Mighty Avengers 3, Marvel Knights Spider-Man 2

Mighty Avengers 3
Ewing (w) and Land and Leisten (a) and D'Armata (c)

Shuma-Gorath continues its attack on the city, allowed some access through Thanos' attack and protected by Ebony Maw's manipulation of Dr. Strange, while Spider-Man tries to save a gravely injured Spectrum. Blue Marvel arrives on the scene just in time to stall Shuma-Gorath and begin the healing process on Spectrum, who he gives extra photons to in order to boost her weakened areas which previously non-existent anti-photons have attacked. The process is painful but it strengthens Spectrum and saves her life. Amidst all the terror, Power Man and White Tiger return to the scene to help. Under the direction of the mysterious Spider-Hero, Power Man summons chi from all over the city and focuses it on White Tiger, who unleashes the Tiger God on Shuma-Gorath, effectively weakening it enough for Blue Marvel and Spectrum to destroy its physical presence in New York. As the fight ends, a nearby reporter asks them about their team-up and Luke dubs them an official Avengers team.

I'm interested to see where this team is going more than I'm interested in these first few issues. Starting a team in the middle of an event is tricky business and allows for just about no relationship building which leaves this team feeling cobbled together and a bit slap-dash. I think there is a part of this book where that is supposed to be true; these aren't the heroes that went to space to fight the aliens or the ones who are gathered in Wakanda, these are the heroes who were left-over. Not to say they're not a formidable team, they're just not a team. As a result, it's hard to judge the book based on what we're seeing in these first few issues. On top of that, we have a character whose true identity has yet to be revealed, two young characters with little experience, a Spider-Man who isn't Peter Parker, and a hero of a bygone age starring alongside Avengers veterans Luke Cage and Monica Rambeau. It's a strange team and one that will require team-building if the series is to last, something that, as I said, wasn't particularly possible in these first few issues. If anything, kicking this off in an event gives Ewing a chance to showcase the physical strength and problem-solving skills of the team, leaving the team-nature to later. As I said, the team is formidable for sure, just not really team, as yet, which will have to be worked out as the series progresses.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man 2
Kindt (w) and Rudy (a) and Staples (c)

Spider-Man finds himself falling from the sky into water amidst the wreckage of a plane and needs to recount the events of the last fifteen minutes. Aboard the plane, he fought Sandman, Shocker, Hydro-Man, and Mysterio, fairly big name Spidey villains and ones who probably shouldn't be, on the best of days, fought in a constricted space. Spider-Man walks us through the fights, revealing that his spider-sense does more than just warn him of incoming danger, it helps him plot his attacks; a bad attack plan will cause his spider-sense to go off while a better plan will leave it silent. Pretty neat, huh? Anyway, he uses this to best his enemies before bursting out of the plane while it disappears (maybe? The art and the writing both get a little vague at this point) and he heads for the ocean as he wonders who it is behind all of this, who's rallying the troops here and as a word floats through his head: who is the kingpin of all this?

Another interesting story with really stunning art and some surprisingly good characterization. I say surprisingly because this doesn't feel like it's a book meant to be exploring too deep into Spider-Man's thoughts; it feels more like an intense fight-based book meant to really elevate the artist more than anything else and to put layout and comic design above story and character. That's not entirely the case, though, as we see an interesting introspective side of Spidey, one which can't help wondering about the repeated failures of his villains and about their mental states as he defeats them. He recognizes that, despite all of his hardships, he's never the one who ends up in prison or losing the majority of the fights so the look in the villains' eyes as he knocks them out is beyond anything he's aware of. It's an interesting side of Spider-Man, who is one of the more introspective and sympathetic heroes in the Marvel Universe already. Again, though, it's the art that really elevates this book to a new level. It's very cool and very unique, though sometimes it does get a little in the way of the storytelling. Sometimes it's a little hard to follow and to understand what exactly is happening but by and large, it's an easy enough story and enough of a well-known character that there's very little the art can do to hinder the writing. It's not like we're trying to guess Peter Parker's motives or we're trying to guess at the motives of his enemies. We get all that, we get this story (though it's still a little in the shadows) and so there's plenty of leeway for the art. Spectacular art.