327

Every issue of this seemed to go in a different direction, but they were all good and added to the Civil War narrative. ( )

This volume, containing New Avengers 21-25, is somewhat dissatisfying in that it is not one story but five short stories focusing on different players in the Civil War: Captain America, Luke Cage, Jessica Drew, the Sentry, and Iron Man. While these are all New Avengers-related characters, it is part of a continuing trend in comics in which a series is hijacked by other characters or plots, retaining a title but not much else (for another example, the Hulk was taken over by Hercules). In this case, New Avengers becomes a vehicle for some one-shots about the Civil War. Why not just put out some separate one-shots and have a story involving the New Avengers as a team? To me it is a bit confusing and disingenuous. So, this volume is good if you want some background on the Civil War event in Marvel comics. Otherwise, it can probably be skipped. ( )

I liked this collection better than some of the previous ones in this series. Each issue collected centers around one player in the Civil War struggle: Captain America, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, the Sentry, and Iron Man. There's also a different artist for each issue, which is a little frustrating when reading the book straight through.

I thought that the issues were, for the most part, a nice addition to the Civil War storyline. Bendis does a pretty good job at fleshing them out here, as well as their motivations for which side they ultimately end up picking. I'd never cared much for the character of Luke Cage until this collection, and now I can't wait to read more about him. ( )

Collects New Avengers #21-25 ( )