The first issue of Dark Avengers came out this week. And so far, reactions have been interesting.

Matthew Pease is excited about the issue:

This book did exactly what any first issue should do. It got me excited for the series going forward, the possibilities for this team and the conflicts they could have are fantastic. Let face it Bendis knows exactly where he is going. Nearly every team member has a counterpart on the New Avengers or the Mighty Avengers. Having Daken dress like wolverine is excellent and will lead to a father/son throw down that should be excellent. Having Bullseye dress like Hawkeye is likely going to piss off Clint Barton who is currently Ronin on the New Avengers and is going to lead them in to a sharpshooter showdown which is sure to be seen in “Dark Reign: Hawkeye”. Moonstone taking on the persona of Ms. Marvel will lead to a sexy fight with Carol Danvers. Osborn as the Iron Patriot will no doubt royally annoy both Tony Stark and Bucky.

Richard Cook hated the issue

Brian Michael Bendis gets to write whatever the fuck he wants at Marvel. As with the Dark Reign one-shot, this issue is one long, tedious set-up. I could bring up how Bendis wastes an inordinate amount of space on splash pages, or how his characters say far too much and do far too little, but I'd just be spitting into the wind. The guy sells books. At least Deodato's art seems a little less porny than usual, though he does work in an ass-shot or two.

While Sam Christopher has doubts:

It was with trembling hands I picked up Dark Avengers #1. I knew the book would be Osborne-centric, but… I don’t see The Sentry staying with this team long; I don’t see the real Ms. Marvel not splattering Osborne’s version in rather short order; I don’t see Osborne’s stolen armor working at all once Tony Stark pushes that button he has that deactivates any technology of his he considers to have been misappropriated (I read Armor Wars). Also, while I don’t know enough about “Dark Wolverine’s” personality—this being the first time I’ve ever seen the character—I have to say I liked Wild Thing as Logan’s offspring much better. Ares I understand, as a god of war is generally going to be a morally ambiguous character but turning Venom into Spiderman? And Bullseye into Hawkeye? Didn’t this kind of thing run out with Thunderbolts? Brian Michael Bendis (Alias, Powers) and Mike Deodato (Elektra, Thor) tell the tale.

So what do you think?