Volume 42: New Avengers: Break Out

New Avengers: Break Out

Author: Brian Michael Bendis  |  Illustrator: David Finch

"No more politics. Just us. No U.N. No governments. Just us helping people that need help. The big problems."

The events in Break Out take place six months after Volume 34: Avengers: Disassembled. The team as they existed at the end of that book is no more, disbanded, the dead are still dead, Stark isn't as filthy rich as he used to be, etc. When the Ryker's Island maximum-maximum security installation (yes, double maximums) has an Arkham Asylum-esque security failure a huge number of crackpots and supervillains are let loose upon the world, necessitating a dedicated team of heroes to do what heroes do: yadda, yadda, assemble.

It makes a kind of sense that the arc be included in the Collection, in part because it continues the Disassembled story line, telling of the evolution and change that's inherent in such teams, and it's really not a bad story, per se, but I don't feel that it's an essential read unless you're a devoted Avengers fan. On the plus side, it spends an admirable amount of time setting up the new team, as opposed to throwing them together without rhyme or reason and asking that we accept it without question, like good sheeple.

Bendis engineers a scenario wherein the heroes see the benefits of teaming up, but he leaves a window open through which tragedy may later creep, bringing with it bags filled with vicissitude and hubris.

The addition of Spider-Man (the loner) and Wolverine (the loose cannon) allows for their more series-specific villains to possibly feature in future, if the need should arise. I get the feeling that it will because neither of the two men are what I'd call team-players, so it seems natural to assume that they'll feature heavily in the works to come, creating conflict on multiple levels. Otherwise, why add them?

The book collects together New Avengers # 1-6.

Verdict: