Kelly Sue DeConnick takes over the run of this series from Brian Michael Bendis, and it is already so much better.
There are actually three stories in this volume, the first is the title, wherein Bruce Banner and Tony Stark make a bet over who can find and rescue a fellow scientist first. It’s by turns silly and funny and tragic and scary. It feels like the Avengers. I also like the art in this one much better than in volume one. The other Avengers, notably Captains America and Marvel and Spider-Woman also play a pretty big role. The focus isn’t so much on the bad guy as it is the banter along the way. And it’s some pretty great banter.
The second story is a Black Widow feature, also with Hawkeye and Spider-Woman (who is apparently dating Hawkeye). They travel to Russia after one of Black Widow’s marks is called in. After she left her old life, she handed out nine marks to be called in for favors as a way to erase the red from her ledger, and this is the first to be called in. She has to save the daughter of a scientist she killed in order to prevent him from creating a dangerous weapon. But the daughter has secretly picked up where her father left off, and things get weird real fast.
The last story isn’t actually by DeConnick, but by Christos Gage, and focuses on Vision (who we’re going to meet in Age of Ultron in a couple of weeks), who wants to save a man whose life has been ruined by the company he gave his life to.
All in all, this is more like what I thought reading Avengers comics would be like. Just really fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
