Secret Avengers - Part 1

[TheCorpulent1]

It's going to be a thing in Asgard to make plenty of hammers, it seems.

 

[runawayboulder]

Nick Spencer on his Secret Avengers plans

I'm very interested in Spencer now. I'm glad the line-up is sticking through the change and I agree with him Avenger Annual #17 had an awesome lineup.

 

[bored]

So, Shang-Chi is going to remain with the team? I wonder what'll happen with Prince of Orphans after this current arc is done?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

He will presumably go off to fight exciting villains elsewhere like Nova.

 

[NDX]

And we know how well that worked out for Nova.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Well, I read somewhere but forget where that Brubaker intended on keeping Nova with the team for a longer run but wasn't allowed due to the events of Thanos Imperative (which makes sense). I guess that makes me feel a little better that he didn't just use Nova to get some initial sales before ditching him.

 

[RockSP]

Using Nova to get sales would have made zero sense anyway.

 

[JewishHobbit]

His title just ended and there was a fairly steady, though low sales for his book. It'd definately bring in sales, and any number of sales is better than no sales. He'd bring in more than Shang-Chi and likely the Prince of Orphans.

 

[RockSP]

He'd bring in more than Shang-Chi and likely the Prince of Orphans.

Heh heh, probably so. Though I think Brubaker just wanted to write those characters. I highly doubt he thought they were gonna make the book fly off the shelves.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I kinda feel like Shang Chi brings nothing to the table past this arc. Prince of Orphans, however, is very interesting. He's one of the Immortal Weapons with an interesting powerset and amazing hand-to-hand comabant skills... and he's an old ally of Steve Rogers's from back during the war. He'd fit in nicely if Steve could talk him into staying. I could almost see Brubaker going that direction too since he co-created him with Fraction (or however that fell) but I don't know about this new guy.

 

[Dread]

Nick Spencer on his Secret Avengers plans



I have to say, I'm a little apprehensive now. One of his main points is apparently going to be about Steve having to deal with the realities of his new job, which sounds like writer-speak for, "I'm going to make the formerly white knightly Captain America super-gray." That's exactly what I was worried about when it started looking likely that Steve would take over the job as leader of all the US' superhumans after Osborn and Iron Man. It certainly revealed an even more cutthroat and morally questionable version of Iron Man when he was in the job, but that worked for him because being a beacon of morality wasn't as central to his character as it is to Steve's.

On the other hand, Spencer's comics have been pretty good so far. Hopefully he can manage to make the story interesting while keeping Steve's moral fiber relatively unscathed.

To be fair, Steve always had to have a little hint of gray in him to be a soldier. He doesn't believe in the "killing is ALWAYS wrong" or "I am a failure if even one fellow dies on my watch" stuff like Spider-Man does. Rogers doesn't slaughter everyone he faces, but he will kill if he absolutely must. He doesn't take the deaths of fellow soldiers in his command lightly, but he doesn't take off his mask and stand on a water tower considering quitting like Spider-Man always does. He has to understand that certain elements of being in command take some sort of cunning; even Dr. Faustus was surprised by how he'd adapted to being in charge in CAPTAIN AMERICA.

Steve confronting challenges to the job, and realities, is fine. It all depends on how he deals with them.

That said, I will be glad to see a member of the team other than Steve Rogers get the focus. I mean, Moon Knight technically has an ongoing series coming, and War Machine just started one, also written by Spencer. But that still leaves Valkyrie, O'Grady, and Beast. Brubaker didn't get the balance and give and take among characters that team books need; maybe Spencer can.

It's also nice to see Valkyrie getting some spotlight, but is anyone else worried about Asgardian deepest secret retcons for twists? I mean whats up with the wave of new hammers? Did Odin make more than Mjolnir and Bill's Hammer? Or is it just a thing in Asgard to make plenty of Hammers? >_>

Ragnarok and Thor's revival of the Asgardians has been used to basically have any sort of stuff happen - such as when all the heroes returned after HEROES REBORN, merry stuff like Iron Man being replaced by his teenage self from the future were washed away to start anew. Heck, IRON MAN 2.0 has basically washed away a lot of the last few years of awkward stuff that Rhodey went through to shift him into the status quo of the film universe (as the military's Iron Man, basically) with such velocity that you can see the drag marks on panel.

One would have thought that when Disney bought Marvel, they'd have warned them about stretching a brand too thin until it breaks; Disney makes millions on Mickey Mouse without having produced a new cartoon of him since, when, the 1950's? Instead, the opposite has happened; Marvel is spamming every franchise they have. It isn't enough to have one Hulk, EVERYONE has to be a Hulk. Why sell one Deadpool comic a month when you can push for 15? Why have one Wolverine when you can have three? And on it goes until now we have Thor. Hey, step up, everyone can be Thor now. Apparently, I think Disney sternly told Marvel, "we own you and we have deep pockets, but we are perfectly fine with letting the comic sales department fall into oblivion and sell reprints forever," so Marvel has reacted, well, a bit desperately. And desperation is not a great selling vibe; since the Disney deal, sales are down comic wise.

 

[Anubis]

I kinda feel like Shang Chi brings nothing to the table past this arc. Prince of Orphans, however, is very interesting. He's one of the Immortal Weapons with an interesting powerset and amazing hand-to-hand comabant skills... and he's an old ally of Steve Rogers's from back during the war. He'd fit in nicely if Steve could talk him into staying. I could almost see Brubaker going that direction too since he co-created him with Fraction (or however that fell) but I don't know about this new guy.

Well, he co-dusted off and updated an old Golden Age character with Fraction.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Iron Man 2.0 had a cool first issue, I thought. Yeah, it's blatantly inserting Rhodey into the movie's status quo, but the interesting twist is that he's still the comics' Rhodey, and in the comics, Rhodey's put his military life behind him for the most part. He's not particularly happy about being recalled to active service as the government's Iron Man.

It's better than Rhodey being a cyborg maniac, at least.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Well, he co-dusted off and updated an old Golden Age character with Fraction.

Oh yeah... that's right. I forgot he was a pre-existing character.

 

[NightBeetle]

ADVANCE PREVIEW: "Secret Avengers" #11

 

[Drz]

Warren Ellis will be the next writer of "Secret Avengers" after current scribe Nick Spencer. The first issue of his six-issue arc will be drawn by Jamie McKelvie.

 

[Watchman]

So we'll see about what? Two issues a year?

Seriously fantastic news. Looks like I'll be picking up the Avengers again.

 

[bored]

They're already planning for after Spencer's run?

 

[Drz]

They're already planning for after Spencer's run?

Spencer is only doing 3 issues all that are Fear Itself tie-ins.

 

[bored]

Had missed that. Well, I know what Ellis does right will be great, but yeah, Watchman's right, going to be a LOT of delays.

 

[runawayboulder]

I thought Spencer was permanent?

I'm 50/50 on Ellis. I loved his Stormwatch/Authority, Hellblazer, Excalibur and T-Bolts runs.......the rest is kinda is kinda meh. (And FYI, I never read Transmetropolitan.)

 

[Anubis]

Well that's your failing in life.

 

[Watchman]

Interview with Ellis

He's dropping the long form story arc for done in one super action stories. Stories will involve the Secret Empire and Dr. Doom tech from the sixties. I like everything I'm hearing. It's nice to see McKelvie on a major title.

 

[bored]

Somebody is actually writing *gasp* compressed stories!

 

[JewishHobbit]

Well, the idea of Ellis on Secret Avengers had me semi-curious but the interview didn't do anything for me and the art isn't all that appealing to my little eye. I'm okay with having dropped this book still

Besides, Ellis's delays got old to the point where I just can't get excited about him anymore. Planetary was about the last thing of his I liked, though I was just looking over some of my Doom 2099 stuff which was good too.