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The New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus
The New Avengers Omnibus, Vol. 1
The first half of Brian Michael Bendis' radical Avengers revamp is collected in one massive volume! When the Avengers are disassembled by an insane Scarlet Witch, a new and decidedly different team rises to take their place - including Spider-Man, Wolverine and Luke Cage! These New Avengers face down a prison break, the secrets of the Sentry, the menace of the multipowered Collective and more - and even find time to celebrate the marriage of one of their own. But when a terrible tragedy kicks off a superhuman Civil War, will the newly created team be irrevocably shattered?
COLLECTING: Avengers 500-503, Avengers Finale, New Avengers 1-31, Annual 1; New Avengers Most Wanted Files; New Avengers : Custom 676: Army & Air Force; Giant -Size Spider -Woman 1; New Avengers: Illuminati (2006) 1; Civil War: The Confession 1; Civil War: The Initiative 1
COLLECTING: Avengers 500-503, Avengers Finale, New Avengers 1-31, Annual 1; New Avengers Most Wanted Files; New Avengers : Custom 676: Army & Air Force; Giant -Size Spider -Woman 1; New Avengers: Illuminati (2006) 1; Civil War: The Confession 1; Civil War: The Initiative 1
1208 pages, Hardcover
First published July 13, 2007
18 people are currently reading
221 people want to read
About the author
Brian Michael Bendis
4,414 books2,576 followersA comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
April 15, 2018
Apart from The Ultimates by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch which was their own radical spin on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Brian Michael Bendis’ New Avengers was my introduction to the iconic superhero team in the main Marvel universe. This omnibus contains the first half of his initial run along with supplemental issues to support the overarching narrative that Bendis loves to do in the world of Marvel.
Before New Avengers, the omnibus begins with Avengers Disassembled in which we see these heroes are assaulted, not just physically, but psychologically in a battle which results with them… well, disassembled. This main problem with this story is that it feels more like an end as it opens with fire and death, and then eventually throws everything in the kitchen sink. The only positive thing to say about Disassembled is the twist ending, which then lays the groundwork for future storylines in Bendis’ amazing run.
When New Avengers starts with a mass supervillain breakout at the Raft, Captain America convinces Iron Man to join a new team of Avengers, which consists of Luke Cage, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Spider-Man, and then later Wolverine and The Sentry. Certainly the inclusion of Spidey and Wolverine as Avengers created some controversy and yet Bendis knows how to handle their personalities amidst the company of their team-players, creating drama and humour towards the team dynamic. So far, the most interesting character is Jessica Drew which was someone Bendis has been writing since her brilliant guest appearance in Alias (keep an eye out for Jessica Jones in this series). Throughout the series, Spider-Woman is in conflict by what side she belongs to whether she’s an Avenger, an agent of SHIELD or Hydra and it gets even more complicated when the civil war happens.
If you’re invested in the Marvel universe and wish to understand the whole story, you would have to stop reading this omnibus and pick up House of M (by Bendis and Olivier Coipel) and Civil War (Mark Millar and Steve McNiven) to understand the continuity within New Avengers. As much as I was disappointed with Millar’s seven-issue event comic, the tie-in issues that Bendis wrote are much better than what Civil War did as each issue focuses on one Avenger dealing with the outcome of the Superhuman Registration Act, such as The Sentry encountering the Inhumans at the dark side of the Moon.
If there is a problem towards Bendis is his desire of collaborating with every artist that’s ever existed and the many issues featuring in this hardcover volume are done by different artists such as David Finch, Leinil Francis Yu, Alex Maleev, etc. The problem with this inconsistent change of artists is some of the artwork I like and some of it didn’t like Howard Chaykin. If Bendis had only committed to one artist for his run, say the impressive Steve McNiven, I wouldn’t have much of a problem.
Although there is no word about a second omnibus volume being released, New Avengers Omnibus, Vol. 1 is a terrific read during a period of time when Marvel was publishing their best work, much to the great contribution of Brian Michael Bendis.
Before New Avengers, the omnibus begins with Avengers Disassembled in which we see these heroes are assaulted, not just physically, but psychologically in a battle which results with them… well, disassembled. This main problem with this story is that it feels more like an end as it opens with fire and death, and then eventually throws everything in the kitchen sink. The only positive thing to say about Disassembled is the twist ending, which then lays the groundwork for future storylines in Bendis’ amazing run.
When New Avengers starts with a mass supervillain breakout at the Raft, Captain America convinces Iron Man to join a new team of Avengers, which consists of Luke Cage, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), Spider-Man, and then later Wolverine and The Sentry. Certainly the inclusion of Spidey and Wolverine as Avengers created some controversy and yet Bendis knows how to handle their personalities amidst the company of their team-players, creating drama and humour towards the team dynamic. So far, the most interesting character is Jessica Drew which was someone Bendis has been writing since her brilliant guest appearance in Alias (keep an eye out for Jessica Jones in this series). Throughout the series, Spider-Woman is in conflict by what side she belongs to whether she’s an Avenger, an agent of SHIELD or Hydra and it gets even more complicated when the civil war happens.
If you’re invested in the Marvel universe and wish to understand the whole story, you would have to stop reading this omnibus and pick up House of M (by Bendis and Olivier Coipel) and Civil War (Mark Millar and Steve McNiven) to understand the continuity within New Avengers. As much as I was disappointed with Millar’s seven-issue event comic, the tie-in issues that Bendis wrote are much better than what Civil War did as each issue focuses on one Avenger dealing with the outcome of the Superhuman Registration Act, such as The Sentry encountering the Inhumans at the dark side of the Moon.
If there is a problem towards Bendis is his desire of collaborating with every artist that’s ever existed and the many issues featuring in this hardcover volume are done by different artists such as David Finch, Leinil Francis Yu, Alex Maleev, etc. The problem with this inconsistent change of artists is some of the artwork I like and some of it didn’t like Howard Chaykin. If Bendis had only committed to one artist for his run, say the impressive Steve McNiven, I wouldn’t have much of a problem.
Although there is no word about a second omnibus volume being released, New Avengers Omnibus, Vol. 1 is a terrific read during a period of time when Marvel was publishing their best work, much to the great contribution of Brian Michael Bendis.
February 20, 2021
4.25 stars. Man this was dope!!! Bendis was on it in this book. Plus all the artists brought their A game. Great story telling, great pacing, great dialogue, awesome funny banter and just all around great. The way the book started with Avengers Disassembled had me thinking, man I’m in for a treat. What a way to start things off with some tragic madness. The stuff with Jessica being a double agent was well done. Hell all the story arcs were great. Plus I like how Bendis was weaving all these things together, from the Secret War, what the Avengers saw down in the Savage Land, to the registration act. It’s all connected and I can’t wait to continue this to see the outcome. Then the end of the book happened, I literally was like, oh shit! It’s about to go down. Needless to say, this book is highly recommended.
May 19, 2016
Not a bad read for the weekend. Bendis covers a lot of ground here, from tearing down (briefly) the 'Old' Avengers to creating the 'New Avengers'. He does a good job setting the tone from the start, and manages to capture the voices of each hero well, albeit sometimes each one sounds like a caricature of themselves (Peter talks too much, Luke is too tough, Stark is a narcissist.... Still overall a fun story.
Be warned though, this is almost like a 'Brian Michael Bendis New Avengers Omnibus'. It's a bit disjointed (interrupted by House of M and Civil War)... Thus the Omnibus doesn't really flow unless you supplement with those stories. I found the 'base' books of House of M and Civil War to suffice as the rest of the side material relevant to the New Avengers is included.
Marvel does a good job with the extras here... including the typical script and covers fanfare. They did add a 'super villains from the raft dossier' at the end which was quite enjoyable.
The art was a bit varied, some excellent, some barely passable but I largely looked past it as the story is what kept me going. Bendis knows how to keep it just short and sweet enough that the issues don't feel like a drag to read.
Be warned though, this is almost like a 'Brian Michael Bendis New Avengers Omnibus'. It's a bit disjointed (interrupted by House of M and Civil War)... Thus the Omnibus doesn't really flow unless you supplement with those stories. I found the 'base' books of House of M and Civil War to suffice as the rest of the side material relevant to the New Avengers is included.
Marvel does a good job with the extras here... including the typical script and covers fanfare. They did add a 'super villains from the raft dossier' at the end which was quite enjoyable.
The art was a bit varied, some excellent, some barely passable but I largely looked past it as the story is what kept me going. Bendis knows how to keep it just short and sweet enough that the issues don't feel like a drag to read.
November 3, 2017
Asi nejlepší Avengers co jsem četl.
November 8, 2025
I used to always review by trade even if I was reading individual issues or omnibuses, it just feels most manageable, but it does mean that I’ll be reviewing 20 or so trades in a few days which is annoying for the 6 people who still use goodreads. So for Young Avengers I reviewed the omnibus, and I’m going to do that here as well. I’ve split them into trades or issues where they aren’t included in the trade. I’ll be sticking by what’s collected in the omnibus though. I wrote the reviews below as I read the books, so if I say something contracted later that’s because I didn’t know better yet.
The writing is done by Bendis (almost) exclusively, but the art switches a lot. In general the art ranges from bad to very bad to good. There’s so many artists here that I’ll just talk about a few of the memorable ones. David Finch is probably up there with Bryan Hitch for artists who influenced not only what the books look like today, but what the movies look like as well, but in the case of Finch I don’t really get why. I find his art muddy and ugly and hard to look at. McNiven is serviceable and really depends on the colourists and inkers to not make his faces look too weird. Most of the others are fine.Except for Frank Cho. Cho is inexcusably awful. Not just because he objectifies the characters, but because he does so in a way that’s ugly and gross looking. The one positive is that you can tell what’s happening on the page, which is more than I can say for Finch. My favourite artist featured here is Alex Maleev who just has so much more range and character than the others.
Avengers Disassembled
Wanda goes crazy and kills all the Avengers. I reviewed this one when I read it as a trade. My thoughts have not changed. I think it mostly exists for BMB to express how much he doesn’t like Scarlet Witch. It comes across as a bit sexist as all the men explain that Wanda didn’t earn her magic and therefore can’t be responsible with it. The end is a nice tribute to the Avengers, but would be a lot better if it followed a better story.
Volume 1: Breakout
Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson visit the Raft (a prison for superpowered criminals) to meet up with a prisoner named Bob Reynolds, when suddenly the power goes out. Soon Spider-man, Spider-woman (no relation), Captain America, Iron-man, and Luke Cage are there fighting to keep the prisoners within. Before long they wind up running off to the savage land to track one of those prisoners when they run into Wolverine. Steve decides that they’ve been fated together as a new team of Avengers. It’s a perfectly fine start to a new book with an action pack opening followed by some fun banter and character introductions, but I think the lineup is really weird. Spider-man, Wolverine, and Luke Cage suggest a more ground level team, as does the attempted addition of Daredevil, which mostly makes Captain America and Iron Man feel oddly out of place on their own team. I understand the behind the scenes reasons for the team; Spidey and Wolvie were popular, Spider-woman has great hair, and BMB loves Luke Cage. Despite that ironclad logic, in universe they’re a nonsensical combination. There is a charm to it though, and it fits Cap’s recruitment method of forming teams out of whoever is nearby.
Volume 2: Sentry
Now that the prison escape is a less immediate problem, it’s time to figure out who Robert Reynolds is and why nobody remembers this longtime superhero. This is a good story told poorly. It has exciting parts, but a lot of it is told through exposition and character discussions. This feels more like it's laying groundwork for later stories than anything else.
Now would be a good time to read House of M if you wanted to, although it’s hardly very necessary.
New Avengers Guest Staring the Fantastic Four
The Avengers and F4 wake up some Kree warriors. *shrug* It’s fine.
Volume 3: Secrets and Lies
This is when I would argue the book really found its groove. The Avengers deal with some ninja nonsense involving the Hand and Hydra and overall I was quite bored, but then Spider-woman insists on taking in Madame Hydra only to let her go a minute later, almost getting Captain America killed in the process. The next day Steve confronts her about it and learns that she had lost her powers, but Hydra offered them back. I loved all the double/triple/quadruple agent stuff, and the character interactions are starting to feel a little smoother. This arc feels like it had a lot of influence on Agents of Shield. The Avengers also publicly reveal themselves at a press conference only to discover that they had over estimated how much the good name of the Avengers could redeem in the public the bad names of most of its new line-up. Unfortunately, Frank Cho pencils the last two issues and I’ve just never cared for him. He has this objectified yet almost uncanny valley way of drawing like he’s heard of people by rough description. He really wrecks the touching moments for me.
Volume 4: The Collective
At the end of House of M there is one panel showing energy build up outside the earth suggesting some consequences of removing mutant powers that will need to be dealt with. Being a superhero comic, all that energy pours into a person. Bendis starts this one by killing the entirety of Alpha Flight like they’re a bunch of red shirts. I don’t even like it when Star Trek does it with red shirts, not to mention Avengers killing a team of established heroes to denote danger. Nobody even really reacts much, Wolverine barely cares. It’s honestly so bad. The rest of the comic is fine, I guess.
New Avengers Annual #1
Yelena turns into a Halloween monster and attacks everyone. Luke and Jessica get married. It’s alright.
New Avengers: Illuminati
A one shot showing the history of how the Illuminati formed, the decisions they’ve made, and how they’ve become the kind of people who think they deserve to rule the world from the shadows. This one shot is one of the best things Bendis ever wrote, and Alex Maleev is hands down the best artist on this book. Fantastic stuff that opened the door to some of Marvel’s best stories.
Volume 5: Civil War
Mark Millar’s Civil War is terrible. Brian Michael Bendis’ tie-in is a series of character studies following Captain America, Luke Cage, Jessica Drew, Sentry, & Iron Man. The biggest problem with his run on New Avengers thus far has been a lack of character development for his huge group of heroes. This is an Avengers problem in general, but these nicely make up for it. Reading them interspersed with the main event only emphasizes more how out of character everyone was.
The Confession
Alex Maleev makes a welcome return for this much needed character piece in which Tony confesses his motivations to an unseen character which turns out to be Then we jump back two days earlier to see Steve get arrested by SHIELD. It’s a really good epilogue to a really bad event.
The Initiative
Here’s that one exception to Bendis, Warren Ellis wrote a bit of this one. It's similar to something like Ultimate Fallout, just one of those issues setting up the new status quo for the marvel universe.
Volume 6: Revolution
Captain America is . Iron Man is running SHIELD. Any superhuman who doesn't register and become a government agent is arrested and put into the raft (or possibly even that prison in the negative zone). Danny Rand registered but refused to join up which he got away with mostly because he has powerful lawyers. The others are on the run. It was only a few months ago when the New Avengers formed and they found out that SHIELD was using slave labour in the Savage Land, and now SHIELD has effectively taken over the United States of America with Iron Man as their figure head. Meanwhile Echo is being held hostage in Japan by The Hand. Last time I tried to read this run I stopped with Civil War, which is too bad because it's here that all the little pieces of the story Bendis is trying to tell are starting to fall into place.
There's not a lot of final thoughts to have on this book because this is only half way through Bendis' run (less than half way if you count the post siege stuff as the same run) and it's only just all starting to come together, but this is a fun story that really takes its time to put the pieces on the board.
The writing is done by Bendis (almost) exclusively, but the art switches a lot. In general the art ranges from bad to very bad to good. There’s so many artists here that I’ll just talk about a few of the memorable ones. David Finch is probably up there with Bryan Hitch for artists who influenced not only what the books look like today, but what the movies look like as well, but in the case of Finch I don’t really get why. I find his art muddy and ugly and hard to look at. McNiven is serviceable and really depends on the colourists and inkers to not make his faces look too weird. Most of the others are fine.Except for Frank Cho. Cho is inexcusably awful. Not just because he objectifies the characters, but because he does so in a way that’s ugly and gross looking. The one positive is that you can tell what’s happening on the page, which is more than I can say for Finch. My favourite artist featured here is Alex Maleev who just has so much more range and character than the others.
Avengers Disassembled
Wanda goes crazy and kills all the Avengers. I reviewed this one when I read it as a trade. My thoughts have not changed. I think it mostly exists for BMB to express how much he doesn’t like Scarlet Witch. It comes across as a bit sexist as all the men explain that Wanda didn’t earn her magic and therefore can’t be responsible with it. The end is a nice tribute to the Avengers, but would be a lot better if it followed a better story.
Volume 1: Breakout
Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson visit the Raft (a prison for superpowered criminals) to meet up with a prisoner named Bob Reynolds, when suddenly the power goes out. Soon Spider-man, Spider-woman (no relation), Captain America, Iron-man, and Luke Cage are there fighting to keep the prisoners within. Before long they wind up running off to the savage land to track one of those prisoners when they run into Wolverine. Steve decides that they’ve been fated together as a new team of Avengers. It’s a perfectly fine start to a new book with an action pack opening followed by some fun banter and character introductions, but I think the lineup is really weird. Spider-man, Wolverine, and Luke Cage suggest a more ground level team, as does the attempted addition of Daredevil, which mostly makes Captain America and Iron Man feel oddly out of place on their own team. I understand the behind the scenes reasons for the team; Spidey and Wolvie were popular, Spider-woman has great hair, and BMB loves Luke Cage. Despite that ironclad logic, in universe they’re a nonsensical combination. There is a charm to it though, and it fits Cap’s recruitment method of forming teams out of whoever is nearby.
Volume 2: Sentry
Now that the prison escape is a less immediate problem, it’s time to figure out who Robert Reynolds is and why nobody remembers this longtime superhero. This is a good story told poorly. It has exciting parts, but a lot of it is told through exposition and character discussions. This feels more like it's laying groundwork for later stories than anything else.
Now would be a good time to read House of M if you wanted to, although it’s hardly very necessary.
New Avengers Guest Staring the Fantastic Four
The Avengers and F4 wake up some Kree warriors. *shrug* It’s fine.
Volume 3: Secrets and Lies
This is when I would argue the book really found its groove. The Avengers deal with some ninja nonsense involving the Hand and Hydra and overall I was quite bored, but then Spider-woman insists on taking in Madame Hydra only to let her go a minute later, almost getting Captain America killed in the process. The next day Steve confronts her about it and learns that she had lost her powers, but Hydra offered them back. I loved all the double/triple/quadruple agent stuff, and the character interactions are starting to feel a little smoother. This arc feels like it had a lot of influence on Agents of Shield. The Avengers also publicly reveal themselves at a press conference only to discover that they had over estimated how much the good name of the Avengers could redeem in the public the bad names of most of its new line-up. Unfortunately, Frank Cho pencils the last two issues and I’ve just never cared for him. He has this objectified yet almost uncanny valley way of drawing like he’s heard of people by rough description. He really wrecks the touching moments for me.
Volume 4: The Collective
At the end of House of M there is one panel showing energy build up outside the earth suggesting some consequences of removing mutant powers that will need to be dealt with. Being a superhero comic, all that energy pours into a person. Bendis starts this one by killing the entirety of Alpha Flight like they’re a bunch of red shirts. I don’t even like it when Star Trek does it with red shirts, not to mention Avengers killing a team of established heroes to denote danger. Nobody even really reacts much, Wolverine barely cares. It’s honestly so bad. The rest of the comic is fine, I guess.
New Avengers Annual #1
Yelena turns into a Halloween monster and attacks everyone. Luke and Jessica get married. It’s alright.
New Avengers: Illuminati
A one shot showing the history of how the Illuminati formed, the decisions they’ve made, and how they’ve become the kind of people who think they deserve to rule the world from the shadows. This one shot is one of the best things Bendis ever wrote, and Alex Maleev is hands down the best artist on this book. Fantastic stuff that opened the door to some of Marvel’s best stories.
Volume 5: Civil War
Mark Millar’s Civil War is terrible. Brian Michael Bendis’ tie-in is a series of character studies following Captain America, Luke Cage, Jessica Drew, Sentry, & Iron Man. The biggest problem with his run on New Avengers thus far has been a lack of character development for his huge group of heroes. This is an Avengers problem in general, but these nicely make up for it. Reading them interspersed with the main event only emphasizes more how out of character everyone was.
The Confession
Alex Maleev makes a welcome return for this much needed character piece in which Tony confesses his motivations to an unseen character which turns out to be Then we jump back two days earlier to see Steve get arrested by SHIELD. It’s a really good epilogue to a really bad event.
The Initiative
Here’s that one exception to Bendis, Warren Ellis wrote a bit of this one. It's similar to something like Ultimate Fallout, just one of those issues setting up the new status quo for the marvel universe.
Volume 6: Revolution
Captain America is . Iron Man is running SHIELD. Any superhuman who doesn't register and become a government agent is arrested and put into the raft (or possibly even that prison in the negative zone). Danny Rand registered but refused to join up which he got away with mostly because he has powerful lawyers. The others are on the run. It was only a few months ago when the New Avengers formed and they found out that SHIELD was using slave labour in the Savage Land, and now SHIELD has effectively taken over the United States of America with Iron Man as their figure head. Meanwhile Echo is being held hostage in Japan by The Hand. Last time I tried to read this run I stopped with Civil War, which is too bad because it's here that all the little pieces of the story Bendis is trying to tell are starting to fall into place.
There's not a lot of final thoughts to have on this book because this is only half way through Bendis' run (less than half way if you count the post siege stuff as the same run) and it's only just all starting to come together, but this is a fun story that really takes its time to put the pieces on the board.
February 6, 2026
Man, I absolutely loved this omnibus. From the very first pages, it just grabs you and doesn’t let go. Avengers Disassembled alone is an absolute powerhouse of a story, emotional, shocking, and honestly one of the wildest Avengers stories ever. It completely tears down the old status quo in the best possible way.
Watching the new team come together is such a fun ride. Bendis really shines when it comes to character work. The dialogue feels natural, the personalities bounce off each other perfectly, and the chemistry between the team members feels super authentic. This roster shouldn’t work on paper… but somehow it works amazingly well.
The art throughout the book is gorgeous! It feels modern, dynamic, and cinematic, which fits the storytelling style perfectly.
I’m also really glad this omnibus finally got a reprint because it was out of print for way too long. This run deserves to be easily available for readers.
Some people might not love that the second half of the book takes place during Civil War without including the main event issues themselves. Honestly though, it didn’t bother me nearly as much as I expected. The story still flows well and makes sense, but yeah, knowing the Civil War event definitely makes the experience even better.
Overall, this is an awesome omnibus and a must-read if you enjoy modern Marvel storytelling or team books driven by strong character interactions.
Watching the new team come together is such a fun ride. Bendis really shines when it comes to character work. The dialogue feels natural, the personalities bounce off each other perfectly, and the chemistry between the team members feels super authentic. This roster shouldn’t work on paper… but somehow it works amazingly well.
The art throughout the book is gorgeous! It feels modern, dynamic, and cinematic, which fits the storytelling style perfectly.
I’m also really glad this omnibus finally got a reprint because it was out of print for way too long. This run deserves to be easily available for readers.
Some people might not love that the second half of the book takes place during Civil War without including the main event issues themselves. Honestly though, it didn’t bother me nearly as much as I expected. The story still flows well and makes sense, but yeah, knowing the Civil War event definitely makes the experience even better.
Overall, this is an awesome omnibus and a must-read if you enjoy modern Marvel storytelling or team books driven by strong character interactions.
February 24, 2014
I am not a huge Avengers fan ( I prefer X-Men) but I will be the first to admit that this is a key book in the Avengers history of the last 25 years.
In 2004 Marvel gave Brian Michael Bendis the keys to the Avengers franchise and he ran with it for 6 years straight, redefining what it meant to be an Avenger while at the same time a serie of big crossovers happened, all part of the big Avengers picture. This Omnibus collects the first half of that run.
It starts with a bang with Bendis disassembling the Avengers and then rebuilding the team from scratch with Iron Man, Captain American, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage and Spider Woman under a new name : The New Avengers. Then the momentum slow down way too much with stories about The Sentry and the Collective ( a follow up to House of M). Civil War happens and the New Avengers tie-in are really really ( really !) good, especially the Luke Cage( best single issue of the Omnibus) and the Spider Woman ones. Post Civil War the team changes up again with Iron Man and Cap out and Doctor Strange and Iron Fist in ( getting worried about how things will progress from there without Cap as he is the one that define the Avengers and things won't be the same without him).
All in all it's a great book with very uneven quality. Bendis has been writing Ultimate Spider-man forever and his Spider-man is especially good, always quipping jokes at the best time and he really shines in a new light as part of a team.
If I had to rate individually the stories it would be something like this :
End of old Avengers : 4 stars
New Avengers team formation : 4 stars
Savage Land trip : 3 stars
The sentry : 2 stars ( a new hero that will be part of the Avengers until Civil War, that I really don't get...)
The collective : 3 stars ( ties into House of M and Morisson New X-Men run)
Civil War : 5 stars ( reading the Civil War main story is recommended)
Civil War conclusion : 5 stars
Ninjas in Japan : 3 stars.
overall I will give the Omnibus 4 stars and keep it there.
In 2004 Marvel gave Brian Michael Bendis the keys to the Avengers franchise and he ran with it for 6 years straight, redefining what it meant to be an Avenger while at the same time a serie of big crossovers happened, all part of the big Avengers picture. This Omnibus collects the first half of that run.
It starts with a bang with Bendis disassembling the Avengers and then rebuilding the team from scratch with Iron Man, Captain American, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage and Spider Woman under a new name : The New Avengers. Then the momentum slow down way too much with stories about The Sentry and the Collective ( a follow up to House of M). Civil War happens and the New Avengers tie-in are really really ( really !) good, especially the Luke Cage( best single issue of the Omnibus) and the Spider Woman ones. Post Civil War the team changes up again with Iron Man and Cap out and Doctor Strange and Iron Fist in ( getting worried about how things will progress from there without Cap as he is the one that define the Avengers and things won't be the same without him).
All in all it's a great book with very uneven quality. Bendis has been writing Ultimate Spider-man forever and his Spider-man is especially good, always quipping jokes at the best time and he really shines in a new light as part of a team.
If I had to rate individually the stories it would be something like this :
End of old Avengers : 4 stars
New Avengers team formation : 4 stars
Savage Land trip : 3 stars
The sentry : 2 stars ( a new hero that will be part of the Avengers until Civil War, that I really don't get...)
The collective : 3 stars ( ties into House of M and Morisson New X-Men run)
Civil War : 5 stars ( reading the Civil War main story is recommended)
Civil War conclusion : 5 stars
Ninjas in Japan : 3 stars.
overall I will give the Omnibus 4 stars and keep it there.
August 10, 2025
This is a THICK collection. Usually I prefer softback. But my local library had this omnibus so I read it.
Usually I'm a DC reader too. This is my first dive into Marvel Event comics.
I like how high the stakes are at the beginning. The Avengers are falling apart. There is life and death stakes. They actually fall apart. Their is the death of main characters (for a while at least). The stuff with Wanda really interested me. (Interested me enough to pick up House of M and give it a try. Yes I've seen Wanda Vision.)
Seeing the new team take shape was fun. Lots of characters that I do know and many that I don't.
Then she story shifts to spider-woman. I didn't feel her story was strong enough to carry the main line, and was not even sure of the reason for it until the end of the volume. I'm pretty uncomfortable with how she is drawn-very male gazey.
I am not very familiar with the lesser known Avengers. So I had a hard time following characters with extreme powers that I didn't know. I can't remember their names, even now.
The volume really lost steam until Civil War starts. Civil War is an incredible event. The stakes are high. The personalities shine. The internal conflict is high. (I wish I had read it as it was coming out.) I love Iron Man's character and his friction with Cap, but I especially love Luke Cage. His character is my biggest take away from the whole collection.
Civil War impressed me so much that I will continue to read the series as it picks up with Secret Invasion.
Usually I'm a DC reader too. This is my first dive into Marvel Event comics.
I like how high the stakes are at the beginning. The Avengers are falling apart. There is life and death stakes. They actually fall apart. Their is the death of main characters (for a while at least). The stuff with Wanda really interested me. (Interested me enough to pick up House of M and give it a try. Yes I've seen Wanda Vision.)
Seeing the new team take shape was fun. Lots of characters that I do know and many that I don't.
Then she story shifts to spider-woman. I didn't feel her story was strong enough to carry the main line, and was not even sure of the reason for it until the end of the volume. I'm pretty uncomfortable with how she is drawn-very male gazey.
I am not very familiar with the lesser known Avengers. So I had a hard time following characters with extreme powers that I didn't know. I can't remember their names, even now.
The volume really lost steam until Civil War starts. Civil War is an incredible event. The stakes are high. The personalities shine. The internal conflict is high. (I wish I had read it as it was coming out.) I love Iron Man's character and his friction with Cap, but I especially love Luke Cage. His character is my biggest take away from the whole collection.
Civil War impressed me so much that I will continue to read the series as it picks up with Secret Invasion.
October 20, 2018
I really enjoyed the first chunk of Bendis’ New Avengers run.
It starts with Avengers: Disassembled and quickly becomes a large story.
You will have to Fill-In some big gaps by reading Disassembled: Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man, Young Avengers, House of M, Civil War, and even BruBaker’s Captain America Run because these events are continuously mentioned throughout the initial 31 issues (Note: Brubaker’s Cap run will be spoiled a bit sometime after issue 25.
The NA team that forms post-Civil War is very interesting and must have been a breath of fresh air upon release. Spider-Man and Wolverine anchor the group but do not overshadow the other members like Luke Cage, SpiderWoman, Ronin, Iron Fist, and Doctor Strange.
Tony is almost the antagonist in this run since he is pre-occupied with capturing unregistered heroes.
At the end of issue 31, we discover that Elektra is a Skrull.
It starts with Avengers: Disassembled and quickly becomes a large story.
You will have to Fill-In some big gaps by reading Disassembled: Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man, Young Avengers, House of M, Civil War, and even BruBaker’s Captain America Run because these events are continuously mentioned throughout the initial 31 issues (Note: Brubaker’s Cap run will be spoiled a bit sometime after issue 25.
The NA team that forms post-Civil War is very interesting and must have been a breath of fresh air upon release. Spider-Man and Wolverine anchor the group but do not overshadow the other members like Luke Cage, SpiderWoman, Ronin, Iron Fist, and Doctor Strange.
Tony is almost the antagonist in this run since he is pre-occupied with capturing unregistered heroes.
At the end of issue 31, we discover that Elektra is a Skrull.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 20, 2018
The beginnings of Brian Michael Bendis' s run on the Avengers titles. Spanning many years Bendis takes us along strange and wonderful paths. While witnessing the trials and troubles of super heroes we confront head on many issues of freedom, civil rights and liberties. These stories are extremely timely now even more than originally penned. Artwork is supplied by many of the modern masters of the form.
June 7, 2020
This run doesn't age as well as I remembered it and has to deal with the impacts of multiple crossovers albeit a world changing events that is house of m and civil war. This is half of Bendis long run on the title and features that standard quippy Bendis dialog you come to expect. His writing for me has always worked better in solo titles such as ultimate spider-man. Its a still an important and fun run but doesn't stand up against what hickman will later do.
November 23, 2022
An absolute roller coster spectacle that draws and expands on with what is going on and happening in earth-616 during that time (civil war fallout, secret invasion, etc). So many good arcs.
Dazzling art by the artists with my personal favorite being Leinil Yu’s incredible artwork. Love the coloring done through out as well.
So good, and nearly in the same league as Bendis’ DD imo when it comes to thrills.
Dazzling art by the artists with my personal favorite being Leinil Yu’s incredible artwork. Love the coloring done through out as well.
So good, and nearly in the same league as Bendis’ DD imo when it comes to thrills.
August 11, 2023
My favorite run on Avengers. This was my childhood. Bendis smashed it on this summer blockbuster fun ! The tension, the emotion, the arguments between these characters, all felt so grounded and real. I found myself smiling, getting mad, even had some touchy moments there too that get me in the feels. And the artwork by David Finch felt so CINEMATIC. This run still holds up today ! Bendis killed it.
May 30, 2025
This starts out pretty strong but it’s tied to way too many other series and events to make sense of on its own. You need to have read civil war, house of M, decimation etc. The writing is pretty good but it’s not as strong as USM. I wanted to like this but I didn’t feel like it was heading anywhere. It was just being pulled in every direction by events from other series.
December 26, 2021
The controversial Avengers line that created the world that Marvel adapted into the MCU. Worth a read. Ambitious, but I do think some of the interpersonal story beats were a bit too long without much payoff.
October 25, 2019
It's just so frustrating to read a giant collection like this and STILL not know what's going on because there's other material that takes place between issues.
January 16, 2025
Had lots of action, however most of the civil war issue are lack of luster. Overall enjoyed the book
April 22, 2025
This is really good, bendis does have weird chooses with woman sometimes but what a great first half
March 15, 2017
Brilliant run, now where is Vol 2 Marvel?
December 11, 2012
I don't usually read ongoing titles from the big 2 anymore. But I got this from a library and it floored me. First off, it's massive. It collects more than 30 issues but even with its length it's uniformly great. My only complaint is that there are a few filler issues with art I didn't really care for but they're only like 3 issues out of more than 30. And the writing for those issues was still superb. Great dialogue. Seriously made everybody seem real and distinct. I can't say enough good things about Brian Michael Bendis' run here. Awesome super hero adventure.
November 11, 2012
I read this as single issues when they first came out and thoroughly enjoyed them. The new team was a "Dream Team" so to speak, with Captain America, Iron Man, Spiderman, Spider Woman, Wolverine, Luke Cage and of course the new character, Sentry.
This first volume is well worth the read, however I must warn you that it does eventually start falling apart, especially when it seems that they have made the Sentry all too powerful and just don't know what to do with him.
This first volume is well worth the read, however I must warn you that it does eventually start falling apart, especially when it seems that they have made the Sentry all too powerful and just don't know what to do with him.
May 22, 2015
Finally got around to reading this, and I'm glad that I did. The "disassembly" of the original Avengers, the emergence of the New Avengers, the affects of Civil War, the adventures of the Secret Avengers, the first rumblings of Secret Invasion... there's just so much going on in this book! Now we just need a second Omnibus to wrap up Bendis' run (hopefully also including his Mighty Avengers stuff) and we'll be all set!
December 15, 2014
Great first step into Marvel. I was looking to learn more about Marvel and the "current" Avengers and this collection did not disappoint. Tons of story, properly collected. Check it out. I'm going back for more immediately!
January 3, 2015
This is a really good book with great plots and awesome arts. Only reason why i didnt give it 5 stars was i felt the reading order disrupted because you need to read House of M and Civil War mid way to really enjoy the story.
August 14, 2018
Almost 10 years later, these stories hold up and remain amazing.
April 24, 2017
New Avengers Omnibus by Brian Michael Bendis!!! The storyline starts with the Avengers in one of the darkest hour in their mansion. The Scarlet Witch had a breakdown, and simply put, all hell broke loose. Several well-known Avengers got killed and the group was disbanded. After 6 months, while on a routine visit at the deepest cells of Ryker Prison, Matt Murdock, Luke Cage, Jessica Drew (and even poor Foggy Nelson), had the surprise of their lives when all prisoners was set free by Electro. Captain America, Spider-man, and Iron Man went in to help, and that’s the moment the New Avengers was born. New set of people with new adventures! The book takes us through their struggles during an expedition in the Savage Lands, a psychiatric talk with the Sentry, a field trip into Japan to talk to the Hand and Hydra, and the through the whole Civil War thing. It’s a beautifully written book, paired with beautifully made art by several of the industry’s best artists, including our very own Leinil Francis Yu! Awesome work by Bendis, and I do hope they compile the rest of his run in an Omnibus vol. 2!
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