The Revengers Saga. After reading Avengers Annual #1, the conclusion of Simon Williams and his minions struggle with the Avenger, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. There was a lot of things in this story that could have made for a big epic, there were moments absolutely fantastic, there were possibility to great characters build-up… everything got wasted and drowned in poor pacing and an anticlimacticresolution. But, when you start talking about Bendis, you have big fans of him who jump at you and say “You’re just a hater, why do you read the book if you don’t like it, let’s see you do better!”

So I will try. I think I can make this story better and still come with the exact conclusion of Bendis.

But I’ll take Three Annuals to do it. While I do this, I’ll present some alternative dialogues, some new scenes and describe the differences and what I find wrong with this story. So, let’s go. Beware this is a long one.

Part 1 New Avengers Annual #1

Biggest problem with NAAnnual? Pacing. 1/3 of the book is completely wasted before anything could really happen. We have a raving rambling monologue from Wonder Man that is so long and so boring, I refuse to re-read it. 5 double splash pages pass and you only get some pretty pictures about Civil War-Ultron etc etc. 10 freaking pages! That’s half a normal issue. Why waste so much space when you have an entire group of villains to present? Half of the readership doesn’t know the majority of this characters… why are they here, what’s their motifs, why are they helping Simon? We slim up Simon monologue then jump right into a confrontation with is Revengers to see what they want, during a conversation.

WonderM: It is all about corruption, you see. The Avengers… they’re corrupted. By their powers, by their money, by the press. They think they can do everything, with their ties with SHIELD and the politics. They became a tool of the governments, a tool of the status quo. They think they’re invincible, and like Hank Pym they create their own destruction… they grown fat, and forget about what’s important, leaving friends go insane, like Wanda Maximoff… they become greedy and fight for power, brother against brother, in the Civil War… ask yourself: why the people of this world left a clown, a lunatic like Norman Osborn, take control of their security? Simple. They couldn’t tell the difference between him and the Avengers… because there isn’t a difference anymore!

WonderM: Captain Ultra!

The captain jumps, surprised

Captain Ultra: Uh?!

WonderM: What you can do?

Captain Ultra: I-I… well I can fly… I have super-speed, super-strenght…

WonderM: You have a lot of powers…

Captain Ultra: Indeed…

Wonder M: Why you’re not an Avengers?

Captain Ultra: F**k I don’t know! I was hoping this group could…

Wonder M: It’s your costume.

Captain Ultra: What?

Wonder M: The Avengers are all about appearance. All about what’s outside. They hate and mock you for your costume, and that’s it. It doesn’t matter if you want to help, it doesn’t matter that you can make a difference. Because inside, they’re rotten. Like Iron Man. a shiny armor with a putrid heart.

Goliath: Iron Man…

Goliath said that he was at peace with Iron Man, that he has forgiven him. But really, how can you completely forgive the unpunished death of a loved one.

Wonder M: You know what he’s capable of, right Foster?

Goliath: I tried to ignore, I tried to leave it behind, to make peace with Stark…

Wonder M: But you can’t.

Goliath: No.

Virtue, Ethan Edwards, should be Wonder Man n°2, and of the Revengers, he’s the most aggressive and revengeful.

Virtue: This is all very interesting, really… The problem is, what are we going to do, Simon? Will this little club give us what we want?

Wonder M: What do you want, Ethan?

Virtue: Revenge.

Wonder M: You’ll get it.

Virtue: It’s a promise?

Wonder M: No killings.

Virtue: WHAT?!

Wonder M: Killing them won’t change things. They need a lesson in humility.

Virtue: My race! My entire race! We suffered at their hands infinite losses…

Wonder M: You feel it on your neck, don’t you? The fear of extinction?

Virtue: Yes! Yes every single day, every single night! I wanted to live as a human, I wanted to live her and forget the past! But I can’t! I want…

Follows a moment of silence-

Virtue: I want to hurt them! If not kill, I want to hurt them!

Wonder M: You will.

Dennis Dumphy, D-Man, he’s not insane. It’s a simple guy who had a difficult life. He wants to do good, but Simon has too much of a strong personality.

WonderM: D-Man…

DMan: Hey, listen Simon… this probably isn’t a good idea…

Virtue: What?!

WonderM: Let him talk.

DMan: The Avengers… they’ve done good things! A lot of good things! You were there with them. This group… we shouldn’t do this!

AntiVenom: Oh, NOW he tells US!

WonderM: You were going to join the Avengers, right Dennis?

DMan: Uh?

WonderM: as a nanny.

A consternated expression appears on D-Man face.

DMan:…

WonderM: I know. The Cages were searching for a nanny and you went there.

AntiVenom: Oh s**t, that’s pathetic…

WonderM: Tell me Dennis, how did it go?

DMan: I… well…

WonderM: They treated you like a joke?

DMan: …no.

WonderM: I can envision them, laughing and chuckling at you, at your home-made costume, at your puny morals and dreams.

DMan: no.

WonderM: I bet they thought, hey let’s call that D-Man guy over here…sure, we’re not going to hire him, but it’s going to be hilarious anyway.

DMan: no…

WonderM: maybe he’ll even start crying, that poor bastard. I’m sure he’ll finally realize, he’s not avenger material. He’s not worth it. He’s not like us.

DMan:…

WonderM: All of them think this of you! All of them just want to laugh at you! They don’t care about what you want, they don’t care about how you can help them. You’re a joke to them. They laugh at you… Steve too… They don’t care about us, the simple ones, the ones that just wants to make the world better. Tell me, Dennis. Will you let them laugh?

DMan: NO.

WonderM: Then we have a deal.

Virtue: What’s our target?

WonderM: We are going at the root, my Revengers. Where all started…

Of course, I jumped Anti-Venom, Century and Devil-Slayer, but a more in-depth conversation with them would take place too. The assault on Avenger’s Mansion starts, and it’s pretty much the same.

Thing: What the hell is…

Virtue: It’s called Revenge.

The battle proceeds as usual, we have a little change in the various dialogues.

Hand: That’s captain Ultra! He’s afraid of fire!

Captain Ultra: That was years ago, you damn bimbo!

Strange: Well, I’m sure you won’t like this anyway…

And with a magic spell he makes Ultra think he’s entirely on fire, like in the actual book. But with a single line of dialogue, you prevent a possible continuity error that fans can harpoon on to get angry at you. D-Man jumps on Jessica Jones and battles with her, throwing her against wall, getting hit as well, but he’s angrier than her. Luke Cage tries to stop him, but Atlas repeat the same catch and throw of the original issue. Thanks to our no-waste policy, we have a couple more of pages left from the beginning. And we will use it to promote my favorites pet-characters! Because that’s what good writers do. Ms. Marvel battles with Wonder Man. It’s not a real fight. She asks him to stop this madness, and of course she holds back from using all her strength.

At this point, Wonder Man stops, grabs his head and starts lamenting, screaming.

WonderM: It’s… it’s in my head… help me! Help me!

Of course! A great hero like Simon could never do such a thing! He’s getting mind controlled! But we forgot that Simon is an actor. As soon as Carol gets closer trying to help, he headbutts her, stunning her.

WonderM: I’m sorry.

He let her body go, and she hits the ground like in the original scene.

Virtue: Aaahh… that was incredibly satisfying.

The Revengers regroup.

Virtue: So, what where’re we going now?

WonderM: Isn’t is obvious?

Final page, identical.

WonderM: Where all ends.

Part 2 Secret Avengers Annual #1

The book opens up as the Avenger Annual, and for the most part it follows the same plot. Another thing that I didn’t like about the resolution was the way Iron Man defeated Wonder Man, trapping him into a gadget created by Hank. You can make the argument that, yes, it is something that Iron Man could do with the right preparation. Problem is, when you read it, it still looks like a crappy deux ex machine that prevents us from watching a damn good final battle. So, instead of having the solution right in his hands, Iron Man and Hank have to work right in front of our eyes to obtain it.

Iron Man says that he can use the traps he created to contain one of his foes, the Living Laser, against Wonder Man. Hank argues that Simon’s energy is different and infinitely more powerful, and if they really want to hold him up, they’ll have to upgrade the confinement chamber Stark plans to use. But they’ll have to be quick, Wonder Man is having his big press meeting. The scenes plays as in the Avenger Annual, but Iron Man isn’t here to confine Wonder Man yet. Thor tries to convince him to desist, but Simon attacks him first and takes him by surprise. Ms. Marvel intercepts him and this time she fights hard. She slams Simon against a building.

Ms. Marvel: Snap out of it!

PUNCH!

Ms. Marvel: You’re an Avenger!

STRONGER PUNCH!

Ms. Marvel: This is insane!

PUNCH, Simon bleeds. She stops just for a second.

Ms. Marvel: Don’t you remember? All the battles we fought, all the struggles we survived? You want to throw away all that?! ALL OF THAT?

PUNCH!

Ms. Marvel: WHY?! Simon, talk to me!

She almost seems to the point of tears. We look at Wonder Man, and he’s too devastated, on the breaking point. Then his expression becomes violent once more.

WonderM: Get out of my way.

Ms. Marvel: Goddamn you!

She raises her fist to punch him again, but he grabs her wrist right before wildly kicking her in the stomach. Iron Man time! His trap is ready. He only needs to load it… BANG, Wonder Man is already on him, beating the hell out of his armor. Iron Man is thrown all across New York, cracks open up on his armor. It’s a desperate situation, but finally, just second before getting hit one more time, the McCoy-Stark traps works. The issue ends with Simon confined.

Part 3 AREvengers Annual #1

Cover art: a big RE covers the Avengers A. The Revengers are at the ground, defeated, one against the other. But there’s something tragic and heroic about their stance, with sundown in the background.

We open up with Wonder Man getting trapped. As soon as this happens, the Revengers get up in arms ready to fight, with the sole intent of retrieving their leader. They’re transported in the stadium, but Virtue is able to take control of the situation and when the battle starts, the Revengers are fighting back decently, because that’s what a team entirely composed of powerhouses should do. And this is the climax of our Saga. The battle against the Revengers is brutal.

Goliath is able to hit Thor back and send him against the stadium, and the two keep on dueling, almost like his uncle and the fake Thor during Civil War. Devil-Slayer is able to defeat Moon-Knight and the Black Widow, but he ends up in a confrontation with Wolverine who wounds him and force to surrender. Century fights Hawkeye, Spider-Woman, Falcon, Bucky and Beast. The Revenger is able to wound Jessica and Falcon, break Hawkeye’s bow and kicks Bucky in the face, but at the end is overwhelmed by Beast. Atlas takes on Luke Cage and the Thing and the two together are able to hold him up, until Valkyrie and Hank Pym come by, defeating him (remember, Atlas is probably the strongest member right after Wonder Man.) Still tired from the previous battle, Doctor Strange gets hit by Virtue and taken down. The skrull jumps on Spider-Man, beats him, and he’s ready to go for the kill, but moments before he can deliver the finishing blow, Ms. Marvel jumps right into action and takes him on. Easily, she triumphs. Spider-Man, along side Jessica Jones, stops the Anti-Venom

The final confrontation is against Steve Rogers and D-Man, and it’s not really a battle.

DMan: I know the truth! You think I’m a joke…

Steve: Dennis. Whatever Simon said to you…

DMan: I understand now! I understand completely!

Steve: I want to help you Dennis.

DMan: YOU WERE MY HERO!

Steve: No. I’m your friend.

Dennis jumps on him, ready to deliver a tremendous punch in his face. But he stops, as Steve does nothing to defend himself. D-Man falls on his knees and cries, desperate.

DMan: I didn’t want to!

Steve: It’s ok.

DMan: Forgive me!

Steve goes on his knees as well and embraces him, because Captain America is not only a symbol of power, but of hope and forgiveness as well. The battle took most part of the issue. It’s the big final showdown for God’s sakes. At this point, we have briefly the interrogations.

CaptainUltra: I believe in Simon Williams! You’re the scum, you should be in prison! You damn f**ks!

Atlas: I’m proud of being a Revenger. You just don’t work anymore!

Goliath: Every time I look at you, I see his blood on your hands. It just won’t go away…

Devil-Slayer: Williams showed me a different world. There’s an alternative. The right one. I regret nothing.

Century: He died because of me, but he’s back… and his words, his voice… why don’t you see it? He’s right!

Virtue: This isn’t over. The Revengers, all this… it isn’t over…

Anti-Venom: That Ultron, the Civil War, the Scarlet chick and now Wonder Man… at this point you’ll have to admit… there’s something wrong with all of you…

D-Man:…

And then, the ending, Hank talking with Simon, it’s the same. With the exception that I find the character questioning whatever or not he’s real to be boring and tedious, trite and lazy. So, no, Simon has done all this because he believes what he said. The Revengers were a new way, a new look at the world. A world without the Avengers, corrupted by their own power and influence. The mass media talk takes just one page, but we still get all the necessary information: Simon is becoming an internet phenomenon and a symbol of the Avengers possible corruption. We use pages left to take a look at Hank McCoy and Carol Danvers, as they try to comfort each other. You can argue that a betray from Wonder Man would hit these two characters more than any other, and in fact, it does.

And the final page is the same. They heard. Simon smiles and the light engulfs him.

The Revengers Saga: End?