Writer: Ed Brubaker Artist: Mike Deodato
Well, I just put it down and I feel like I need to read it again. Maybe after I post this.
'Secret Avengers' is another series that has spun out of 'Siege', and unlike 'The Avengers' isn't a return to the norm in a sense. The newly formed team is run by Steve Rogers (former Captain America, current Steve Rogers) and includes the Black Widow (Natalia Romanova), Beast, War Machine, Moon Knight, Valkyrie, Nova and Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady), with Sharon Carter (Ex- S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent/former hypnotised murderer of Captain America) in a consultancy position. Now, to me, almost half the team are heroes I don't really no much about. Beast i've read some of in Joss Whedon's 'Astonishing X-Men', War Machine guest starring in Matt Fration's 'The Invincible Iron Man' and everybody knows the Black Widow and Captain America; but Ant-Man, Moon Knight, Valkyrie and Nova are relatively new characters in my eyes. While this leaves me in something of an uncomfortable position, I'm also kind of excited to see how they operate in a team environment. It might even inspire me to look into their titles.
Our story begins in Dubai, with the eveil energy corporation Roxxon in possession of something obviously dangerous, and after Valkyrie blows the mission, we find out it's a crown with tentacles that as Beast says seems to only move between moments. Weeping Angels, anyone?
From then on we get to see the different elements of the team coming together. Beast as their scientist, Black Widow on espionage, War Machine for firepower and as a pilot, Ant-Man and Moon Knight as infiltration and Nova as their off planet powerhouse/spy/possessor of cool helmet. Now everything isn't going super smoothly as the Shadow Council begins to follow our Avengers as soon as they leave with the creepy artifact, and Nova, as Steve tells us, has dropped out of communication on Mars after trying to find out what Roxxon is doing up there. So as Nova is consumed by another creepy snake/octopus crown thing, and Sharon Carter is attacked by the Shadow Council (whose leader looks like Nick Fury?), issue #1 closes and leaves me wanting more. now I just need to make it a month to get my fix...
Secret Avengers, the concept is viable enough, an Avengers team formed off the radar to handle pre-emptive strikes against enemy forces. Sounds good to me. But why are they going to Mars? The leap that was taken in this first issue definately surprised me, I was expecting a pretty simple 'let's show the reader what these guys can do to protect us' storyline, not to say that it hasn't piqued my interest. Ed Brubaker has achieved immense success with his 'Captain America' and 'Daredevil' (and 'Immortal Iron Fist') and obviously Marvel thinks he can handle his own team of Avengers, and I have to agree. While I have yet to see the individual power sets of some of the characters, the already established heroes seem in form (Brubaker should be able to write Steve and Sharon), except for Valkyrie's outburst. Isn't a black ops team all about seamless deception/inception/extraction? If she's going to be that volatile every adventure, Steve might want to rethink her as a team member.
Mike Deodato's artwork... I can take it or leave it. Having experienced it in 'Dark Avengers' I wasn't really expecting much, his renderings of the characters sort of freak me out. It's hard to explain but in some scenes they just look too plastic. Black Widow and Valkyrie's lips look like they're about to leap off their faces at some points. Some panels are fine, others make me squirm. Sorry Mike Deodato, but once again I want to see Oliver Coipel handle an Avengers title.
In summery, I was really happy to read this issue of what will no doubt be a very popular title. With a strong cast, and the talents of Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato at the helm, i'm looking forward to the future adventures of the Secret Avengers.
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