1401 ( )

Seems kind of strange that The Sentry is revealed as being part of Galactus, but then it's never brought up again. I really think they should have used Odin's spear to kill him, but I guess they probably have plans for that. Also seeing Daken and Bullseye indiscriminately kill innocent people is getting kind of old. ( )

One of the most innovative parts of the Siege event, for me, was the supervillains disguised as superheroes - Dark Avengers. This Siege tie-in follows that group in and around Siege, even recounting events already seen but from a slightly different perspective (e.g. Doom's attack at Avengers tower). While it felt somewhat incomplete, due to a couple of dangling storylines, it was still very enjoyable. Evil can be so much fun in the Marvel universe.

The book opens with No-Varr, a Kree warrior recruited by Osborn to be his team's Captain Marvel. However, No-Varr quickly abandoned them when he realized they were villains, and insane to boot! This first story follows his efforts to contact the Kree Supreme Intelligence to discover his purpose on Earth. This leads to a new hero rising from Siege. This is one of the dangling storylines, as this book does not provide closure on No-Varr's status. And, I'm unsure where to go to find out.

Most of the rest of the book concerns The Sentry, how he came to be and the sad fate of his wife. Despite a split personality, I don't find this character very compelling. He's almost a Macguffin; something to push the storyline and challenge the heroes in a way their usually nemeses do not. But the background on him was welcome since I was unfamiliar with the character, and he plays such a pivotal role in the finale. The character is also a mirror into Osborn's soul in just how far he is willing to go to keep control. And that is very far indeed.

The book closes with the villains under arrest, but Daken making a clean get-away. This is the second dangling storyline for me. I don't know what his fate is from this point, and I'd be peeved if he truly got away scot free. Still, these two loose ends don't ruin the book but I would have liked them to have resolution none-the-less.

Overall, this book was very entertaining but also extremely dark. There is more than one brutal murder committed within these pages, which keeps in the forefront the fact that these characters are villains. Highly recommended tie-in for the Siege story. And, I intend to order the Dark Avengers collection, so I can get these villains' entire story. ( )

Well, like most tie-in books to some big Marvel event, this collection was rather disjointed, and you have to buy at least one more book (the main event, Siege) to make sense of what is going on in this book. I'm getting kind of tired of this ploy, especially since Siege wasn't all that great in the first place.

I did like seeing the Sentry's "real" background, finally, which was kind of along the lines of what I thought it would be. And Noh-Varr is an interesting character; I hope to see more of him. And I like how sadistic Bullseye is; I just can't help it.

**********THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW THIS**********

However, Bendis' treatment of Lindy Reynolds makes me more than a little angry. Quite simply, she was fridged. If you don't know what that means in comics, a "fridging" occurs when a female character in comics (usually the girlfriend or wife of a superhero) is killed as a (WEAK) plot device to inflict emotional damage upon a male character (from which he grows, of course). And I hate it. And it makes me wonder what exactly Bendis thinks about women, considering what happened with Tigra in another title. ( )

Great backstory on the creation of Siege. Felt like there was a chunk missing out of the middle explaining how the Dark Avengers fell from power. ( )