Two More the Spread

Picked up a couple of Marvel trades yesterday - ones I had missed on Wednesday:

And here’s what I thought of ’em:

• Agents of Atlas – Dark Reign TPB : More excellent fun from Jeff Parker and crew. These characters continue to be very compelling and full of life. The extras (various Secret Invasion / Dark Reign bits, and a crossover with the Marvel Adventures Avengers) are also very nice.
• Dark Reign Young Avengers : Don’t get me wrong, this is a fine mini-series and includes some very nice bits, but well it just doesn’t quite sing as much as I wanted it to. Paul Cornell is my current writer crush but this series felt like his writing was sort of stuck in 3rd. Both in Captain Britain and MI-13 and his Doctor Who episodes, Cornell has deftly put his protagonists through the emotional wringer, revealing new insights into the characters and leaving them changed. Here, the YA crew just doesn’t evolve. The “Dark Young Avengers” – more properly the protagonists of the series – do go through some harsh stuff, but there’s very little in the sense of growth or reason to want to see them all again. All felt too one-note – from a writer whom I expect to have a whole melody.