Avengers Disassembled Part 1

[informationgeek]

Avengers: Disassembled is controversial, even years after it was originally published. Truth be told, it probably will remain divisive for years to come. Still, I think it represents a turning point for the franchise, and it’s a bold ambitious and daring piece of work. Any comic that celebrates its five hundredth issue by mercilessly deconstructing its central team deserves a large amount of respect. Bendis’ work on Avengers might have its share of detractors, and I’m hard-pressed to argue it’s his best work, but I still think it’s a very challenging and breathtaking attempt to help rework a franchise that struggled to find its footing.” - Darren

Story By: Brian Michael Bendis
Art By: David Finch

Like with Civil War, we'll just be looking at random scenes from each issue.



And so it all begins with Avengers #500.





BBBBOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM! Both ded.








Then Vision shows up at the Mansion and blows s**t up with a quinjet.




He then pukes out Ultron metal balls and Ultron things attack!












And She-Hulk smashes Steve with a truck. We then wrap with this...




Brian Michael Bendis doesn't like She-Hulk, does he?

Comments

[stacyhd]

*heavy sigh*
Look, I know it's de rigueur to go after creators and tear them down but I want to make this clear: I -don't- hate Brian Michael Bendis. The artist himself seems to be a reasonably nice enough guy and his work on FORTUNE & GLORY and POWERS is legitimately great.

But stuff like this. . .it -baffles- me. Much like David S. Goyer proclaiming how big of a fan of comics he is while simultaneously making Superman all but unrecognizable and making Batman a murderous sociopath. And he's the guy who helped co-write STARMAN near the end and JSA! It's maddening. The paradox inherent in these creators and their respective works would make a computer on Star Trek start to spit smoke from the paradoxes.

But yeah, AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED was a dumpster fire of a comic. The only one I found in any way palatable was THOR DISASSEMBLED. It was a bad time for the character but it was a well-crafted bad time for the character.

[scorntx]

General rule of thumb with creators who say they're "oh, I'm such a big fan of X" is to be wary at best, ready to run at worst.

Just because someone's a fan of something doesn't necessarily mean they're good at writing for that thing.
They're a fan, yeah, but look at the average fanbase of a thing. Would you want one of them writing official material?
Y'know, unless you want a Star Trek film where Kirk and Spock quit Starfleet and retire to some moon to raise a bunch of kids.
(*cough*)

Okay, yeah, unfair generalisation. There are a lot of people in comics who are fans of them and are genuinely fond of the characters and do good works.
But...
If they say they're a big fan, best to have a grain of salt nearby.
(As a bonus, it wards off demons / magical irritants. Won't ward off cat-ghosts, though.)

[bruinsfan]

I agree, while I have very little respect for Bendis' work outside of the street level adventures that he writes well, the man himself seems fairly nice. I certainly don't get a whiff of the douchiness that surrounds Millar and Ennis like a cloud of Axe body spray.

[stacyhd]

See, I think Ennis and I would get along fine as long as we kept the topics confined to Westerns and Superman. Bringing up THE BOYS might lead to us dying at each other's hands, but I'd steer clear of it.

With Millar, it depends on whether or not you're dealing with Mark Millar (co-creator of AZTEK: THE ULTIMATE MAN, SUPERMAN: RED SON, SUPERMAN ADVENTURES, STARLIGHT, etc) or Mark Mil-Lar (writer of WANTED, his run on THE AUTHORITY, NEMESIS, KICK-ASS, etc). It'd be like a discussion with Harvey Dent.

[halloweenjack]

Same thing with Brad Meltzer. Guy's got some serious cred as a writer, but Identity Crisis is just a shitstorm from stem to stern.

[mrstatham]

I still have to imagine that elements of Identity Crisis were editorially mandated (hence the infamous 'we need a rape' quote), but.. Yeah. Definite equivalent right there, because elements of Meltzer's later Justice League run were fine. Nothing amazing, but fine.

[stacyhd]

Ohhhhhh yeah. IDENTITY CRISIS. There is no curse in Entish, Elvish, or the tongues of Men for -that- treachery.