Siege #3
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Olivier Coipel
Inker: Mark Morales
Colors: Laura Martin
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Released March 17, 2010

The march towards Marvel‘s Heroic Age continues, and with this issue of Siege we finally get the moment that many fans”¦okay, even that is saying too much. There are so many awesome moments in this book that you can’t turn a page without a surprise, and I don’t want to be the one to ruin those moments for anyone.

I will just say that Brian Michael Bendis pulls out all the stops, and fills the issue with a lot of great dialog. As I said with the last issue, the shorter story length is working very well for this series, forcing Bendis to cut to the chase and focus on the big moments. A problem I had with Bendis’ last two event minis, House of M and Secret Invasion, was that they dragged in the middle. This series does not have that issue, and is much better because of it.

I really hope Olivier Coipel‘s next project is something I want to read, because his art is amazing. Just as Bendis pulls out all the stops, Coipel is taking his work to another level. Coipel’s work really sells the big moments of the issue, from the first two-page splash of the heroes arriving to the battle to the last shot of the issue. The battle scenes flow well, and importantly, everyone is easy to tell apart. This is very key in this issue as the battle escalates a few notches. This is just great work, and like I said, I hope Coipel’s next work is something I’m more interested in than his run on Thor. I may have to pick up those trades just to see his work.

If you’ve been following Marvel comics for the last few years, Siege #3 will have you jumping out of your seat with fist in the air. This is the issue that Dark Reign has been building to, and this makes the wait completely worth it. The last page sets up what should be a knock down, drag out fight.

This issue gets a solid 5 out of 5, and next month can’t get here soon enough. Bring on the new age of Marvel comics!