(zero of five stars)
Summary
Summary
(The story is a mess, but I'll try.)
The Avengers are in England to battle the Wrecking Crew. In the battle, Cap is knocked unconscious and an "ordinary" woman named Kelsey picks up his shield to defend him against an unusually-verbose Thunderball. She dies. Hawkeye tries to avenge her death, but gets his ass handed to him by the now-escaped Wrecking Crew. Kelsey is transported to Avalon where Brian Braddock makes her the new Captain Britain. She returns to Earth and defeats Thunderball, only to be whisked -- along with Thunderball and the Scarlet Witch -- to a mysterious place by Morgan Le Fay. Le Fay is trying to kill Brian Braddock, since any injury to Captain Britain is an injury to Britain, and realizes that she needs to be wounding Kelsey instead. Captain America arrives and helps Kelsey defeat Le Fay. The new Captain Britain and her family (who she cannot see, for reasons clear only to the writer) relocate to Avengers Mansion.
The Review
The Avengers are in England to battle the Wrecking Crew. In the battle, Cap is knocked unconscious and an "ordinary" woman named Kelsey picks up his shield to defend him against an unusually-verbose Thunderball. She dies. Hawkeye tries to avenge her death, but gets his ass handed to him by the now-escaped Wrecking Crew. Kelsey is transported to Avalon where Brian Braddock makes her the new Captain Britain. She returns to Earth and defeats Thunderball, only to be whisked -- along with Thunderball and the Scarlet Witch -- to a mysterious place by Morgan Le Fay. Le Fay is trying to kill Brian Braddock, since any injury to Captain Britain is an injury to Britain, and realizes that she needs to be wounding Kelsey instead. Captain America arrives and helps Kelsey defeat Le Fay. The new Captain Britain and her family (who she cannot see, for reasons clear only to the writer) relocate to Avengers Mansion.
The Review
And...here we go. The Austen era. Ugh. I had forgotten that this story arc was the straw that broke the camel’s back and resulted in me giving up comics for a few years. The story had potential, but it had a lot of problems in its execution. It has so many gaps in logic that I’m going to refrain from trying to detail them all. A quick note on the review: the first issue of the next arc, 'Once an Invader..." has an epilogue of this arc, the discussion of which I've included here.
The Good (Such As It Is)
The Good (Such As It Is)
1) In the hands of a better writer, the sacrifice of Kelsey -- an “ordinary” woman grabbing Captain America’s shield to defend him against a villain who (as several characters comment) has gone toe-to-toe with Thor -- could be a great metaphor for the quiet heroism of everyday people. Instead, Captain America essentially calls her an idiot. No, really. Then, we sort of move onto other plots, with no idea that this sacrifice is actually the main point of the series. Anyway, I’m supposed to be saying nice things in this part. As such, I’ll say that I was, actually, moved by the scene where she defends Captain America, in no small part, I think, thanks to the way Olivier Coipel drew the determination on her face.
2) Speaking of the art, Coipel is really amazing in this arc. I thoroughly enjoyed Captain America and Hawkeye changing clothes in the alley. Thank you, Olivier!
The Bad
2) Speaking of the art, Coipel is really amazing in this arc. I thoroughly enjoyed Captain America and Hawkeye changing clothes in the alley. Thank you, Olivier!
The Bad
1) Captain America -- who spent most of the 20th century motivating America’s troops, including consoling those who lost friends on the battlefield -- is really incapable of summoning a few words to comfort a small boy who lost his mother? Really? After all, Steve Rogers losing his mother at a young age has been a major theme (though not quite on the Uncle Ben scale) of his story for decades.
2) The pacing of the story arc was just weird. We actually don’t get to the “Lionheart of Avalon” bit until issue #80, four issues into the arc. My guess is that maybe this arc was supposed to be six issues but got condensed to five. Austen spends three issues setting up the new Captain Britain’s introduction, uses part of an issue to make it happen, and then crams the battle royale into the last issue.
3) Pet Peeve #1: Ant-Man is on the cover of "Avengers" #79, but he appears nowhere in the book (or the story arc, I think). Did they mean Yellowjacket? Ditto Vision on the cover of #80.
4) Pet Peeve #2: I hate when the intro in the beginning of the book mentions something that hasn’t yet been established. In this case, the intro for issue #81 mentions that Morgan Le Fey is the villain, despite the fact that her identity was never actually identified in issue #80.
The Ugly
2) The pacing of the story arc was just weird. We actually don’t get to the “Lionheart of Avalon” bit until issue #80, four issues into the arc. My guess is that maybe this arc was supposed to be six issues but got condensed to five. Austen spends three issues setting up the new Captain Britain’s introduction, uses part of an issue to make it happen, and then crams the battle royale into the last issue.
3) Pet Peeve #1: Ant-Man is on the cover of "Avengers" #79, but he appears nowhere in the book (or the story arc, I think). Did they mean Yellowjacket? Ditto Vision on the cover of #80.
4) Pet Peeve #2: I hate when the intro in the beginning of the book mentions something that hasn’t yet been established. In this case, the intro for issue #81 mentions that Morgan Le Fey is the villain, despite the fact that her identity was never actually identified in issue #80.
The Ugly
1) The misogyny “sub-plot,” if you will, was just bizarre and kind of offensive I really have no idea where they were going with it. First, you had Hawkeye’s weird conversation with Captain America in issue #77 about how he needs to hit female super-villains if he wants to get a girlfriend. (Really. I'm not kidding. Buy the book. Actually, don't. Just take my word for it.) Having Captain America acknowledge how weird the conversation was doesn’t automatically make it make any sense. I still don’t see the connection at all. But, a few issues later, Hawkeye is warning Yellowjacket not to lay a hand on Janet.* I mean, beating up a super-villain and hitting your wife are clearly not the same thing, so Hawkeye is, I guess, allowed to have two different views on these subjects. But, the fact that we even have to try to differentiate the two subjects just shows how weird it all was.
* Also, let’s talk about the Hank/Janet problem. To be honest, I tried to avoid it, because I don’t even know how to address it without sounding like I’m trying to differentiate between different types of violence against women. But, here we go. If I’m not mistaken, Hank hit Janet once during his nervous breakdown. As such, she divorced him. Let me make it clear, right now, that a man hitting his wife is wrong. Again, I feel awkward even having to note that. In this series, however, it is implied that Hank frequently hit Janet and was so violent that the other Avengers had (and still have) to keep an eye on him. It’s just so odd. Again, I feel uncomfortable even talking about it, given that it makes it sound like I’m minimizing the one time Hank hit Janet. I’m not. But, in Austen’s world, Hank is an out-of-control abusive misogynist (see his comments about his mother) who needs to be watched at all times so he doesn't hit his wife again. I mean, if that were true, why the hell is he still an Avenger? Why would Jan be dating him again? Why? WHY? It just goes to my whole problem of this era where new creative teams dump 30 or 40 years of history to just make up personalities for established characters.
2) Why (again), exactly, could Kelsey not see her children? Brian Braddock announces it as if it makes total sense. In fact, later, Scarlet Witch even tells Kelsey she understands. Maybe I’m just slow, but, I have no idea why her accepting the Sword of Might and becoming Captain Britain means that, ipso facto, were she to see her children, their lives would end, "painfully and horribly.” I was going to try to develop a logical reason (by virtue of the danger inherent in being Captain Britain, she would expose them to danger by being around them?), but Brian Braddock doesn't say that. He makes it fairly clear that, if she sees them, I don’t know, they’ll spontaneously combust or something. Weird, weird, weird.
3) In the follow-up issue to this story arc, Kelsey is totally insane. She began the arc as an “ordinary” woman with a terrible scar on her face who tried valiantly to go through her day dealing with the stares of other people. She ends it telling off Captain America, advocating murdering super-villains, and destroying her memorial in front of her children. Yeah, excellent character work there, Austen. I mean, I think you could probably have made those connections, but Austen didn’t do that here. Instead, it feels completely disjointed.
4) We’re not talking about Janet and Hawkeye. We’re not.
* Also, let’s talk about the Hank/Janet problem. To be honest, I tried to avoid it, because I don’t even know how to address it without sounding like I’m trying to differentiate between different types of violence against women. But, here we go. If I’m not mistaken, Hank hit Janet once during his nervous breakdown. As such, she divorced him. Let me make it clear, right now, that a man hitting his wife is wrong. Again, I feel awkward even having to note that. In this series, however, it is implied that Hank frequently hit Janet and was so violent that the other Avengers had (and still have) to keep an eye on him. It’s just so odd. Again, I feel uncomfortable even talking about it, given that it makes it sound like I’m minimizing the one time Hank hit Janet. I’m not. But, in Austen’s world, Hank is an out-of-control abusive misogynist (see his comments about his mother) who needs to be watched at all times so he doesn't hit his wife again. I mean, if that were true, why the hell is he still an Avenger? Why would Jan be dating him again? Why? WHY? It just goes to my whole problem of this era where new creative teams dump 30 or 40 years of history to just make up personalities for established characters.
2) Why (again), exactly, could Kelsey not see her children? Brian Braddock announces it as if it makes total sense. In fact, later, Scarlet Witch even tells Kelsey she understands. Maybe I’m just slow, but, I have no idea why her accepting the Sword of Might and becoming Captain Britain means that, ipso facto, were she to see her children, their lives would end, "painfully and horribly.” I was going to try to develop a logical reason (by virtue of the danger inherent in being Captain Britain, she would expose them to danger by being around them?), but Brian Braddock doesn't say that. He makes it fairly clear that, if she sees them, I don’t know, they’ll spontaneously combust or something. Weird, weird, weird.
3) In the follow-up issue to this story arc, Kelsey is totally insane. She began the arc as an “ordinary” woman with a terrible scar on her face who tried valiantly to go through her day dealing with the stares of other people. She ends it telling off Captain America, advocating murdering super-villains, and destroying her memorial in front of her children. Yeah, excellent character work there, Austen. I mean, I think you could probably have made those connections, but Austen didn’t do that here. Instead, it feels completely disjointed.
4) We’re not talking about Janet and Hawkeye. We’re not.
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