While DC's Blackest Night mini continues on, Marvel's next big event book has finally landed: Siege. With Norman Osborn's power slowly slipping away from him, will an all-out war with the gods of Asgard be just what he needs to reclaim his power? Plus, will Siege finally bring back together the original and most well known and loved of the Avengers? The first issue shows potential, but I'm not completely sold yet.

With the help of Loki, Osborn learns that in order to initiate his plan, he needs for an incident to happen, much like the Speedball incident that led to the Civil War. Loki thinks Volstagg is the perfect chump to start Osborn's war against Asgard, and it doesn't take long for his hunch to be proven correct. Despite not being backed by America's president, Osborn launches his attack.

Siege #1

Right now, though it lays down a pretty good foundation, Siege doesn't yet seem like an epic book. With so much focus on Norman and the Dark Avengers, it feels more like an issue of that series more than anything else. Essentially, what we get is a book that's all introductions and nothing more. Now, if the series was longer I wouldn't have a problem, but with only four issues, the book can't spend a whole issue laying the groundwork for what's to come next. As with most Marvel projects – and by looking at the checklist at the end of the book – I have the terrible feeling that I'm going to have to collect all the tie-in books to even get a proper story. I collect Dark Avengers, New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, and Thunderbolts already, so those won't be a problem, but now I've got to get The Initiative, Thor, and Dark Wolverine too.

Based on the cover and what's been said already, it's obvious to see that this is the event that will bring back the core Avengers. I get the books, but the only team I'm 100% happy with is the Dark Avengers, but what's the chance of them sticking around once Siege is over and Osborn (I'm guessing) is finally out of power? Mostly, I hope Siege shakes up the rosters of the other Avengers books and give me some of the more traditional characters.

Another thing that's obvious about this book is that The Sentry is going to play a huge role. Personally, I've never liked the guy, as he seems too powerful and a little bit clichéd. I hope, however, that Siege manages to do something with him and properly setup his powers and status quo. Having him launch the first strike and tussling with Thor certainly leads me to believe something big is going to be in the wings for him.

I'm not completely sold on Siege being a great event on par with the quality of such efforts as DC's most recent Blackest Night event, but I haven't given up hope on it either. It's got a good foundation, but it needs to prove itself a little more in the next issue.

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