David Wallace/Kelvin Green Comic Reviews

Kelvin: It's certainly better than the last issue I read, which was some nonsense with an alien dog and Bendis trying to pass off the Wasp's growing powers as his idea, but he's still quite transparently not right for the Avengers, and it baffles me that Marvel haven't yet given this title to someone like Jeff Parker. Heck, keep Bendis' name on it for those all-important sales, and have Parker ghost-write the book so that it's actually good, and everyone would be happy!

***** Apart from the Loki seen in flashback, who looks like a tubby LARPer.

Green: Clearly, Marvel have sent us different review copies. I see no simple beauty in the writing, only ham-fisted clichs, and the climax is horribly twee and sentimental, akin to Spielberg at his sugar-coated worst. There are good ideas in here, and I'm not so cynical that I'm going to say that JMS doesn't hit upon, as you suggest, some real truths, but it's all so glaringly and horribly self-important, and the crashing lack of subtlety ruins everything. I don't dislike this issue as much as I did the first, because there are at least some good things going on, but the presence of those good things only highlights how strong this comic could have been if only it didn't try so hard to be important."