Avengers #32 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

To be honest?  I love this issue.  LOVE IT.  I know I've been hating on Bendis lately and it doesn't change the fact that I really think that it's time for him to go, but, honest to God, I enjoyed this issue from start to finish.

First, he manages to bring back Janet in a way that makes total sense, at least in the context of comic-book resurrections.  I'll buy the fact that she wound up shrunk into the Microverse when she exploded; after all, it's the opposite of what was happening to her when she "died," namely that she was growing at too fast of a rate.  (I wasn't reading "Avengers" then, so, thank you, Wikipedia, for that synopsis.)  Bendis also builds to the moment well.  Although it's pretty clear after a page or so that we're dealing with Janet (and not Rita DeMara, as I originally thought), I still found myself holding my breath as the Avengers gathered on the spot in Central Park where she "died."  When it was the original Avengers -- Ant-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor -- who walked through that portal I knew that it was go time.

But, the really exciting part is that Bendis manages to remind us why she's been so missed in the first place.  In fact, Bendis' type of corny humor seems perfectly suited for Jan, who's always been prone to delivering a good soliloquy about the amazing wonderfulness of chocolate shakes.  Whereas he often seems to be forcing his brand of hilarity onto certain characters, it seems to really work with Jan, energizing the whole book.  It makes you wonder how much better it would've worked if she had been here all along.  I loved when she exclaims how she's not good at extricating herself from jams but managed to make it happen.  Most superheroes are portrayed as geniuses and wise and crafty and resourceful.  However, in real life, those traits rarely go together and I love Janet knowing that she's not so great at one aspect of superheroing, namely, the resourcefulness part.  It reminds us that Jan has always been a particularly human superhero, one who doesn't define herself just by her status as a superhero.  I also loved the guys' deadpan reactions to her discovery.  Was the mouth-on-mouth kissing a little much?  Sure.  Does it kind of fit with Jan, though?  Yes.  Yes, it does.  It also fits with Jan that she's also basically running a one-woman rebellion against a dictator.  So, let's kick some centaur ass and get her home.