This time out, I read Avengers FCBD 2009, New Avengers 55-64, Annual 3 & Finale, Dark Avengers 9-16 & Annual 1, Ms. Marvel 40-47, Dark Reign: The List: Avengers, Dark Reign: The List: Spider-Man, Siege 1-4, Siege: The Cabal and Siege: Spider-Man. I am free of Dark Reign! The Dark Avengers continued to not really do anything in their comic, while the New Avengers fought the Dark Avengers and the Hood’s gang of losers for the 20th, 21st and 22nd times. Ms. Marvel seemed to die and the 2 Avengers teams got wrapped up in fixing her, and then she and Peter Parker went on a very awkward date. Norman Osborn enacted his plan to kill various Marvel characters, none of which succeeded except the Punisher so Rick Remender could do that ridiculous Frankencastle nonsense. Bendis reminded us the Cabal existed, because they didn’t really do anything during all of Dark Reign, somehow. The Sentry was revealed to be one of the Plagues of Egypt (???), which did not pay off at all (?????). Steve Rogers revealed his return from the dead to the Avengers 3 different ways, then found out about the Siege of Asgard 2 different ways, all written by the same person somehow. And Norman Osborn was manipulated by Loki into besieging Asgard, at which point the New Avengers and Nick Fury’s Secret Warriors handily trounced the Dark Avengers and the Hood’s gang of losers in under 20 pages, because despite being the primary villains of the entire Marvel universe for over a year, neither team ever seemed terribly formidable. Then the Sentry turned into a giant crab man (????) and destroyed Asgard, at which point Loki felt bad and empowered the Avengers to kill him. Thor threw him into the sun, which is pretty funny, and somehow, Steve Rogers punching Norman Osborn was enough to get the Superhero Registration Act repealed. The comic says “tossed out by the president,” but Marvel 2007-2010 makes is very clear no one working there knows how the federal government works, so whatever. Then the New Avengers tied up a couple of loose ends, and we’re out. Thank goodness. Couldn’t really square portraying much of anything else alongside Siege in my drawing, and it’s not like any of these stories had any different villains or anything, so it doesn’t super matter. Dark Reign, man. Everybody running in place for 18 months. So glad I’m done with it. And I’m getting relatively close to the end of ASM Vol. 2, also.