Editor's Note: New Avengers #53 arrives in stores Thursday, May 28.

Who will be the next Sorcerer Supreme? This is the question that has been on the minds of Marvel readers for the past few months, the question with which writer Brian Michael Bendis has kept us guessing. And it's also been New Avengers' center story for the past few months.

This issue follows Dr Strange and the New Avengers as they race to New Orleans in hopes of finding the person who will be the new Sorcerer Supreme before the Hood does. But nothing comes easy for these Avengers: The Hood didn't come alone.

I've read every Avengers issue penned by Bendis, and sometimes I worry that I'll get tired of his writing, but I've got to say it hasn't happened yet. That being said, there are both good and bad things about this issue. The good is that Bendis does know how to get Marvel readers' attention. Since Dr. Strange was introduced, the Marvel Universe has never had any other sorcerer supreme (as far as I can recall anyways), so the idea that he would lose that mantle is definitely intriguing. The other good thing is that Bendis has always had a knack for writing different characters at once, each with a unique voice. Luke Cage is clearly Luke Cage, Spider-Man is clearly the joking Spider-Man we all know and love (Bendis also has a knack for writing Spidey's one-liners).

There are online critics of Bendis (of course) who say that he writes everyone the same, with stuttering repetitions of words being one of his calling cards. It's true that he does use that a little too often, but to say it defines his dialogue is a gross exaggeration. The bad part of the issue, for me anyways, is Bendis' fascination with minor characters. While he has made amazing use of minor characters in the past, even making Luke Cage, or more surprising, the Wrecker (in early New Avengers issues) into useful and interesting characters, some characters, like Son of Satan for example, would simply be best forgotten.

The other, more obvious bad here is, of course, that most people simply want to see Dr Strange remain as Sorcerer Supreme. For readers with those feelings, it's not too appealing to see him portrayed with power levels dramatically lower than he's had in the past. After all, not all change is necessarily good.

The art is one area where this issue shines. It's Billy Tan, so of course it's good art, but I've never reviewed a comic drawn by him before. What I found is that the more you look closely at his art, the more impressive it gets. Tan makes excellent use of a variety of dynamic angles to keep the scenes interesting, but when you look more closely, it's his ability to use striking to subtle facial expressions to help bring out the emotions of the scene that really impress.

Overall, this is another solid issue of New Avengers. Now, about "Who will be the next sorcerer supreme?" You may want to pick this issue up to find out.

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