Avengers #16 Review

Writer: Jason Aaron / Artist: David Marquez / Marvel Comics In case you were wondering what the clearest path to a good review by me, you can never go wrong with a Shinku Hadouken. This week Aaron and Marquez put together what might be the best Marvel Comic I’ve read all year. “A Fistful of Blood” is the third part in Avengers’ adventure to quell a vampire war launched by the Legion of the Unliving against Dracula. The issue starts with an introspective Robbie Reyes, the newest Ghost Rider, stuck in a personal hell while the Spirit of Vengeance rampages against the Avengers. Back where the action is (funny that the action isn’t actually in hell) the remaining Avengers are split up engaging with the Legion. Blade practically says to Shadow Colonel, “Yea I shot yo dog, now what?”. Meanwhile, horror ensues in the Russian prison holding an asylum seeking Dracula. Unexpectedly, the ancient lord of vampires is the victim and not the perpetrator. The facility is about to suffer an unconventional attack from the Legion that I pray to Mother Russia becomes a Winter Guard vs Legion of Unliving brawl.

The creative team on this book expertly utilize the advantage of having a good sized cache of characters to utilize. It could have been an all out action scene for 20 pages and I wouldn’t have complained. Instead we get a blend of scenes that do a fair share of emotional appeal. An interesting feat for a book that seems mid-crescendo. Robbie’s pages in hell, describing his relationship wi…