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A review by captwinghead
Avengers: Endless Wartime by Mike McKone, Warren Ellis, Clark Gregg
3.0
What a wonderful comic this could have been were it not for Ellis' poorly disguised disdain for Tony Stark and Clint Barton. Every time I discover a writer that previously wrote an Iron Man comic hates the character, my heart hurts. I get that Tony isn't everyone's cup of tea but, the way these writers (Bendis, for example) write him just shows they don't seem to have a great understanding of what lies under the surface. Case in point, a lot of his dialogue and interactions with the Avengers in this comic make it seem like Ellis would have rather just had the suit and left Tony behind. Which is baffling considering he wrote Extremis. But... onward.
So, the beginning of this comic was great. It had the Avengers behind the scenes, team dynamic that I love and haven't seen since Bendis' New Avengers. Carol teasing Cap about Air Force v. Army ("Army just means "Air Force Rejected Me Yesterday"), Cap refusing to let Jarvis make him coffee, Clint being hungover and Tony calling Cap "beloved". The premise is interesting enough: SHIELD is using a secret death machine.
There are a few great character moments with Logan v. Cap regarding Cap being too "lily white" and disgusted over what Logan did in wartime. Again, a bit confusing because it's clear Cap had to kill people during WWII. In a way, the comic shows that, as well but, I guess Ellis wanted to posit that Cap was ashamed of his actions in a way Wolverine was not. There's a moment with Bruce feeling sympathy for anyone who was turned into a monster. Kind of bummed me out that he has this speech about getting the autonomy to choose what he attacks when... he really didn't get a lot of say in the matter here. There's a lot of Cap's introspection; a lot of which I found baffling but, I'll get to that in a moment. There's a moment where Tony talks to Cap about Howard and it would have been really sweet were it not for Ellis pretending as though the team very much hated Tony.
Every. Single. Interaction Tony has with members of the team (Carol and Cap included) involves digs at his character. Even his interaction with Pepper has her speaking as though she hates him. It's one thing to have a few comments and teasing between Tony and his friends. That's a given since Bendis wrote New Avengers and thought he was being clever with it. When every single interaction has the Avengers joking about pummeling him or killing him or leaving him to die, it's not funny; it's just disheartening. For a founding Avenger that gave so much of his life and his health to the team, for a man that spent years wrecking his mind and body to protect the universe, for a man that gave all of these people a home and showed up whenever they needed him, this is disheartening. Tony Stark is an Avenger in more than name only and it's a freaking bummer that it's been ages since the Avengers have had a writer that seemed to understand that. Kelly Sue DeConnick excluded because she seemed to get it.
Anyway, there's a lot of Cap's introspection and that... was a little off for me. I love Steve Rogers. I've read quite a bit of his comics and I'm still working my way through his back catalog. One thing that's always stood out to me, no matter what I've read: Steve thinks of the Avengers as his family. He constantly tells Tony that Tony gave him a "home", a place to belong. He was alone until he embraced the team. He thinks of them as family. Here, Ellis posits that Steve thinks he has "nothing" and he's all alone. What? Timing wise, this is most baffling.
Also, there's a point where it seems as though Steve blackmails and guilts the Avengers into joining this fight. It doesn't make any sense to me because another thing common amongst every Avengers book I've read: the Avengers would follow Cap anywhere. Why does he need to do this?
Anyway, this is a tough book to recommend. It's decent stuff if you love Wolverine. There's a bit of Bruce Banner here that's pretty cool. There isn't much here if you love Cap because I found his characterization confusing. It's downright belittling towards Tony and Clint.
So... I'll just say "it's a book."
So, the beginning of this comic was great. It had the Avengers behind the scenes, team dynamic that I love and haven't seen since Bendis' New Avengers. Carol teasing Cap about Air Force v. Army ("Army just means "Air Force Rejected Me Yesterday"), Cap refusing to let Jarvis make him coffee, Clint being hungover and Tony calling Cap "beloved". The premise is interesting enough: SHIELD is using a secret death machine.
There are a few great character moments with Logan v. Cap regarding Cap being too "lily white" and disgusted over what Logan did in wartime. Again, a bit confusing because it's clear Cap had to kill people during WWII. In a way, the comic shows that, as well but, I guess Ellis wanted to posit that Cap was ashamed of his actions in a way Wolverine was not. There's a moment with Bruce feeling sympathy for anyone who was turned into a monster. Kind of bummed me out that he has this speech about getting the autonomy to choose what he attacks when... he really didn't get a lot of say in the matter here. There's a lot of Cap's introspection; a lot of which I found baffling but, I'll get to that in a moment. There's a moment where Tony talks to Cap about Howard and it would have been really sweet were it not for Ellis pretending as though the team very much hated Tony.
Every. Single. Interaction Tony has with members of the team (Carol and Cap included) involves digs at his character. Even his interaction with Pepper has her speaking as though she hates him. It's one thing to have a few comments and teasing between Tony and his friends. That's a given since Bendis wrote New Avengers and thought he was being clever with it. When every single interaction has the Avengers joking about pummeling him or killing him or leaving him to die, it's not funny; it's just disheartening. For a founding Avenger that gave so much of his life and his health to the team, for a man that spent years wrecking his mind and body to protect the universe, for a man that gave all of these people a home and showed up whenever they needed him, this is disheartening. Tony Stark is an Avenger in more than name only and it's a freaking bummer that it's been ages since the Avengers have had a writer that seemed to understand that. Kelly Sue DeConnick excluded because she seemed to get it.
Anyway, there's a lot of Cap's introspection and that... was a little off for me. I love Steve Rogers. I've read quite a bit of his comics and I'm still working my way through his back catalog. One thing that's always stood out to me, no matter what I've read: Steve thinks of the Avengers as his family. He constantly tells Tony that Tony gave him a "home", a place to belong. He was alone until he embraced the team. He thinks of them as family. Here, Ellis posits that Steve thinks he has "nothing" and he's all alone. What? Timing wise, this is most baffling.
Also, there's a point where it seems as though Steve blackmails and guilts the Avengers into joining this fight. It doesn't make any sense to me because another thing common amongst every Avengers book I've read: the Avengers would follow Cap anywhere. Why does he need to do this?
Anyway, this is a tough book to recommend. It's decent stuff if you love Wolverine. There's a bit of Bruce Banner here that's pretty cool. There isn't much here if you love Cap because I found his characterization confusing. It's downright belittling towards Tony and Clint.
So... I'll just say "it's a book."