THE NEW AVENGERS #15
WRITER: BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
ARTIST: MIKE DEODATO I don't know how he does it, but Bendis has elevated another D-list character to the roster of the Avengers. This time it's Squirrel Girl, otherwise known as Doreen Green, a little known hero from the Great Lakes initiative. Bendis reintroduces Green in the opening pages of
NEW AVENGERS, where she's been hired as a nanny by Luke Cage. In the all too familiar story format, Bendis begins this issue with a candid look at Squirrel Girl's video diaries...a reoccurring plot device that's being used in their
FEAR ITSELF tie-ins. After a cute, quaint introduction to the character, Bendis forcibly displays Squirrel Girls's strengths, as she fights Wolverine to a stalemate. After this spectacle, which is sure to upset plenty of fanboys, Bendis moves the story further, revealing an ordinary day in the life of Squirrel Girl, which is thunderously interrupted by the opening invasion of Sin (Red Skull's daughter).
Brian Michael Bendis has a tremendous talent for re-fashioning old, dried up characters and turning them into relatable, readable pulp. That's a great ability...but at the same time, it's severely overused. Nobody, and I mean
NOBODY was hoping for Squirrel Girl's return to the big lights. In all honesty, before reading this issue, I had completely forgotten about Squirrel Girl's adventures, both as a Great Lake Avenger and her stint in the early issues of Marvel's Heroic Age. Some characters deserve to be forgotten...and Squirrel Girl is one of them.
Even though I love Bendis, in a non-creeper way, I have to admit Bendis's writing has become stale and somewhat repetitive. Beginning with his time on
POWERS, and his all-star run on
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, Bendis has amassed credentials as one of the best writer's in Marvel's pantheon. Still, most of his current work relies on old tricks...particularly his repetitive use of American vernacular in character dialogue. His reliance on “um”, “like”, and “uh” combined with his unabashed love for short quips transforms every character in his series, regardless of their individual profiles, into partial clones of Mary Jane from his
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN run. Even though his stories are generally enjoyable, and this issue is no different, Bendis truly needs to abandon his crutch for ubiquitous slang or else his characters will never be unique.
Despite my few complaints, this newest issue of
NEW AVENGERS is a solid entry into the current Marvel universe. I wouldn't advise you to purchase it, but if your bored or a hardcore Marvel fan, definitely check it out on your favorite pirating site.
NEW AVENGERS #15
7.0/10