Siege 2
Penciled by Olivier Coipel Written by Brian Michael Bendis

This second issue of the story is good but not breaking much new ground.  Personally, I am continuously scratching my head when it comes to the character of The Sentry.  I just don't like the idea of dragging a character's story out forever as a plot.  I am glad to see Steve Rogers back in the fold and am thinking we missed a story somewhere of watching the world embrace Cap being back, especially so soon after the Skrull Invasion.  Wouldn't they be a little on edge of a possible impostor?

Oh wait…I read New Avengers.  Spiderwoman has a special device issued to her from S.W.O.R.D. that can determine if anyone is an alien.

But wait…wasn't the Skrull Invasion all about that fact that Earth had been invaded and even Big Brains like Reed Richards, Hank Pym and Tony Stark were fooled?

Yeah well, moving on.  The series is progressing nicely enough although there are some points I'm a bit stuck on.

1. Norman Osborn is in charge of HAMMER (formerly SHIELD), but the president of the United States still has more authority then him, no?  I was under the impression that the President did not authorize the attack on Asgard.  Why are people in the Initiative following Osborn?

2. Ares was just with an entire assemblage of Gods in a recent Secret Warriors issue where his son Phobos, a member of the Secret Warriors, was recognized by the Gods (all of them) as being an equal.  Loki was there, Hercules was there and I can't recall if Thor was there or not.  But surely the current politics of Asgard were not unknown to Ares, yet we get the impression that until Hemidall speaks that Ares is just ignorant to the fact that Balder is sitting in the throne and not Loki.  Is this believable?

3. If Sentry is truly this powerful then who is he?  Why would anyone/anything that powerful work for or through Osborn?  Should we now assume that whatever was behind the door in the initial meeting of The Cabal was in fact the same thing that lurks within Sentry?  I think we will all need to know who this entity is in order for there to be any shock to the reveal when it's finally revealed.  Again, the real risk is that the anticipation of who could possibly scare Doom, Emma Frost, Namor and the rest is pretty a tough trick to pull off. Doom fearing anyone is tough for me to buy.

Honestly, the last panel of the issue has the fanboy in me all revved up for issue 3 – so yeah, they've suckered me in for the battle ahead, although I gotta say having seen Spider-man beat Iron Patriot by simply manipulating the chest repulsor's shape as a poor design flaw makes me wonder if we should really think of Osborn as a real threat to Cap and company.

The real risk of this entire battle seems to be all about the Sentry.  I just wish I even cared about this character.

I almost feel like this is a bit of a poor man's attempt of imitating DC's World War III storyline that played out in the 52 series a few years ago when Black Adam took on everyone minus the dominant first stringers of DC Superheroes.  The World War III story fell flat and rushed.  They did have an incredible antagonist in Black Adam, who readers have grown to know through the past 5 years in ways we never knew him before, thanks mostly in part to DC revisionist Geoff Johns.

It's almost the opposite formula.  Marvel's taking the time to tell its story but the most powerful figure on the board is the least explored and, sadly, the least cared about figure in the story.  I care more about his wife than him.

Ahhh, well let's see how it all plays out.  Great Art!  Decent Writing so far…I mean it's not House of M, at least.

Not yet anyway.

ComicsOnline gives Siege #2 3.5 out of 5 Hammers of Thor.