The New Avengers: Illuminati #1 (of 5)

Released: December 21, 2006

Publisher: Marvel

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis & Brian Reed

Pencils: Jim Cheung

Inker: Mark Morales

Colors: Justin Ponsor

Letters: VC’s Cory Petit

Cover: Jim Cheung

 

Now, now, you are absolutely correct. This series would have been best served by coming out before the Illuminati one shot that both introduced the group, then broke them up. That comic lacked emotional punch, and the impact a series like this one could have given the start of the Civil War would have been huge. Alas, retconning and pressure to market only those series that have reader demand means we get this series coming out now…I’m sorry, I just can’t keep a straight face through typing that. As if Marvel didn’t release hundreds of series without reader demand *cough* Howling Commandos *cough*.

 

All the above may be true, but damn if this still isn’t a good book. The concept is a secret group of powerful leaders in the superhero community, who’ve had a hand in the big events of the Marvel Universe for years. The point of this series is to show that group’s secret dealings, skipping around history to all those major events that would herald the attention of the Illuminati.

 

First on the list: the Kree/Skrull War, the event that the Illuminati originally formed in response to. The eclectic group of heroes gathers together to warn the Skrulls that Earth isn’t a combat zone or Skrull territory. The Skrulls don’t take kindly to this and imprison the group, allowing for a tense escape and flashy show of powers as the team works together to help one another get free. Rousing fun, but the truly interesting part of the series, naturally stems from seeing such a powerful group of heroes fight together, people who normally don’t fight like this. Professor X is rarely seen using his powers so offensively, Dr. Strange and Namor are loners, Black Bolt is usually reserved and non-combative (at least physically), and Iron Man and Reed Richards are both forced to concede leadership at times when they’d normally go unquestioned.

 

The group is also a good superhero team by typical team conventions: the telepath, the magician, the loud-mouthed bruiser, the nerdy scientist, the silent but most deadly powerhouse, and the innovative, cool tactician. It just works, and for all us long-time readers, the nostalgia of seeing the big events played out in a new light is just icing on the cake.

 

There are also real feelings of friendship among them built up here: Namor especially is enraged to see Reed tortured. That relationship building is exactly the kind of emotional attachments we needed for the Illuminati one-shot to be effective.

 

The downside? If Jim Cheung is going to be here for the next four months then that means he won’t be drawing the Young Avengers anytime soon because Allan Heinberg still hasn’t written the next script. Screw Hollywood.

 

Rating - 7