REVIEW: Avengers #315

Writer: John Byrne
Artists: Paul Ryan & Tom Palmer
Review: Will Dubbeld

Dropping somewhere in between "Acts of Vengeance" and "Operation: Galactic Storm" fell Avengers #315. I'm moderately and admittedly sparse on stretches of Avengers lore, and this issue is no exception. We can rap about the "Pacific Overlords" arc of West Coast Avengers all day long, or the oft-maligned (but one of my personal favorites) leather jacket era, but not so much the early '90s stories.

Which may be a bit of a blessing...

Let's go ahead and, in this instance I think it's okay, judge a book by its cover.

Pros:

1)Guest starring the Amazing Spider-Man! Nice, a good Spidey guest spot never hurts.

2)Captain America, Thor, and Sersi. Cap's one of my favorites, I've always gotten a kick out of Thor, and Sersi is a crazy-powerful, underrated Avenger. So far, so good.

Cons:

1)Hoo boy. Per the cover, "The enemy revealed--while a universe trembles!"
And by revealed, we mean That Gratuitous Ass Shot. Seriously. I love some cheesecake but I'm not entirely sure an Avengers cover is the right venue.

2)Pirate Jarvis?        

Once again, my Dollar Box pick finds me thrust into the middle of a multi-part story and without a frame of reference.
Taking place MERE SECONDS after last issue, we hapless readers find our skeleton crew of Avengers floating through nothingness in the communications room from Avengers Mansion. I've no idea what surely villainous scheme caused this predicament, but apparently the whole of creation has been erased save the Avengers communications room and a science complex from New Jersey.

So at this point I'm beginning to think John Byrne's talents are best suited to art detail. I remember loving his Alpha Flight, but if this issue of Avengers is indicative of Byrne's style I may be remembering the book whilst wearing my rose-colored spectacles.
Perhaps Byrne just didn't have his heart in the book, but Avengers #315 isn't much to rave over. It's essentially a punch-up betwixt our smattering of Avengers and Nebula, Thanos' maybe-granddaughter.

The by-the-numbers plot is a bit pedestrian, but ultimately more palatable than the script. I don't know if JB was getting paid by the word or what, but good lord is this script chock-full of exposition. It's almost comical in its verbosity.
And this is coming from a guy who just used the word 'verbosity' in a sentence...
Seriously, it makes a Claremont story seem brimming with brevity. Excelsior! I guess...

The art duties in the book are expertly executed, on the bright side. There's a certain style prevalent in 1980s-early '90s funnybooks that is unmistakable, a midpoint between some of the frankly comic strip art of the '60s-'70s and the ludicrous hyper-reality of the mid-'90s. That sweet, sweet spot dominated by post-Kirby ink jobs and Buscema as far as the eye could see. It was a second Golden Age.
Kudos all around for the art team. They oughtta be proud.

I've no real desire to peruse the rest of Byrne's stretch on Avengers after reading 315, though I would like to know why Jarvis has an eyepatch...