Mindless dumb fun but still very important to the parent title, just like a good Annual issue should be. If you're looking for a very traditional all-out superhero fight, look no further. Read Full Review

I only wish there was more to this issue besides the fight. I appreciate that Bendis uses the annual to address several recent Marvel events, most notably World War Hulk. On the other hand, the Peter Parker in this issue is very blatantly still in his "Back in Black" phase, and it's almost too depressing to know I'm reading his last Avengers appearance before the One More Day changes take effect. As for the ramifications of the fight, I was hoping for a few more ties to Secret Invasion. I suppose Brian Michael Bendis has to save a few Skrull revelations for Secret Invasion itself. Instead, Bendis shakes up the status quo in a different way, which essentially puts the Avengers in a spot they've been in too many times over the past few years. I won't say anymore for now, but I'm slightly less excited for upcoming issues than I had hoped because of it. Though this annual was a solid effort in many respects, I think that shows it didn't quite accomplish what it set out to do. Read Full Review

If you've been following this story arc, you should probably pick up this annual. It resolves a lot of the story and opens up future plots. No Skrulls are revealed this issue, however. Bummer. Read Full Review

This Annual, then, is disposable in the sense that it's a fairly straightforward, throwaway story - but regular readers will still want to take a look at this issue due to the developments of the final few pages, which I won't spoil here, but which will have a direct bearing on the following issues of the main title. Decent enough artwork makes the fight fairly visually interesting, and there are enough individual moments of drama and tension that it's quite a fun read, but you probably won't remember much about it once you've closed the final page. Read Full Review

New Avengers Annual #2 was another boring and repetitive read. This title is stuck in one incredibly deep rut. I don't know when if ever Bendis is going to make New Avengers a quality read. Bendis simply isn't suited for a team title like the Avengers. Instead, Marvel should keep Bendis on titles like Ultimate Spider-Man that plays to his strengths. Read Full Review