The question is it worth $3.99 just for a glossy cover, an extra page of story (23 pages total), and 3 pages of script noting a Dark Avengers security meeting, shamelessly expanded to 4 by repeating Page 1, with extra pictures? Not entirely. But it's an event, and few of us really expect them to be great as stories. In fact this is only the second Bendis comic I have read in a year. And in all fairness, Bendis events are rarely rubbish at the start. They merely devolve into rubbish by about the middle and then collapse into overrated buffalo feces by the finale, which is almost always either an anti-climax or a non-ending everyone saw coming, which Bendis treats as if it was told to him by a Burning Bush and usually explains better on Newsarama than in the pages within.
More happens here than in THE CABAL one shot, although the problem is that most of what happens was more or less stated in the 6 page preview, and in various solicitations and interviews. The usual, a surprise event that surprises no one. Volstagg causes a ruckus trying to fight crime, and a fight against the U-Foes (who are technically federally sanctioned superheroes) destroys Soldier Field in Chicago (no, not the Cubs!). This gives Osborn all the opening he needs to declare war on Asgard in Oklahoma and launch a full Dark Avengers attack on it to improve his standings with the public and media. The President is against it, but Osborn naturally doesn't heed him, and only seems to heed Loki. As usual, Loki is playing Iron Goblin like a fiddle.
Bendis adds Balder to his list of, "what figures written above most common people can I depict in a state of undress in mid-sexual intercourse" beside Dr. Doom and Dr. Strange as the attack begins. Also note that for all his faults, not even Bendis makes Balder as much of a gullible chump as JMS did on THOR; he immediately suspects Loki's hand in the attack, nor believes Loki's lies to the contrary. This book is a little ahead of THOR, which still has most of the Asgardians in Latveria as Thor and his chums attack Dr. Doom, but it isn't as bad as the whole REBORN debacle. In fact it does tie in quite well with INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, in which Donald Blake and Maria Hill are still watching over a comatose Tony Stark when the spit hits Asgard.
It says a lot about Thor's status on Marvel's totem pole of 100 ton tankers when the moment I saw Thor fly onto the scene, I literally thought, "oh, Bendis is going to have him get TKO'd like a wuss in 5 pages or less", and lo and behold, that is precisely what happens. While Thor doesn't get taken down as easily as, say, Colossus of the X-Men usually does, he's still nowhere near as tough as Hulk or, of course, Wolverine. You'd never see Wolverine get ***** slapped in the opening issue of a line wide crossover mini. The last time I saw Hulk get spanked this quickly, also by the U-Foes, was the Ostrander/Ferry debut issue of HEROES FOR HIRE in the mid 90's, and good LORD did WIZARD magazine throw a hissy fit about that one. Yes, I know it showed Ares' strategy; the "throw everything and the kitchen sink at Thor immediately or we're all dead" ploy. But, again, I can't think of anyone other than Colossus or Sentry who would fall that quickly when it counted, and that stinks. I've seen Luke Cage take WAY more than that. Hell, Luke Cage made Electro pass out just with a sneer; when the hell has Thor been allowed such a moment? Least one not written by Kieron Gillen?
Coipel as usual turns in a good art chore, although even at only 4 issues of relatively average comic length I wonder if he will be entirely on time. He couldn't handle more than 2 issues of THOR monthly and he ran late on HOUSE OF M. Still, reading this next to, say, an issue of anything Ed Brubaker writes revolving around Captain America and you really see that Bendis has no talent for pacing a fight and relies entirely on his artist to do that. And Coipel is hardly George Perez in that regard. Thor gets in a few hits with Sentry, energy blast, down. Bendis relies on TELLING you that Thor is going down, rather than really showing it well. WORLD WAR HULK was a big Greengasm, but at least Greg Pak and John Romita Jr. could pace some hellish fights. At any rate, the issue ends with Steve Rogers, who watches TV in his Captain America uniform, stand in surprise. Well, watching one of his old buddies get spanked would likely incite Rogers into action. Anyway, can you tell REBORN is running late?
The "board meeting" at the end is interesting in that without art and with sheer script reading, I had no idea who was usually speaking beyond Ares and Sentry, and even when I knew, Gargan as Spidey sounded the same as Parker under Bendis. I could swap Bullseye's creepy cynicism with most of Bendis' Logan or Clint lines and I doubt anyone would notice. Remember how in SUPER FRIENDS, everyone talked alike and without the voice actors, it all would have read the same? Bendis is like that, only snarkier and bleaker. He's the ANTI-SUPERFRIEND. I also could imagine that with better scripting, Bendis could have gotten 10 pages of art around those 3 pages of text talking. And that's disgusting.
No, SIEGE #1 wasn't bad. But is "not bad" the best we can expect of Marvel's Number One writer? It is, and that always is annoying. Bendis events always start out as good as they're going to get and go downhill from there. I'm only here because of morbid curiosity and because this is the "it" Marvel book of 2010. I hardly expect a miracle. I do expect side titles doing tie-ins, such as AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, MIGHTY AVENGERS, or THUNDERBOLTS, to get a lot out of this, just as everyone but Bendis worked SECRET INVASION better.
Some are predicting the Marvel universe to swing back into "not as bleak" territory after SIEGE. Politically, with Bush out of office almost a year now, it's about time considering Marvel's about as left as a turn signal. But with a Bendis event, I expect nothing but overrated gibberish unless proven wrong. Still, considering my 12 month break from Bendis, he hasn't completely displeased me. From him, "average" is better than expected.
SIEGE: EMBEDDED #1: I didn't plan on buying this all until yesterday when I read it was from Brian Reed and not Paul Jenkins. I decided impulsively to give it a try, and I regretted it. This isn't worth $4 a pop. It isn't bad, but the definition of "meh", and a waste of Samnee's pencils. As well as a waste of shelf space, paper, and my time. It should simply be called "SIEGE: SOMETHING ELSE FOR FOUR BUCKS, SUCKA".
Phil Urich teams up with another reporter guy to follow Volstagg back to Oklahoma and report on SIEGE. Because conservatives are evil, an obvious metaphor station for Fox News is 100% behind Osborn and being set up to preach his propaganda. Because, y'know, news stations that lean left never, ever, EVER report anything that nears propaganda for Democrats. The art is probably the highlight, and a lot of the story washes over like rain, and is forgotten as soon as one is inside. I'd say political stories that still rail against conservatives when they are out of majority power is much like kicking someone when they're down to an audience that is too busy being hysterical to notice, but no matter.
This wasn't even worth sticking around for $3, much less $4. But, I knew better, and didn't listen to myself, because I was once impressed with Reed's CAPTAIN MARVEL, and him getting something almost decent with Bendis in some issues of THE ILLUMINATI. My fault. The art by Samnee was probably the highlight. Now HE should have drawn MARVEL BOY: THE URANIAN!
It's...straightforward perhaps, but that's just fine. And unlike almost every other event at Marvel in the past years, the premise actually doesn't offend me on a fundamental level! Yay! Let's hope I'm not being too blindly hopeful and that it doesn't end with my pain, like the other events have.
will bring down Norman.
Well thanks for answering! 
<3
