Waiting for the Trade   by Bill Miller   Avengers Assemble by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley collects Avengers Assemble #1-8 Why I Bought This: Created in the wake of the film, this features the team from the film taking on Thanos. Despite my distrust of Bendis, I couldn’t wait to read this and as soon as it was collected in trade earlier this year, I ordered it from Amazon. That it also features Mark Bagley’s art and the Guardians of the Galaxy is just gravy. The Plot: Thanos hires the Zodiac to steal items of cosmic power found on Earth and it’s up to the Avengers to stop him.

Waiting for the Trade By Bill Miller Seige: Dark Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato and Chris Bachalo Collects Dark Avengers Prime 13 – 16 and Annual #1 Why I Bought This: This was another of my library rentals since as a rule I don’t buy Bendis books. In this case I did buy Dark Avengers vol. 1 when it came out because, credit where it is due, villains masquerading as the Avengers in the heroes’ costumes is an intriguing concept plus Morgan Le Fay was in that story and I’ll buy most anything Arthurian. I then borrowed volume 2 in the library and while I liked it much less because Sentry is just a terribly written character all around, I was still curious enough to want to the read the final volume that finishes the series off. The Plot: Sentry loses his grip on his sanity with a little help from Norman Osborn and Bullseye in the lead-up to Seige .

Waiting for the Trade By Bill Miller Avengers Prime by Brian Michael Bendis and Alan Davis Collects Avengers Prime 1-5 Why I Bought This: I actually rented this from the library, as I don’t like/trust Bendis enough to buy books he writes. Also this is kind of Asgard heavy and that’s not my favorite setting. However, the premise of a mini-series that focuses on the Avengers’ “big three” is definitely something that interests me, so when I decided to rent some trades at the library this was the first one I picked up. The Plot: In the immediate aftermath of Siege Cap, Thor and Iron Man are warped away to Asgard’s nine realms and must battle their way back to each other/home.