Thoughts on Bendis' Avengers

[your_name_here]

Just a simple guy that doesn't felt he need to dress up is NOT the kind of thing you do when you're an Avenger. The Avengers have a reputation. And really, Luke should understand the value of a reputation, as well as recognition and even marketing. If he's an Avenger, he needs to look like an Avenger, not like a random black guy that just happened to be standing there. Given Luke's background, he should be a guy that's marketing himself and making money off his new found status. He doesn't even need a full costume, just a trademark look.

Honestly, his 70s outfit with the yellow and the metal headband and his 90s outfit in the Cage book were never really anything more than slightly exaggerated street clothes.

Hence the “new” in New Avengers. Luke himself says at the beginning he wants to be heard and have some things done his way. The whole idea behind New Avengers was that this was a new way of doing things. Cage didn’t have to wear any costume if he didn’t want to.
Bendis wrote him as someone proud of who he is and completely unafraid for standing for what he was - a man of the people. Why should he wear a costume?

[Frontier]

Hence the “new” in New Avengers. Luke himself says at the beginning he wants to be heard and have some things done his way. The whole idea behind New Avengers was that this was a new way of doing things. Cage didn’t have to wear any costume if he didn’t want to.
Bendis wrote him as someone proud of who he is and completely unafraid for standing for what he was - a man of the people. Why should he wear a costume?

He should still wear yellow.

I wasn't a big fan of Bendis shifting the Avengers to a street-level team but it was more his wheelhouse.

[Elmo]

Hence the “new” in New Avengers. Luke himself says at the beginning he wants to be heard and have some things done his way. The whole idea behind New Avengers was that this was a new way of doing things. Cage didn’t have to wear any costume if he didn’t want to.
Bendis wrote him as someone proud of who he is and completely unafraid for standing for what he was - a man of the people. Why should he wear a costume?

I think Bendis used the assassination attempt on him in Secret War to influence this characterization

[your_name_here]

He should still wear yellow.

I wasn't a big fan of Bendis shifting the Avengers to a street-level team but it was more his wheelhouse.

Why should he wear yellow? It’s only a colour.

[Frontier]

Why should he wear yellow? It’s only a colour.

Yeah, but it's Luke's iconic color .

[charliehustle415]

Why should he wear yellow? It’s only a colour.

Yeah, but it's Luke's iconic color .

Reminds me of Smallville where all of the heroes would have some variation of their costume but Clark only wore regular clothes but with his iconic colors

[Frontier]

Reminds me of Smallville where all of the heroes would have some variation of their costume but Clark only wore regular clothes but with his iconic colors

It was Smallville though .

[charliehustle415]

It was Smallville though .

If past me could see how far we came from the Smallville days my little mind would have exploded

[Matt Parker]

I generally enjoy Bendis' Avengers even though I think it has some issues and I see why others don't enjoy it.

For one, it has a rocky start. Avengers Disassembled is really rough continuity wise and clearly reeks of Bendis not caring about the fact that he blatantly ruined several characters, especially poor Wanda. I understand why it got so much hate when it came out originally. That being said, I think, with historical perspective, it's easier to enjoy now that most of the "damage" it did has been undone. Hawkeye came back, Scarlett Witch was absolved of her crimes via the retcon from Children's Crusade, and the status quo for the team today is more traditional. If you read the story as a plot by Doom to tear the Avengers apart using Wanda as a pawn, I think it's a fun read.

His run is also hurt by all the events and the fact that they all suffer from the same issues that all events have. Civil War, Secret Invasion, and Siege are more important to his run that any of the stories that take place within the Avengers issues proper, and yet it's so damn hard to read those events completely in order because the main event mini feels like the cliff notes of the story.

For example, Secret Invasion is a cool story that has some great Avengers moments, bit that story doesn't read well if you just read the mini. You need to read like a dozen avengers comics alongside it, and creating a definitive reading order is somewhat challenging. So, it interrupts the flow of the run in my opinion.

I still enjoyed it. Bendis is a writer that I like a lot in spite of his flaws. His stories (before the mid 2000s, where I feel his comics are less enjoyable) are breezy, funny, have some cool ideas, and are entertaining reads for the most part. So, I understand all the complaints others have, but I found it to be a fun run that was a net positive for the franchise as a whole.

[Frontier]

For example, Secret Invasion is a cool story that has some great Avengers moments, bit that story doesn't read well if you just read the mini. You need to read like a dozen avengers comics alongside it, and creating a definitive reading order is somewhat challenging. So, it interrupts the flow of the run in my opinion.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes had the best take on Secret Invasion.

[Tendrin]

I liked what Bendis did with the Sentry.

Stop liking what I don't like! GOSH!

Seriously, though, there are people who liked it out there but they seem to be rare. If the end result of your writing a character is a massive relief that 'finally he's gone', then you've probably done something wrong along the way.

[XPac]

I'll say this for the Bendis run, it had a great start full of potential:




Agreed. But I still stuck around for the artwork (David Finch, in particular):





Agreed. Classic is best:

Classic isn't always best. At least when it involves grown men wearing tiarras.

[Frontier]

Classic isn't always best. At least when it involves grown men wearing tiarras.

He made it work .

[K7P5V]

Classic isn't always best. At least when it involves grown men wearing tiarras.

Perhaps Cage from the '90s would be a bit more palatable:

[Elmo]

there was also the Cage Marvel MAX series which carried a lot of his characterization in Alias