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The New Avengers (2004) #3-4
The New Avengers, Vol. 2
Secrets and lies revealed!
Who is Ronin, and why has Captain America recruited him into the fold? How did Spider-Woman get her powers back, and to whom does she answer? And in the wake of the world-changing House of M, where did all the power go? The New Avengers' latest gauntlet subjects them to attack and intrigue as they discover who their most powerful enemy really is!
Collecting New Avengers #11-20 and Annual #1, and the lead story from Giant Size Spider-Woman #1 - written by Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man); and illustrated by David Finch (Moon Knight), Frank Cho (Mighty Avengers), Rick Mays (Livewires), Steve McNiven (Civil War), Mike Deodato (Thunderbolts) and Olivier Coipel (Thor).
Who is Ronin, and why has Captain America recruited him into the fold? How did Spider-Woman get her powers back, and to whom does she answer? And in the wake of the world-changing House of M, where did all the power go? The New Avengers' latest gauntlet subjects them to attack and intrigue as they discover who their most powerful enemy really is!
Collecting New Avengers #11-20 and Annual #1, and the lead story from Giant Size Spider-Woman #1 - written by Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man); and illustrated by David Finch (Moon Knight), Frank Cho (Mighty Avengers), Rick Mays (Livewires), Steve McNiven (Civil War), Mike Deodato (Thunderbolts) and Olivier Coipel (Thor).
296 pages, Hardcover
First published April 16, 2008
3 people are currently reading
72 people want to read
About the author
Brian Michael Bendis
4,408 books2,574 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 26, 2023
I'm reviewing these double-volume hardback versions to limit the number of reviews of Bendis' superb New Avengers run I have to write. In New Avengers volume 3: Secrets and Lies brings to light more incredible Bendis storytelling as he turns the 'we are your Avengers' press conference trope into something completely different; also by now, after my initial strong doubts Spider-Man and Wolverine as New Avengers is really working. The ongoing underlying SHIELD conspiracy is OK, but does feel a bit too vague at times. My only real issue with this volume/series at this point was how the whole 'Ronin' secret New Avenger deal was introduced, and then dealt with so quickly. The conspiracies around Spider-Woman are pretty interesting but not that plausible, even in he Marvel universe.
The second half of this collection features New Avengers volume 4: The Collective, which is the New Avengers House of M a powerful entity strikes Alaska wiping out two SHIELD jets (and crews) and an entire superhero team! The New Avengers find themselves pulling out all the stops to take on The Collective, and also have ongoing issues with SHIELD acting boss Maria Hill, the President. and possibly each other to deal with. A world-class follow-up to House of M where Bendis spins what has always been missing, the Government/SHIELD's concern and interest in a 'Summer Event' and looking to get the real intel from the super powered beings. A solid 8 out of 12, Four Stars for these two volumes.
2023 read with at least five other readings of The New Avengers comic books that make up this volume in other editions.
The second half of this collection features New Avengers volume 4: The Collective, which is the New Avengers House of M a powerful entity strikes Alaska wiping out two SHIELD jets (and crews) and an entire superhero team! The New Avengers find themselves pulling out all the stops to take on The Collective, and also have ongoing issues with SHIELD acting boss Maria Hill, the President. and possibly each other to deal with. A world-class follow-up to House of M where Bendis spins what has always been missing, the Government/SHIELD's concern and interest in a 'Summer Event' and looking to get the real intel from the super powered beings. A solid 8 out of 12, Four Stars for these two volumes.
2023 read with at least five other readings of The New Avengers comic books that make up this volume in other editions.
August 5, 2014
Man, reading these "old" New Avengers stories is making realize how much cool shit I was missing back when these were still coming out. Bendis has a way of seamlessly weaving mystery into big, ridiculous superheroics, and it just makes these books some of the hardest to put down on the planet.
Now, this one is by no means perfect (though Vol. 1 kind of was?). The mystery of who Jessica Drew is actually working for has been building fairly slowly since the start of the series, and in this volume a lot of that reveal is just kind of spat out all at once, mostly through a scene where she is just sitting down and telling Captain America about it. This sucks a lot of the fun of having these reveals come through action and plot movement, and feels pretty static, but I'll give Bendis the benefit of the doubt here. It feels like there's more to come with this mystery, and that the little exchange between she and Cap might even be a misdirect. Guess I'll find out, cause I am damn sure reading the rest of this series.
In this volume you also get the mystery of "Who is Ronin?," a masked ninja person who helps the Avengers fight the Hand. I found this story to be kind of a meta commentary on twists, which I thought was actually pretty funny in the long run. The whole time everyone is trying to guess who Ronin is, despite the fact that s/he keeps telling them "You've never heard of me." Then, in the end, it's revealed that
The second major story in this volume directly follows House of M, dealing with the strange conservation-of-energy conundrum Bendis set up at the end of that series (if Scarlet Witch removed all the energy from mutants, where did that energy go?). It's kind of silly to me to stick so strictly to a real law of thermodynamics when there are magic men flying around through the astral plane all the time in this world, but hey, science is fun.
Anyway, the story seeks to answer the question of what happened to all that energy while simultaneously giving the New Avengers one of their first true global threats to deal with. What follows is intense and thrilling... to a point. I was hooked by the art and Bendis's flare for the dramatic, building tension all the way up until the last issue of the story. But then, it all kind of falls apart. Not enough for me to dislike the story as a whole, but it ends up kind of not answering its own questions, and also features a weird cameo by Xorn, a character who continues his notorious streak of not making any sense. Also, good luck understanding the ending if you haven't read a bunch of X-Men comics. I have, and I don't even know how to describe it to you.
In any case, quibbles and weirdness aside, this is one hell of a quick read, about as far from boring as you can get. You got me, Bendis! I like you, okay?! You're good!
Now, this one is by no means perfect (though Vol. 1 kind of was?). The mystery of who Jessica Drew is actually working for has been building fairly slowly since the start of the series, and in this volume a lot of that reveal is just kind of spat out all at once, mostly through a scene where she is just sitting down and telling Captain America about it. This sucks a lot of the fun of having these reveals come through action and plot movement, and feels pretty static, but I'll give Bendis the benefit of the doubt here. It feels like there's more to come with this mystery, and that the little exchange between she and Cap might even be a misdirect. Guess I'll find out, cause I am damn sure reading the rest of this series.
In this volume you also get the mystery of "Who is Ronin?," a masked ninja person who helps the Avengers fight the Hand. I found this story to be kind of a meta commentary on twists, which I thought was actually pretty funny in the long run. The whole time everyone is trying to guess who Ronin is, despite the fact that s/he keeps telling them "You've never heard of me." Then, in the end, it's revealed that
The second major story in this volume directly follows House of M, dealing with the strange conservation-of-energy conundrum Bendis set up at the end of that series (if Scarlet Witch removed all the energy from mutants, where did that energy go?). It's kind of silly to me to stick so strictly to a real law of thermodynamics when there are magic men flying around through the astral plane all the time in this world, but hey, science is fun.
Anyway, the story seeks to answer the question of what happened to all that energy while simultaneously giving the New Avengers one of their first true global threats to deal with. What follows is intense and thrilling... to a point. I was hooked by the art and Bendis's flare for the dramatic, building tension all the way up until the last issue of the story. But then, it all kind of falls apart. Not enough for me to dislike the story as a whole, but it ends up kind of not answering its own questions, and also features a weird cameo by Xorn, a character who continues his notorious streak of not making any sense. Also, good luck understanding the ending if you haven't read a bunch of X-Men comics. I have, and I don't even know how to describe it to you.
In any case, quibbles and weirdness aside, this is one hell of a quick read, about as far from boring as you can get. You got me, Bendis! I like you, okay?! You're good!
January 22, 2014
This second volume of New Avengers has fallout from “Secret War” and “House of M”. After 42 supervillains escaped from the Raft, the New Avengers formed to track them down and renew efforts to protect people as a team.
The first third of the book deals with Spider-Woman, and where her loyalties truly lie. When the team goes to Japan after the Silver Samurai, Jessica encounters Madame Hydra and subsequently lets her escape. The team confronts her; it seems that Nick Fury went underground after Secret War, but is still causing trouble. I don’t know much about Spider-Woman, so I truly enjoyed this section as it focused on her. There is some action, but most of the section was dialog driven and team-centric, including the problem of Spider-Man’s bad press in the Dailey Bugle.
The second and largest section of the book was my favorite as it addressed an issue I had with the resolution of the House of M: no more mutants. The entire arc implied that Wanda’s alternate reality was “wrong” and the true reality was trying to reassert itself. Which begs the question, how could millions of mutants lose their powers when she shifted reality again – where would they go? This section provides an answer and the greatest challenge the new team must face so far. This also was incredibly action-heavy with several battles and some brilliant cut scenes on the helicarrier. Ms. Marvel also gets in on the action, though she remains a loner, and this section has Spider-Man in the new spider armor Iron Man created for him. Very cool.
The last small section has the team facing a Black Widow (not Agent Romanov) enhanced with the ability to adapt powers. Only, she gets more than she bargains for when she takes on Sentry’s power, and his mental instability. This was my least favorite part of the collection mainly because I don’t care for the Sentry. He seems like a poor substitute for Thor on the team and too often comes off as a whiner due to the Void vs Sentry “split personality.” That said, the battle was fun and brilliantly rendered.
Overall, I found this to be an exciting and well done collection of New Avengers material. As the Superhero Registration Act is mentioned during the second story, it also sets up Civil War which the third volume of New Avengers will overlap. Highly recommended.
The first third of the book deals with Spider-Woman, and where her loyalties truly lie. When the team goes to Japan after the Silver Samurai, Jessica encounters Madame Hydra and subsequently lets her escape. The team confronts her; it seems that Nick Fury went underground after Secret War, but is still causing trouble. I don’t know much about Spider-Woman, so I truly enjoyed this section as it focused on her. There is some action, but most of the section was dialog driven and team-centric, including the problem of Spider-Man’s bad press in the Dailey Bugle.
The second and largest section of the book was my favorite as it addressed an issue I had with the resolution of the House of M: no more mutants. The entire arc implied that Wanda’s alternate reality was “wrong” and the true reality was trying to reassert itself. Which begs the question, how could millions of mutants lose their powers when she shifted reality again – where would they go? This section provides an answer and the greatest challenge the new team must face so far. This also was incredibly action-heavy with several battles and some brilliant cut scenes on the helicarrier. Ms. Marvel also gets in on the action, though she remains a loner, and this section has Spider-Man in the new spider armor Iron Man created for him. Very cool.
The last small section has the team facing a Black Widow (not Agent Romanov) enhanced with the ability to adapt powers. Only, she gets more than she bargains for when she takes on Sentry’s power, and his mental instability. This was my least favorite part of the collection mainly because I don’t care for the Sentry. He seems like a poor substitute for Thor on the team and too often comes off as a whiner due to the Void vs Sentry “split personality.” That said, the battle was fun and brilliantly rendered.
Overall, I found this to be an exciting and well done collection of New Avengers material. As the Superhero Registration Act is mentioned during the second story, it also sets up Civil War which the third volume of New Avengers will overlap. Highly recommended.
January 24, 2012
What made this a 4 star read for me was the first story. Rarely in the funny books do you come across an entire issue where you have costumed Avengers having dinner/breakfast and not a single fist fight breaks out. Not only that, but there is no lurking menace, no doom waiting. Just a bunch of heroes hang out having breakfast and planning for the future. The dynamic between Luke and Jessica will be the key to this series, I think. It makes this Avengers more family, like the FF, than the other Avengers team.
The second story was excellent as well -- Luke and Jess on a date. The first half was great. All dialogue that only Bendis can write. Then Doom crashes it.
The rest of the collection was standard tights and fights. I enjoyed the proto-Avengers story and the main story was cool as well. Looking forward to see what happens to Mockingbird.
The second story was excellent as well -- Luke and Jess on a date. The first half was great. All dialogue that only Bendis can write. Then Doom crashes it.
The rest of the collection was standard tights and fights. I enjoyed the proto-Avengers story and the main story was cool as well. Looking forward to see what happens to Mockingbird.
June 23, 2011
I'm going to need someone to explain to me what happened in this book. The first volume was great at getting new readers up to speed, but this one dug too far back into mutant history (and it's an Avengers book!) for me to follow. Still, it was pretty nifty, and I want to be Maria Hill's BFF. And Jessica Drew's.
Also, Yay wedding! It gets an extra star just for those great peeks into the non-super sides of their lives.
Also, Yay wedding! It gets an extra star just for those great peeks into the non-super sides of their lives.
February 26, 2012
Secret and Lies revealed the "mystery" of who was Ronin. Everyone suspected and it was even suppose to be Daredevil. But they were able to change it and still have it fit the story with who it is. Finch's artwork is a little messy but I still enjoy his work. 4/5
The next arc, "The Collective", starts well but descends into madness when they bring Xorn into it. Making it even more of a mess. The artwork was pretty messy. 2/5
The next arc, "The Collective", starts well but descends into madness when they bring Xorn into it. Making it even more of a mess. The artwork was pretty messy. 2/5
November 6, 2011
I started this a while back and the first story arc was pretty good but nothing amazing. Then I got to the Collective story arc and wow. I sat down one night with the intention of only reading one issue, I ended up finishing the book and then Vol 3 the next day. This is where Bendis' New Avengers really takes off and becomes excellent. Definite recommend for anyone into comics.
September 23, 2011
Mr. Bendis is a pretty darn good writer.
November 28, 2011
Not to be confused with the PREVIOUS "New Avengers Vol.2" !?!?!
Whoops this IS the PREVIOUS New Avengers Vol.2!
I think I remember liking it.
Whoops this IS the PREVIOUS New Avengers Vol.2!
I think I remember liking it.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews