That alone is worrisome. Of course I might be a tad reactionary here but that’s not the only thing that bothers me. This year has been filled with many a controversy regarding the depictions of women in the comics field, from cheesecake Mary Jane doing laundry to tentacle porn in Heroes for Hire to the violent attack on Tigra in the last issue of this very title, it just seems like the absolute wrong move to have a cover that might be so construed. Is Marvel Comics asking for controversy?

Also on my mind is the Marvel ratings system. Since abandoning the Comics Code Authority, Marvel has been policing itself with regard to ratings for its publications. New Avengers, for instance, is rated A, A for ages nine and up. Ask yourself, is this what you want your nine-year old reading?

Now I normally would be the last person to advocate the return of the Comics Code Authority, but I really have to wonder if letting Marvel police itself in these matters is a good idea. I present this issue and last as evidence. New Avengers is setting a standard for violence against women that I’m not pleased with at all.

We join our story already in progress on page two. It’s raining Venom (and Carnage). I don’t know how, and neither does anyone else. “A chemical bomb” doesn’t give all that much detail as far as I’m concerned. Luke Cage is the only one of the New Avengers not affected, and he falls in with the Mighty Avengers to fight off the wacky Venoms. Narration-wise, Luke is talking after the fact with an unknown conversant.

This is an intriguing storytelling device that writer Brian Michael Bendis has used before, and to good effect. The problem for me is that I don’t think it works well in this instance. We have a lot of action going on, and the dialogue captions only serve to distract from that action here. Granted, in other cases where Bendis has done this I’ve liked it, but here it takes away from Yu’s visuals. Also not working is the guessing game of who Luke is talking to – I was so distracted it became annoying.

In what could have been a great action scene in what is classically a great action book, we get a talking head (sans heads) conversation after the fact revealed to be just pillow talk between Luke and wife Jessica. That it devolves into more Skrull paranoia is just the sour note to ruin any worth it previously had.

However, props to Jessica for bringing up that Strange’s spell would be pointless if he himself was a Skrull. Ahem, told you so. Of course, all through her pillow talk she acts very Skrully herself. There’s no way this is the same chick from Alias. Sooo, when was she replaced? Same time as Little Baby Alias maybe?

One more thing on the action scene that could have been more – why was the only thing the Venoms do was drool and smash? Am I misremembering but doesn’t the Venom entity take on the abilities of the person it takes over. The Venom-Wasp was a good step in that direction, but what about Venom-Strange and Venom-Fist? Seems there was a lot that wasn’t taken advantage of here.

I do have a question. Could a Venom withstand a blow from Ares’ battleaxe? And if or if not, was Ares attacking them with that axe? Sorry, folks, but I just can’t get it out of my head that he’s formerly an Avengers foe with no or little concern for human life. Could he have hurt someone? And is that why everyone’s clothes were torn when they changed back? Was anyone wounded? Killed?

One thing I did love was that the New Avengers, unafraid of the consequences, stayed to clean up and help the people attacked by the Venoms. That made me smile, as did Luke’s pride at them. Nice touch. On the art side in this sequence I also loved the bedside photo of old school Danny and Luke, and that Yu vanished Frank Cho’s favorite Wonder Man jacket. Can’t help but smile at that too.

The Mighty Avengers made no attempt to arrest the New Avengers. Was it possibly because Luke and Wolverine (sort of) helped against the Venoms? Or maybe it’s a carry-over from the non-Bendis-scripted World War Hulk where the teams worked together against another common foe. Or maybe, just maybe this takes place after the events of New Avengers: Illuminati #5, but at this point, I don’t even want to comment on the Avengers timeline or continuity order until all titles are coming out on a regular schedule.

Speaking of that event-starting issue of Illuminati, Luke notes that Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman, is with the Mighty Avengers during the Venom battle. He sends Wolverine to ‘talk’ to her.

At Avengers Tower, we get the details on the ‘Venom bomb’ – Doctor Doom dropped it on New York City, obviously in a future storyline for Mighty Avengers. Man, I will be so happy when these two titles finally sync up. I have such a headache. And when these books do finally sync up, I will congratulate Bendis on a hell of a job making the continuity work so well. I just dread the wait. Perhaps the editors could release a list of the proper order to read the Avengers books just to make reading easier, when they are all released?

The Mighty Avengers regroup to attack Doom in Latveria, and plan to leave in one hour. So while costumes are changed and Jarvis simultaneously serves drinks and delivers specs of Castle Doom to Ares, Jessica Drew hits the shower and is accosted by peeping tom Wolverine. It’s a thoroughly disturbing few panels when he has her up against the wall.

One would think after the controversy generated by Tigra’s beatdown in the last issue of New Avengers, that the first three panels of page sixteen would have been rethought. Surely I wasn’t the only person who was uncomfortable and disturbed with the threatening and armed Wolverine pressing up behind the nude Spider-Woman. What does the A rating mean again? That seriously might need to be rethought in my opinion.

The difference between this and the cover is that at least Jessica has her uniform on, tight-fitting or not, on the latter. When all is said and done, this is just not right. Why couldn’t something else have been depicted on the cover? There are many other scenes in this issue that could have made a more suitable cover. Why couldn’t Wolverine catch Jessica still clothed outside the shower and not imply prison rape?

The rest of the issue deals with the New Avengers picking up their pursuit of The Hood, after of course, revisiting the diffused and missed opportunity of a Deathlok vs. Avengers clash. Who else wanted to see that, and was excited at the possibility of it? Bad move, Bendis.

The New Avengers plan an assault on The Hood’s headquarters and when Doctor Strange reveals who all is there. It appears to be The Hood’s inner circle of villains from a few issues back, Madame Masque, Wizard, along with the Wrecking Crew. To which Clint Barton says, “Uh boy! That’s the Wrecking Crew. That ain’t small potatoes.” and “No joke, guys. We may be waaaaaay outpowered here.”

What? Excuse me? Isn’t Clint Barton the same guy who has rushed Ultron and Kang and Graviton more times in his career than I can count? That’s what Hawkeye was known for – running headfirst into danger without thinking, no matter what. And then there’s the fact that this is the Wrecking Crew. The only times these guys were ever more than an annoyance was in the early Thor days or when they had the entire Masters of Evil as back-up like in the “Mansion siege,” and Clint was around for neither. As far as he should be concerned, the Wrecking Crew is a joke. Smells kinda Skrully if you ask me…

I do like Dr. Strange’s solution to calling for back-up, and can’t wait for next issue. This issue however, for me, was very uneven, even Yu’s art was up to the usual standards. I give New Avengers #36 two and three-quarters stars out of a possible five. I didn’t love it, but then again I didn’t hate it either. Perhaps when read in conjunction with the proper corresponding issues of Mighty Avengers it’ll be better.

	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.