Editor's Note: Dark Avengers #10 arrives in stores tomorrow, October 21.

Plot: Something's taking people in the small town of Dinosaur, CO – and Norman Osborne's Avengers are going to find out what it is.

Comments: So after nine issues of generally setting things up – really, that's what the preceding issues have felt like – Norman Osborne's Avengers finally tackle something not specifically Dark Rein-related. There are still the same machinations and backstabbing going on in the background, but the story at the forefront of this issue is a series of disappearances in and around a small Colorado town.

It's a fairly solid if not spectacular superhero comic given the twist that everyone is a bickering sociopath. Since it's Bendis, the pacing is leisurely, using the opening and closing pages of the book to establish the threat (spectacularly revealed on the final page). The pacing is actually problematic – stuffed with a lot of fat that could have been trimmed in an edit or two. For instance, do we really need another scene with the cast sitting around the meeting table, complaining about Osborne's management? What about the subplot about Venom's meds making him a softie?

Looking at the important beats – the mysterious town, whatever is making Osborne act a bit off – I can't help but feel that Bendis has padded out the rest of the issue having nothing particularly interesting to say for the rest of the page count. Which is important, because it feels like there's a lot of meat in those two important plot points but they lose a little momentum having to weave in and out of all of the extraneous content in the book.

I'm very curious where this issue's last page will take the story next month. I just hope Bendis gets around to fleshing out his story a bit more and trimming back some of the fat.

Final Word: Some interesting beats here, but you have to wade through a lot of fat to get to them.

If you liked this review, be sure to check out more of the author’s work at Monster In Your Veins

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