Another of these sucky disparate collections that can't hold together (the Warriors Three story at the end was just bizarre). I do quite like the Dark Avengers though. ( )

1420 ( )

Siege Prelude is intended to help set the stage for Siege for those who may not have been following Marvel comics since the Skrull invasion (i.e. Osborn's "Dark Reign"). It pulls together various issues across multiple series to show the state of things as the Siege event approaches. At the close of the Skrull invasion, SHIELD has been dismantled and replaced by Norman Osborn's new HAMMER organization. Iron Man has left as head of the Avengers, and they are left as leaderless outlaws.

Prelude opens with Osborn gathering various supervillains/Thunderbolts to be his new Dark Avengers, with each assuming the mantle of an existing Avenger. E.g. Bullseye becomes "Hawkeye", Venom becomes "Spider-man," etc., and Norman himself becomes the Iron Patriot after confiscating Tony's armors at Avengers headquarters. He has also assembled Loki, Namor, Dr. Doom and others to be part of a supervillain Cabal. All of whom are plotting against each other while supposedly working with Osborn. During this time, Loki (reborn as a woman) has orchestrated Thor's banishment and is trying to convince King Balder to take the Asgardians to Latveria. Where are the real Avengers? Trying to keep Hawkeye from murdering Osborn!

Though it is helpful to have some basis for the state of things before Siege commences, this book feels disjointed. This is mostly due to each issue compiled being part of another plotline of which readers do not have the entire story. For instance, Spider-woman is part of the Avengers but I've no backstory on how or why. Prelude closes with an early issue of Spider-man wherein Spidey and Goblin learn each other's identities and follows with a prose "history" of how Norman/Goblin got where he is. Overall, this book feels very piecemeal but is still helpful for newbies trying to orient themselves for Siege. ( )

This collection felt very disjointed and jarring. The clashing of artistic styles and stories provide interesting vignettes that happen before Siege but it fails, for me, in providing a solid lead-in to the Siege book. ( )