Broken Frontier

Echo has been alone in Japan while Civil War rages across the United States. What has she been up to anyway?

Maya Lopez, AKA Echo, AKA Ronin, has been in Japan tracking down Yakuza for months now, but even Ronin can’t handle the Hand on her own. This issue juxtaposes non-stop action with the dramatic words of a woman who believes her life is over. Furthermore, it introduces a new New Avengers team that looks like it could kick the backside of any other Avengers team ever. That’s right, I said "ever."

Brian Michael Bendis does things with the comics he writes many are afraid or not allowed to do. This gives him the ability as a storyteller to weave tales that make a reader seriously wonder what could happen next. While death, particularly in Marvel Comics, is a fleeting thing, Bendis is the type of writer that will kill off any character if it works in the story. I know that since he works for Marvel that really shouldn’t matter, but it does. So issues like this one, when a character with a fan following like Echo/Ronin has, faces some of the deadliest people in the world and the voice over is such that an eerie feeling of foreboding permeates every page, one can only wonder . . . .

Then there is Leinil Yu who makes one wonder what his position in Hell will be, for he must have sold his soul to the Devil to get such talent. Mr. Yu’s work is electric. His style is firm, brilliant, and defined. The action sequences are bold. The pacing is perfect. With each passing issue, Yu’s unique look grows. His use of shading, cross-hatching, and line depth is classic. In short, he will be remembered with awe by the masses of comic book fandom years after he has stopped drawing. These words, however, can do no justice to his art, only Mr. Yu’s art can, particularly that double-page-spread in this issue . . . .

New Avengers has many critics, many detractors, and many fanboys salivating with anger over what has happened, is happening, or is predicted to happen. I, on the other hand, love it. The shocks and twists, especially when concerning post-Civil War stuff, are intriguing. And after seeing Yu’s interpretation of the new New Avengers, I can’t wait to see what’s next.