New Comics!: The "OMG, Can Bendis Stop Writing the 'Avengers' NOW?" Edition

Avengers #24:  OK, let's just get this thing done, shall we:

On some level, this issue was fine.  It has an OK action sequence and, for the first time, Bendis actually uses the flashback device in a way that doesn't totally disrupt the story's flow.  The Avengers themselves have some bland Bendis-esque banter and the central conflict's resolution -- the assembled Avengers discovering a way to defeat a powerful Osborn -- made sense, even if it was pretty predictable.  If it were just a one-and-done issue, I'd probably give it two of five stars, maybe three of five stars if I were feeling generous.

But...

...it's not a one-and-done issue.  It's the culmination of seven "Avengers" issues and eight "New Avengers" issue.  It's the last arc of "Architect" Bendis's run on two titles he's controlled for years.  It was supposed to be the coup de grace in which we all ask Marvel to stop publishing Avengers stories because "Architect" Bendis has written the greatest, most amazing Avengers story of all time and we should just consider the Avengers done as a franchise.

Needless to say, it wasn't any of that.

First, let's talk about Osborn.  Bendis has been playing this "OMG, why does Osborn have super-powers?" game throughout the series, and it's never rung true to me, given that Osborn possessed most of the powers Bendis has had him exhibit (super strength, most notably) previously, through his exposure to the Goblin Formula.  It's not like Norman Osborn has armor-based powers, like Iron Man, even if he did use the Iron Patriot armor for a while.  His powers have always been tied to his exposure to the Goblin Formula and, as far as I know, he didn't lose them when the authorities sent him to the Raft after his role in "Siege."  As such, the reveal that Osborn gained the powers of the Super-Adaptoid felt flat to me.  Um, OK.  He has some more powers.  Whatever.

But, this revelation goes from bad to worse because of how obvious its resolution becomes.  The minute we learn that he has Super-Adaptoid powers, we know that the Avengers are going to defeat him by overloading him.  Done.  Did anyone really think it was going to end any other way?  That he and Captain America were going to have some sort of heroic struggle?  That he and Iron Man were going to engage in a battle of the minds to save or destroy the world?  That he and Spider-Man were finally going to hash out Gwen's death?  No.  No one did.  We all knew that they were going to defeat Osborn by overloading him, since Bendis essentially has Dr. Rappaccini TELL US IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.  Osborn tells her that he doesn't want a suit to give him power.  (Let's ignore that he doesn't need to have a suit to give him power, because he already has power.  Let's just ignore it.  I'll concede it.  Fine, he doesn't have power.)  But, why wouldn't he have a suit to help him control his new power?  Couldn't A.I.M. construct a suit that would address the obvious flaw in the plan, letting Osborn regulate how many powers he absorbed?  If I can think of that, couldn't Bendis or, at the very least, one of his editors?  Again, we're supposed to believe Osborn is SO smart, but he so easily walks into this glaring hole in his plan?  Really?

Moreover, I was truly infuriated by how easily he's defeated:  three panels that take up roughly a sixth of a page.  In fact, the entire battle with the Avengers, the one that directly results in his defeat, takes up just three pages.  Osborn's entire comment before he literally melts?  "Oh, no."  Genius, "Architect Bendis."  Genius.

Also, before I rant more about the plot holes, I need to pick a bone with Bendis about his portrayal of Captain America.  During Chuck Austen's awful "Lionheart of Avalon" arc in "Avengers" #77-#82, he had Captain America find himself emotionally incapable of comforting a little boy who lost his mother, despite the fact that Cap also lost his mother at a young age and, you know, inspired AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF ALLIED TROOPS during the Second World War.  In this arc, Cap asserting that he's not good at public relations also felt ridiculous.  As Obama says, the man wears a flag for his costume.  He can inspire AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF ALLIED TROOPS on newsreel after newsreel, but he can't go on a Sunday morning talk show and explain, in clear and unequivocal terms, why America needs the Avengers?  Bendis built this entire arc around the idea that Osborn used modern forms of communication against the Avengers, inserting doubt into the minds of the public.  Although I didn't buy it for a minute, Bendis wanted us to buy it, despite never actualy selling it.  As such, Cap's refusal to address the issue that Bendis wants to us to believe was the Avengers' greatest weakness makes him seem old and obsolete, like trying to get your grandfather to join Facebook so you don't have to keep sending him huge e-mails of photo files of your new puppy.  I absolutely reject this idea that Captain America can't adapt to the modern era, and I'm stunned Marvel let Bendis treat one of its flagship characters this way, particularly given that it's the character who's supposed to serve as the whole moral backbone of the Marvel Universe.  If Captain America can't explain to America why he and the other Avengers are needed, then who the $%^& can?

Finally, because the quicker that I can forget this arc the better, we continue to have serious coordination issues.  I felt like I was missing an issue throughout this issue, that this whole arc just ended abruptly, partly because I was missing an issue.  We learn here that the New Avengers took down the Dark Avengers, which I'm assuming happens in "New Avengers" #23?   For the life of me, I don't understand why we couldn't get a note to that effect on the intro page.  Marvel keeps using these intro pages, and they waste four paragraphs recapping a plot we already know, but not one sentence about something we don't necessarily already know.  Why do they feel the need to only address these pages to people who seemingly just decided to pick up a comic for the first time?  Can we not get ONE sentence noting that we should read "New Avengers" #23 first?  The same thing happened with "Secret Avengers" #23, and I absolutely don't understand it.  I end this entire arc not knowing fully what happened, because Marvel either couldn't get its publishing schedule in order or couldn't be bothered to care about me knowing what happened.

Final Thoughts:  Honestly, I don't even know what my final thoughts are (particularly since they're not my final thoughts, because I have another issue to read).  We began this arc having it be all about Osborn manipulating the Avengers via the media and end it with Osborn melting after essentially trying to defeat the Avengers in hand-to-hand combat by himself.  The most glaring problem with this arc is that we never actually discovered what Osborn intended to do.  It appears, in this issue, his only goal was to fight the Avengers.  Bendis spent this entire arc pretending that Osborn was playing some long game...and it appears all he wanted to do was punch some people.  We're left with all sorts of questions.  Why exactly did Osborn try to convince the President to put him in charge of the national-security apparatus, as we saw last issue?  What would he have done if the President had done so?  If his plan was merely to fight the Avengers, why didn't he just attack them in the first place?  Why go through the elaborate public-relations campaign?  Was the goal of the public-relations campaign to weaken the President so he accepted Osborn as the head of the national-security apparatus?  Why assemble his own Dark Avengers if he were so convinced that he could take on both Avengers teams by himself?  I'm rattling off these questions without even reading my other posts to see if I missed anything.

I just don't know.  Honestly, this entire arc has been a train wreck and I just don't know what to say, other than the fact that I can't believe I have to segue straight from the "H.A.M.M.E.R. War" to "Avengers vs. X-Men."  From the future arc to the Infinity Gems to "Fear Itself" to the "H.A.M.M.E.R. War" to now "Avengers vs. X-Men:"  I wonder if I'm ever going to like this series that I spend $3.99 a month to get.