Tradio #17 - Avengers Prime

Welcome back!  Today's Tradio is the recent trade collecting Avengers Prime by Brian Michael Bendis and Alan Davis. 

Avengers Prime collects the five issue mini series by the same name that tells a tale of how three of the mainstays of the Avengers deal with the aftermath of the massive Siege storyline.  As Thor, Ironman, and Captain America deal with the fallout of their shattered friendships and, in many ways, shattered lives they get flung into different realms with no clear way home.  Eventually they find each other and have to work together to discover the mystery of where they have been sent and how they could possibly get back to Earth.  The story is full of giants and demons, gods and warriors and we get to see how these three are able to overcome their own differences and be the heroes and friends they are meant to be. 

I liked the trade a lot.  The story is really good and you really get an idea of what these three have been through together and that ultimately their friendship is more important than past transgressions.  If anything, the story is a little off if you aren't familier with the Siege storyline and what happened between these three heroes.  Additionally, you do have to suspend some disbelief in the fact that Ironman had really been a complete dick to Captain America before Siege and it felt like this tied things up a little too neatly.  Bendis is his typical self, with a lot of talking heads, but there is room for action in this story that is on the whole, a quick read.  That said, it is a lot of fun and the art by Alan Davis is nothing short of spectacular.  It reminds me in a lot of ways of his best work with Excalibur and his sense of layouts is amazing.  Overall...an easy recommendation of a recent good, self-contained mini series from Marvel.