Avengers Arena #13 Review

How come no one noticed that 16 young heroes have gone missing? That’s a question you might have asked yourself when you picked up Avengers Arena, and now guest writer Christos Gage spends a whole issue answering that very question. While this chapter does tie up all of the more obvious loose ends, it does so in a fairly by-the-numbers way that drains the overall issue-to-issue momentum that had been so well built up by Dennis Hopeless.

One aspect I enjoyed was how Gage used this issue to address why teens move on, grow apart, or run away. Starting a relationship, escaping oppressive parents, and the like are all very real reasons that any teen could relate to. It’s refreshing to get a more grounded sense of heart in this series, although I will admit that a few elements were brushed under the carpet instead of adequately dealt with.

Artist Karl Moline does a good job depicting the many talking heads of this issue without making it all appear too static. There are several instances where his pencils are over-inked, causing characters to have funny looking faces, namely Wolverine, but nothing so bad that it hurts the overall presentation. The script has a few moments that are intended to be surprises, but they seem added in in an attempt to generate excitement in an otherwise very talky issue. Moline does his best to make the moments work, and he succeeds quite admirably in the full page shot that takes place in Arcade’s lair. You’ll know the one because it’s awesome.

Joshua writes for IGN. If Pokemon, Game of Thrones, or Green Lantern are frequently used words in your vocabulary, then you’ll want to follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com