The New New Avengers

[Varient]

I think "street-level" refers more to Cage's concerns. Dude generally spends his time running around the streets helping Iron Fist and Daredevil rather than fighting enemies more on his level. I mean, Cap's a lot less powerful than Cage, but he's never considered "street-level" because he sets his sights a lot higher most of the time. He doesn't care that all he can do to Thanos is break his fist on Thanos' face; he'll still face that f***er down with the fate of the entire universe at stake. Cage seems content to keep his sights a bit more local, and it's not like the New Avengers ever did anything particularly big in scope either--that's part of why some Avengers fans didn't like them. Although, now that Cage is leading the Thunderbolts, he'll probably have to aim a bit higher.

I remember the "old days" where "Streetlevel" meant at most barely above olympic class powers and abilities at best,.... then they bumped it up to (By marvel standards ) Barely superhuman (Tigra benching a ton, beast benching two tons, Cage benching three, etc,.. up to about five tons)
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Now it's an area of concern?
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OK.

On current topic:
Cage was written well for years before Bendis,.. then (My opinion) someone got in there, dumbed him down, and marginalized his motivation.
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Bendis actually wrote Cage well, but some feel he threw too much at one time.
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I'm happy that Contrary to what some will say,.. Cage was not written as a Stereotype by Bendis, He represents the silent mainstream of Blackmen who only want to do right, be respected, and have a life.
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The part when the "Avengers" took down Nefaria (sp?) was excellent because it was one of the few times I've seen the Avengers actually use strategy. Cage standing him up for Ms Marvel by Popping him one is what I like to see.

Luke Cage is best for me when his powers are present but understated.
(Shrugging off bullets, catching a thrown car and putting it down, jumping down from twenty stories to take care of business - all w/o talking about it.)
I also hope they continue to show his moral side - his sense of right and wrong is also understated and I love the character for that. (Taking pains NOT to hurt a cop who was shooting at him? )

The only complaint I have is that he has joined the "sexless" side of the Marvel Universe.

Spiderman has wild monkey sex, Mr. Fantasic does not, Black Panther has chase/fight/capture sex games with his wife, Cage does not.

Even on the PG side:

Reed Richards has old flames trying to trip him up, Cage does not.

And the Marvel Universe remains a groupie wasteland with exception of heroes like Hercules. You'd think that Captain America would be wading thru post-it's on his shield from women wanting to have his child let alone the women in the Superhero community who'd want someone on a par with them as far as scratching an itch.

Cage would have similar problems being at "streetlevel."

(Just remember the Thing and Thundra first encounter - then swap out Thing for Cage and Thundra for Cargil,.. or Moonstone.)

I'd also like to see his wife step up once in a while when stuff gets tight. her powers run along the same lines as his, though a little weaker but she can fly.


Finally,
I pray that Marvel doesn't marginalize His friendship with Danial Rand, That they don't cause drama by killing Misty Knight, and they STOP with the retconing of who he knows and doesn't know in the Marvel universe.

This Thunderbolts thing could be done right - I really hope it doesn't suffer with him running off in the middle on Avengers business.
(rant over).

 

[Brown Lantern]

New Avengers #1 was a fantastic start to the series. I have to admit that I was not going to even read this series, but it was a slow comic day, so I thought I would give it a shot. The art is very fluid; Immonen has improved much since his stint on Ultimate Spider-Man. Victoria Hand is going to be a fun addtion to the hero side of comics. I have a feeling that her and Cage will play well off each other. Wolverine's addition to this team feels natural (unlike in Avengers). I love how we are given a Dr. Strange adventure to begin things. It's also good to finally see Ben Grimm get some respect. This may actually become my Avengers book (that is if Secret Avengers becomes to serious of a book).

 

[Spider-Jay420]

I wouldn't say it was fantastic, but it's pretty much what I expected. Immomen is great as always, and I too, liked the Cage/Victoria Hand exchange. I'm also glad to see Avengers Mansion back in action (I don't know when it was rebuilt or by whom, but whatever), and Ben Grimm's invitation was cool. I wish there woulda been a little more to it, than Cage inviting him over for dinner at the Mansion and saying "Hey, wanna be an Avenger?" but it was a nice scene. Logan's crack about him being an X-Man and on TWO Avengers teams was funny too.

Decent start, but it seems like a direct continuation of the last New Avengers. Anyone who is bored with Bendis and/or tired of his Avengers will certainly not enjoy this book. It's not bad, it's just nothing special. I thought his Avengers proper last month was better.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Do Cage's objections to Cap offering him exactly what he wanted ever make more sense in the issue than they did in that preview?

 

[Spider-Jay420]

I don't have it in front of me, but once Steve tells Cage he gets to hand pick his team members (except he can't have Thor or Iron Man), and he realizes he now OWNS Avengers Mansion, it clicks for him. He drops his angry Black Man schtick real quick.

 

[runawayboulder]

I thought it stunk. This book had two things going for it, Immonen and Victoria Hand....and that's it.

I don't understand the reason for this team to exist. Why is Luke Cage there? If he didn't have the T-Bolts gig I'd get it, but it's not like he's got nothing to do. They should've came right out and said this is the NY/NJ Avengers or just a team that deals with street level threats.

I'm not big on the magic stuff either...

 

[Optikal]

Massive LOLs @ Wolverines explanation of his membership

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Well damn if issue #1 wasn't 90000x better than I expected

 

[robsoko422]

I liked it. The art was very good and I enjoy when there are "banter" comments like Wolverine's mention of being on the X-Men and two Avengers teams and Rodgers saying Luke can pick anyone, but cant have Thor or Iron Man.

This group looks to be the "family" Avengers, the team that will hang out together between fights with demons. they have Ben, Wolverine and Luke... shouldnt be too long before the poker games begin.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

What reason did Steve give for not allowing Luke's team to have Thor or Iron Man? If Wolverine and Spider-Man can be on both, why not those two?

 

[Sebastos]

I liked it. The art was very good and I enjoy when there are "banter" comments like Wolverine's mention of being on the X-Men and two Avengers teams and Rodgers saying Luke can pick anyone, but cant have Thor or Iron Man.

This group looks to be the "family" Avengers, the team that will hang out together between fights with demons. they have Ben, Wolverine and Luke... shouldnt be too long before the poker games begin.

I can picture it now.

 

[Spider-Vader]

What reasons do they have for Spidey, Wolverine & Thing?

 

[ZeroCorpse]

My first thought is "why is the New Avengers team so much bigger than the Avengers team?"

I mean, they have:
Luke Cage
Iron Fist
The Thing
Spider-Man
Wolverine
Hawkeye
Mockingbird
Ms. Marvel
Jessica Jones
Victoria Hand

That's a big team for them being the "B" team of Avengers.

My second thought is, "Why are so many members doing double-duty on Avengers teams?"

Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Hawkeye are New Avengers and Avengers.
Luke Cage is a New Avenger and Thunderbolt (which is arguably an Avengers team).

On top of that, the Thing is still in the FF, and Wolverine is still an X-Man (and I'd LOOOOVE to know where and when his hanging out at Avengers Mansion fits in the timeline with the events happening with X-Men books right now. He's in the future on a suicide mission last I checked.)

I also think this may be the first time that two X-Men were doing double duty as Avengers at the same time (Wolverine and Beast). Does Wolverine know about Beast being an Avenger again? I mean, they're the Secret Avengers, but still...

I'd also like to see some of this "not being a wanted non-registered superhuman" effect in Spider-Man's books. More to the point, I want to see more of the "respected member of two legally-sanctioned, publicly-loved Avengers teams" on Pete's life.

I mean... WHY is he still living in his crappy apartment with Michelle, whining about not having any money for rent, when he could live in Avengers Mansion OR Stark Tower?!?! And actually, don't government-sanctioned Avengers get PAID? Why would Pete be moping around complaining about not being able to find a job when he's on two Avengers teams?

The only answer I can come up with is that he's "keeping up appearances" and doesn't think he can just move out of his apartment because it would tip off people that he's Spider-Man. But even so... You'd think the Avengers would help a brother out and put him up in his own place if he can't stay at the mansion or tower.

This is getting convoluted. I love Marvel, but they need to iron out the whole "multiple teams" thing for certain characters. Having Wolverine make a joke about it was cool (and funny), but honestly-- His being there goes against the story unfolding in X-Men right now, and Pete's personal stories are conflicting with the reality of his Avengers memberships. It just doesn't make sense, and I'd like a little clarification from Marvel.

 

[robsoko422]

Are you really asking how a character can be in multiple books at the same time???

Batman, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Superman, Punisher, Deadpool, and dozens of others do it every month, and have been doing it for decades.

Steve Rodgers and Moon Knight were both last seen heading to Mars. Plus Nova was on said Mars while also at the same time at the Fault fighting the Cancerverse.

It's is the nature of the biz my friend...

 

[Havok83]

Good first issue. I have to say New Avengers #1 was the best first issue of the new Avenger titles

 

[BrianWilly]

I gotta say, Hand is going to have to stop acting so stupid if she wants anyone to take her seriously as a supposed voice of reason and "perspective" on the team or whatever.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I also think this may be the first time that two X-Men were doing double duty as Avengers at the same time (Wolverine and Beast). Does Wolverine know about Beast being an Avenger again? I mean, they're the Secret Avengers, but still...

I don't think Beast is an X-Man anymore, actually. He left because of Cyclops' *****ebaggery and joined SWORD. So technically he's pulling double-duty between SWORD and the Secret Avengers. Which, given that his girlfriend runs SWORD and the leader of the Secret Avengers is now her boss, is probably pretty easy.

Completely agree about Spider-Man's money problems, though. They should be a thing of the past, but we all know the current Marvel administration doesn't like taking Spider-Man away from his "iconic" '70s status quo at all.

 

[chris moore]

Really is the team of double duty isn't it. I mean I like the line-up and all, but Spidey, Logan, Hawkeye (though I'm not sure how fixed he is as a new Avenger - could just be those "Old New Avengers" round the table were having a celebratory meal for Luke, with the exception of Bucky), AND Thing? Of the FF? Arguably THE team most often never around when something goes down?

Another three points came to me while reading through:
1) Why did Pete have his mask in the old halfway up mode for drinking when there isn't a person in that room who doesn't now know who he is?
2) Aside from keeping the oh-so-dated "everyman with everyday problems" theme going with Peter thus necessitating endless rent problems and temp jobs, why in the world would he not reside in Avengers mansion at the very least? I don't have one off the top of my head right now, but there has to be a sensible (ie no magic) way to get around his not being able to have any civilian mates round and at the same time not have everyone wondering where he goes to sleep.
3) The latest artists of the heroic age really are having a lot of trouble drawing Hawkeye's mask without making it look like goofy wings flapping over his face aren't they?

 

[Spider-Jay420]

What reason did Steve give for not allowing Luke's team to have Thor or Iron Man? If Wolverine and Spider-Man can be on both, why not those two?

Steve didn't give a reason. He just kinda smirked, like "Sorry Cage, these guys are on MY team. Ha!"

Steve did say something along the lines of "We'll do our thing. You do your thing, and I'm sure we'll team up whenever the need arises." So, as far as pulling double duty and who's on which team, I think it'll be very loose. More like 1 big team with 2 base locations. Cuz whoever will be hanging out at the Mansion will surely be in on whatever adventure happens when the Wrecking Crew or possessed Dr Strange or whoever shows up to wreak havok that day.

I just wish there woulda been more....substance to the issue. I'll stick with the arc but we'll see after that.

 

[RockSP]

I don't think Beast is an X-Man anymore, actually. He left because of Cyclops' *****ebaggery and joined SWORD. So technically he's pulling double-duty between SWORD and the Secret Avengers. Which, given that his girlfriend runs SWORD and the leader of the Secret Avengers is now her boss, is probably pretty easy.

Who says Steve is her boss?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, the CSA seemed to be her boss, if I recall the SWORD series correctly. Gyrich took over under the CSA's authority after he'd discredited Brand. I could've sworn that the CSA fell under Stark and Osborn's command, which is now equivalent to Steve's command, but I guess I could be wrong.

 

[Nightwing 52]

Wolverine: Hey, I'm an X-Man and on two Avengers teams.

Mockingbird: Yeah, how the hell do you do that?

Wolverine: Multitasking. It's my mutant power. Don't tell anybody.

 

[Havok83]

Wolverine: Hey, I'm an X-Man and on two Avengers teams.

Mockingbird: Yeah, how the hell do you do that?

Wolverine: Multitasking. It's my mutant power. Don't tell anybody.

haha, that reminds me of this scene. Obviously, he's gotten good at it since

 

[bored]

Definitely don't think Hawkeye is sticking around with the team past this arc. He's celebrating a big moment with friends (and his girlfriend), and he happens to be there when something big arrives on their doorstep.

 

[Havok83]

Definitely don't think Hawkeye is sticking around with the team past this arc. He's celebrating a big moment with friends (and his girlfriend), and he happens to be there when something big arrives on their doorstep.

girlfriend? Isnt she his wife?