He's keeping a running tally of all the continuity mistakes...

What has come before: Norman Osborn (formerly the Green Goblin, now the Iron Patriot) pretty much runs America. Clint Barton (formerly Hawkeye, now Ronin) seems to be more upset about this than anyone (even Spider-Man, oddly enough).
This comic dredges up some mixed emotions in me. I’ll get into it further after the break, as there are some spoilers contained herein.

On the one hand, this isssue has everything I enjoy about comics: It’s new-reader friendly and tells a complete story while still contributing to a larger arc. The pacing is excellent, the dialogue is naturalistic (Brian Bendis’ greatest strength as a writer), and the penciller manages to dazzle while still telling a coherent story. Bonus points to penciller Marko Djurdevic for drawing Norman Osborn rather than portraits of Tommy Lee Jones (Mike Deodato, you’re on notice).

On the other hand, Bendis’ complete disrespect for previously established Avengers canon still bothers me. I’m totally willing to overlook the scene where Captain America (formerly Bucky) mentioned that he killed Hitler, even though for years it was accepted that Hitler died at the hands of the original Human Torch. It was a funny bit, it fits the character, and even mentioning it here feels like nitpicking. What I can’t overlook is the idea that Clint Barton is so hell-bent on killing Norman Osborn. Barton has a deeply entrenched code against taking a life. It’s so ingrained that when his then-wife Mockingbird let a villain fall to his death, he kicked her off of the team and out of his life. Come to think of it, Mockingbird should have been way less supportive and called him on his hypocrisy in this issue.

Also, why was Spider-Man talking him out of killing Osborn? You know, the Norman Osborn that murdered Gwen Stacy? The one that knocked up said girlfriend with twins? THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CLONE SAGA (we can’t pretend that it didn’t happen anymore)?!? I know that Spider-Man doesn’t kill either, but it would make much more sense for him to reach a breaking point with Osborn before Ronin would. Besides, wouldn’t it be more logical for Spider-Man to storm into Avengers Tower and take on the Dark Avengers singlehandedly than a guy with conventional weapons and a grappling hook?

In short, if you’re a relative newcomer to Marvel, or if you don’t really care about continuity, then pick this up right away. Otherwise, you may want to give it a miss.