Roger Stern Avengers

Avengers 235-239

I have to believe that it’s due to the writing that I find these stories nothing more than adequate, because I’ve read excellent comics starring these characters before.  Off the top of my head: Captain America - Mark Waid; She-Hulk - Charles Soule; Spider-Man - Brian Michael Bendis; Vision - Tom King; Captain Marvel - Warren Ellis; Wasp - Jeremy Whitley; Scarlet Witch….Okay, I can’t think of one for that.  Or Eros, but I already mentioned that yesterday.

The point is, these can be compelling characters in the right hands, and I’m not feeling it here.  If the Stern run isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, perhaps I should dump it all?  That’d be a rough mental block to overcome.  I’d probably keep the Masters of Evil arc.  Unloading 40-plus issues just feels wrong, but if I’m not going want to read them again...Something for me to think about.  I’ve got---wait, 60 issues to go??  Ah, I kept collecting when Walt Simonson took over.  The fact that I’ve wanted to read none of these issues after their initial perusal should be telling.   

I think Stern didn’t do himself any favors by putting the Monica Rambeau Captain Marvel on the team.  With the ability to transform into any form of energy on the EM spectrum, her ability to travel at the speed of light alone makes me wonder how she’s not a one-stop win condition in just about every scenario the Avengers encounter.  

Stern’s Avengers aren’t perfect, which is fine by me - It’s no secret to anyone that flawed characters make for way better stories.  But I have a problem when everyone’s flaw seems to be stupidity.  No, I take that back.  The problem is that everyone’s flaw is amplified to the point of stupidity - Spider-Man’s joke-cracking, inability to be a team player, and avarice make him unbearable;  Wanda’s love for Vision approaches a single-minded obsession that gives her the resemblance of a mooning middle schooler; the problems caused by Vision’s merging with ISAAC are so transparent that his inevitable shift to “AI with too much power” induces nothing but yawns.