Where to begin. So much happens in this book it will almost be difficult to recap everything so I’ll try to hit the most important events. The action begins with the New Avengers on their way home after their fight with the Hand. With the corpse of Skrull-Elektra on the plane (see the Revolution review for more info on that) and nobody feels like talking because no one knows who to trust because if Skrull can pose as Elektra undetected, they can pose as anyone.
Spider-Woman hijack’s the Skrull corpse afterIron Fist is forced to crash land his private jet because of strange weather conditions and the loss of power that were never explained in this book but were caused by Ultron. Much to the New Avengers chagrin Spider-Woman takes the Skrull corpse to Tony Stark claiming that he’s the biggest cop in the world and he’ll know what to do about it. So before the first book has even ended they have lost a member of the team. The sexiest member of the team…
At the same time a villain by the name of The Hood – because he wears a red hood – has gathered the dregs of the underworld and becomes a kingpin of super villians. His crew consists of the Wrecking Crew, Madame Masque, Jigsaw and a host of other lower rank talent. Together they get their hands on a Deathlok and with it they rob a bank in New Jersey, but not before roughing up Tigra because she’s registered which makes her and her mother easy targets. Doh!
Wolverine tracks down the Hood and his posse of villains and the New Avengers attack even though they are completely outnumbered. Dr. Strange casts an illuision to make it look like the real Avengers and the X-Men are along for the ride as well which disorients the villians enough so that the New Avengers can take them down.
After finally getting a clean win the New Avengers return to Dr. Strange’s house and as soon as The Hood is able to break his villainous companions free they attack the New Avengers. With the Hood’s demonic powers the villains are able to break through Dr. Strange’s protective spells and deal out a world of hurt on the New Avengers which includes slaying Dr. Strange. Right when things look their bleakest however, Dr. Strange returns from the dead to save the day but with the admission that he has sought power from dark forces that he cannot control. With that Dr. Strange apologizes to the New Avengers and then teleports his way off the team.
Because of this attack, and because the lifestyle of a fugitive on the run is not condusive to raising a child, Jessica Jones takes her baby (and Luke Cage’s) and registers at Avenger’s Tower seeking asylum.
By the end of the book the only remaining members of the New Avengers are Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ronin (ex-Hawkeye), Echo (ex-Ronin) & Iron Fist. Like I said, a lot happened in this trade paperback.
With The Trust, the New Avengers have hit a new low. Not that I’m complaining or anything, because the low that was hit wasn’t the quality of the story or the artwork. This low is found deep within the depths of humanity, a low where you can’t trust anyone, where villains unite for dark purposes, where team members turn their back on you and where heroes are held at gunpoint and beaten to a pulp. That’s Ok though, that makes for a good read.