Not so Mighty

I was one of those who was looking forward to Dan Slott’s take on the Avengers when it was announced that he was taking over Mighty Avengers when Bendis left to take over Thunderbolts create Dark Avengers.

I’m an Avengers fan since the days of Roger Stern’s stint as scribe, and I’ve read/now own a good chunk of what came before that, so I was all up for a return to an old school feel for the book – something that Bendis’ Mighty never achieved, in spite of the initial claims that it would provide that feel.

Instead, we got a weak and muddled three-issue opening arc which dealt with magic, Wundagore Mountain and Modred the flamin’ Mystic, perhaps the least useful magical character in the MU. As someone who doesn’t like much magic outside of Dr Strange, this wasn’t an ideal arc for me – but more than that, something felt off about Pym’s portrayal.

It wasn’t the new codename or outfit – in spite of Hercules’ concerns. It wasn’t even in the way that Iron Man reacted to him leading the team; it was in Pym’s reactions to everyone else.

Let’s see…he’s lost Jan and is hanging out with the robot whose brainwaves are based on hers. He’s desperate to prove himself as a hero, apparently to partly honor Jan’s memory but also apparently for himself.

He’s also overbearing and more than a little condescending to the younger members of the team, including but not limited to Cassie, who’s been quite successfully proving herself a hero for a while now.

He grossly over reacts to Jocasta shutting off their lab to protect it – to the point where you have to wonder if Slott’s really on board the Pym redemption train as he’s claimed to be.

Oh, and not only is he displaying some very erratic behavior, building a robot called Salvation Two (presumably because Salvation One went so well), but he’s also picking a fight with Reed Richards.

I mean, granted Richards was being uncharacteristically dickish, but still…

And, oh yeah, his team’s being led round by the nose by Loki.

What really bugs me is that Reed and Stark, prior to the Skrull invasion would never have treated Pym this way. They both respected his scientific prowess, regarded him as a friend and treated him as an equal. But now they’re both acting like heels and Pym’s disintegrating.

It’s not an Avengers that appeals to me; it’s not what I thought Slott would deliver, it’s making me actively dislike one of my favorite characters and to be honest, it’s not a lot of fun.

I’m disappointed, and if things don’t turn around in this FF arc, then I think I’m actually going to do something I’ve never done: drop an Avengers book.