Hey friends. This is a special comic review article. Today marks the end of the Dark Reign in Marvels mainstream universe. We have seen many trials and tribulations that brought us to this event, and we have seen many great hero's rise and fall. With that said I shall review Dark Avengers #16, Siege #4, Siege: Embedded #4, Sentry: Fallen Sun, and I will do an big review on the Dark Reign itself. I will keep these mostly spoiler free, but thats hard when all these wrap up every loose end.
Dark Avengers #16:Like Invincible Iron Man #25, this is a post Siege story event. We see that the members of the Dark Avengers has been captured...except for one that got away. Osborn is being sent to a high level section of special prison, and he gives one great send off to the series. We also see a great moment between Steve Rogers and Victoria Hand. Thor makes an appearance and its a touching moment when he consoles a member of the Secret Warriors. This was a great send off to a well thought out series. It's sad to see this book end but what must be, must be. I give this book an 8/10 for story, I loved the way it puts everything in place and gives a lot for potential stories, and I give the art a 9/10, its solid as usual and each character is distinct and well drawn. Overall the entire series has had some ups and downs. They never had too many story lines to really flesh out all the characters in the group, the main focus was Bob and Norman. yet each read was fun and always wanting to see whats next. I give the series an overall B+, its good but not great.
Siege #4: Here we are, we finally see the end of this 4 issue event comic. We have 2 major deaths and one gave me quite the shock, but its a touching moment and a major turn in the Marvel Universe. The other one is pretty obvious and yet its such a sad note. The issue also has Rogers becoming the new leader of S.H.I.E.L.D, a great party full of many heroes and one of the best endings I have seen in a comic. I loved this event, I loved how it culminates in so much but not over done. I give the story a 9/10, great ending to this and it does end in a bang. I give the art a 9/10, very solid and everyone looks amazing. I'm glad it wasn't really too long. 4 issues was perfect for an event, Blackest Night had to 8 issues to really develop the concept and story. So I give the event Siege an A-, I loved it and it was the best way of bringing the world back in balance.
Siege: Embedded #4: This issue brings the end of Ben Urichs journey and witnessing the events of Siege at Asgard. Volstagg makes a great return but its not a funny moment, but a serious one. Urich proves his worth and he sees the future is much brighter. Overall it was basically a follow up to what was happening in Siege #4. I give the story an 8/10, I love the idea of following someone from a unique POV.
Sentry: Fallen Sun: This one-shot takes place after the end of Siege and is one of the most heart touching and sad comics I ever read. It nearly got me teary eyed by what was happening. Tony Stark gives probably one of the best speeches in any comics I have ever read. I won't bring up more on it, go read it and be amazed, bring tissues with you just in case. I give it a 10/10 for story, I really loved this one-shot and it gives you so much hope and wonder. I give the art a 10/10, every page looks perfect and no errors in sight.
So overall the I thought the Dark Reign title and era was an interesting one. The concept was cool, basically putting all the villains in charge and setting out to make things "right" in their own mindset. I thought all of Norman's planning of taking out each and every group of heroes were total duds, everyone was able to outsmart him and smoked his white ass every time. The twist that Loki was the man/god who set up the event of Siege was brilliant. I can't really give this era a score at all because it was had some ups and downs, like most do. I can say that I did enjoy this interesting experiment Marvel has done, now that they tried it we can now head into the Heroic Age with potential and great stories coming to us. Til next time, BlackAirs out!!!