his more defined and tighter lines. My only gripe might be that Parker Robbins is difficult to distinguish from others when he’s out of his trademark Hood.

And also with the beatdown of Tigra I am again forced to reference Starman #38 by James Robinson. This is the notorious one-shot story, which does not feature the title character I might add, where neophyte super-villain the Mist kills the Justice League Europe. It’s a blatant and disgusting show of power, where the writer basically says, “Look how bad ass my new villain is, she killed the Justice League. Ooh. Aah.” This must be a point of reference for Bendis as well because this is the second time he’s made me think of this within his New Avengers run. Why do comic book writers think they have to damage characters to make them work better?

Tigra’s vicious defeat is filmed for the amusement of The Hood’s cohorts. One has to wonder how long before this video reaches outside of this unholy circle, and you know it has to. How quiet can something like this be kept? How long before it’s on YouTube on gets confiscated by one of the heroes. If Tigra didn’t go to Iron Man herself, this will certainly bring him running.

I have to admit some disappointment in the use of Deathlok however. After the intriguing build-up last issue, what is finally done is completely anti-climatic. I know I would certainly rather see the Mighty Avengers face off against Deathlok than Venom, or even a Venomized New Avengers. And so yet again Bendis pulls off an excellent cliffhanger ending. Can’t wait to see what’s next, even though it’s not Deathlok.

Despite any complaints I may have placed, this is a solid issue, and quite possibly one Bendis’ best so far. I give it four and a quarter stars out of a possible five stars, demerits being for Tigra’s treatment and the absence of the title characters within the book. Looking very much forward to what The Hood has in store for the Avengers, New and Mighty, and the entire Marvel Universe. It should rock.

	Glenn Walker
	Glenn has been a fan of Marvel Comics' Avengers since the early 1970s, when their current adventures were chronicled by Steve Englehart and their early exploits by Stan Lee in classic reprints featured in Marvel Triple Action. He has persevered through many incarnations of the team and he still loves the Avengers to this day.