Rating: *** 1/2*

Marvel Comics is promoting their latest blockbuster crossover Siege as a project that has been seven years in the making. It began with Avengers #500 when writer Brian Michael Bendis first took over the title. The storyline was called Avengers Disassembled where the Scarlet Witch went crazy, the Vision was destroyed, and Hawkeye and Ant Man (Scott Lang) were killed off. It was a good story and a huge turning point for the team that left many fans very angry as fan favorite Hawkeye was killed in an unsatisfactory manner and the New Avengers were then launched with a non-traditional lineup which included the Sentry.

As the years have gone by, we’ve had various crossovers such as Civil War, Secret Invasion, and Dark Reign which further complicated the lives of the Avengers and the Marvel Universe in general. All of this has lead us to Siege, which is a storyline that will focus on Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers invading Asgard to expel it from the Earth. This was a very good start. Osborn wants power and looks at Asgard as a roadblock. With the assistance of Loki, Osborn is able to get a reason to invade Asgard.

During the Civil War, innocent civilians were killed during an incident involving the New Warriors. Loki is able to replicate a similar incident using the Asgardian Volstagg who battles the U-Foes which results in the death of thousands of civilians at Soldier Field in Chicago. Osborn’s Dark Avengers are not too willing to go along with the invasion - especially Ares who promises Osborn if this is a trick of some sort, he will kill him personally. 

Asgard is now in Oklahoma where Tony Stark is being taken care of by Donald Blake. I haven’t been reading Thor, Iron Man, or Dark Reign so I’m not aware as to what’s happened here. Blake is once again the host body for Thor and in a very cool moment, Blake is running towards Asgard with Norman’s jets flying above him as he leaps and slams his cane into the ground which of course results in him transforming into Thor.

I’ve always liked this image of small, skinny Donald Blake slamming his cane on the ground to transform into the god of thunder. I’m really happy that Blake is back in the picture in the world of Thor. I don’t see a Donald Blake on the IMDB page for the Thor movie. Not sure if actor Chris Hemsworth who will be playing Thor in the film will also play Blake or if they aren’t going to incorporate that into the story. I hope they do.

Artist Olivier Coipel’s artwork is strong here and gives us some jaw dropping visuals - particularly the splash page involving the Dark Avengers and HAMMER flying into battle.

We end with Osborn and the Dark Avengers ganging up on Thor with a television broadcast announcing that Thor is down. We then get a striking image of the man watching that broadcast and he’s not too happy. That man is Steve Rogers - Captain America and he’s ready for battle!

A very good start that shows lots of promise to have some cool moments. I can’t wait to see Steve battle it out with Norman Osborn. If I were Bendis, I’d have Spidey helping out a bit, but make him more of a cheerleader with some funny lines like telling Steve to give him one for me, Steve.

According to Wikipedia, Marvel has stated that this event will help usher in a new “Heroic Age.” If this means a return to traditional Avengers stories and lineups, I’m there. This has been a fun ride and it’s good to shake things up a bit, but I’m ready for the Avengers to go back to normal. Whether I get my wish, we’ll see. Supposedly this is also the last big crossover for a while and I’m very happy with that. I think it’s time to go back to basics with small good little self contained stories; not just in Avengers, but in all Marvel Comics. The 60’s and 70’s had stories that worked and proved that you don’t have to have the big blockbuster to tell a good story and sell a lot of comic books. As for the Siege, I highly recommend it.