“Dark Avengers” is a new monthly comic book that was released this week by Marvel Comics.  “Dark Avengers” is a part of the “Dark Reign” storyline that will be going on in Marvel over the next few months or so.  “Dark Reign” deals with the aftermath of the “Secret Invasion” storyline that ended with Norman Osborn and his cabal assuming power behind the scenes in the Marvel Universe.

This first issue is very good, but it’s kind of a been there done that already.  This idea of the Dark Avengers is just a continuation of what was done at the beginning of the “Thunderbolts” comic back in the 90s.  Norman Osborn is in control of the Thunderbolts and at the end of “Secret Invasion,” he is now in command of SHIELD - which he has had dismantled.  In it’s place will be HAMMER and his “new” Avengers.

Osborn’s Avengers consist of what appear to be some familiar faces: Ms Marvel, Spider-man, Hawkeye, and Wolverine.  These are of course not the actual super heroes joining up with Norman Osborn.  In their place instead are various villians taking over the roles - just like the Thunderbolts at the beginning of their series. 

Also joining the faux heroes are Ares and the Sentry. Ares states that the reason he is joining Osborn is because he is the God of War and that Osborn defeated Skrulls. I think that’s a weak excuse, but whatever. The Sentry has joined up because Osborn has promised to help him become more stable. That’s a little more believable, but the Sentry could go to Reed Richards if he wanted help. This leaves the new character of the Iron Patriot. He has an Iron Man type armor that’s colored in red, white, and blue. I’m sure you can guess who’s in the armor.

Overall, a good start for this book. Mike Deodato provides the art work. Deodato was on the “Avengers” when the first series ended. It’s nice to see him back in the Avengers world. He’s a great talent. I don’t like the inking on the book. This issue and the entire run on the current Captain America series has had some heavy inking. I know it’s supposed to set a tone, but I wish they would brighten things up a bit every once in a while.

The first issue is always critical to a new series - especially if you’re on a budget like me. If you don’t have me interested after the first issue, I probably won’t be sticking around for the second. So I would recommend this book. It’s going to be fun seeing Norman Osborn taking over the world.