Secret Avengers - Part 1

[Anubis]

Yeah, that's the Andriod. Johnnys still "dead".

 

[Havok83]

Who is that woman in the Queen of Diamonds?

 

[Anubis]

The woman in the Queen of Diamonds.

 

[bored]

This is a great line up. I hope that is Scott Lang, but its probably not. Captain Brittan on the Avengers is awesome. I hope thats the android Human Torch. And I prefer Beast on the Avengers for some reason. Too bad Hawkeye is in his new costume. And so is Black Widow and Valkyrie and the Beast the only remaining original members?

The Ant Man in the pic is Eric O'Grady, who's a continuing member of the team.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Eh, no team is perfect.

 

[Drz]

Isn't Scott dead? But yeah both Hank Pym and Eric O'Grady are on Secret Avengers.

 

[Havok83]

The woman in the Queen of Diamonds.

yeah and who is that supposed to be?

 

[Tron Bonne]

Remender taking over this title boods well. I hope it drops to $2.99, but who am I kidding. Probably still check it out

 

[Anubis]

yeah and who is that supposed to be?

I just told you.

Isn't Scott dead? But yeah both Hank Pym and Eric O'Grady are on Secret Avengers.

Nah, he's alive again. Also, Rictor has his powers back.

 

[bored]

We'll see what happens with Scott once "Children's Crusade" actually ends. Assuming it ever actually ends.

 

[Havok83]

I just told you.

her name is Queen of Diamonds? I tried doing a search and found nothing on a Marvel character by that

 

[runawayboulder]

We'll see what happens with Scott once "Children's Crusade" actually ends. Assuming it ever actually ends.

There's 2 issues left so it should end in July 2012.

 

[bored]

The last issue is just going to be somebody explaining where the story fits in continuity and justifying why nobody seemed concerned that the Scarlet Witch came back in any other titles.

 

[THANOSRULES]

This is a great line up. I hope that is Scott Lang, but its probably not. Captain Brittan on the Avengers is awesome. I hope thats the android Human Torch. And I prefer Beast on the Avengers for some reason. Too bad Hawkeye is in his new costume. And so is Black Widow and Valkyrie and the Beast the only remaining original members?

Hawkeyes new look almost looks decent there

 

[Dread]

It is good that Marvel seems to have finally picked a regular writer for the long haul on SECRET AVENGERS, after basically going with fill-in's for 9-10 issues (which include #14.1). The dilemma will be convincing people who have left that the series has a direction and voice without Brubaker, who launched it and had a very specific subplot that was promptly dropped by Spencer and, I presume, Ellis. I like Remender on VENOM so this is a temptation for me. Having his Flash Thompson Venom join a team is pretty much so he can write him in two books, but he's hardly the only writer who does that. Brubaker had this series revolve around Cap, and brought in John Amon from IMMORTAL IRON FIST for similar reasons.

Hawkeye gaining a movie-esque costume is a bit tacky, but Marvel has been doing that for years, and in fairness, I understand the theory of wanting to make characters look like they do in film to attract new readers. That never, EVER works, as no new readers tend to stick for long, but it's all they can do.

The dilemma for me is that I skipped the Ellis run, so any subplots from that may be mysteries to me. I also didn't miss having one less $3.99 on my pull list.

SECRET AVENGERS needs a real reason to exist. The Bendis Avengers titles are the top Marvel Universe books, so their reason is obvious. AVENGERS ACADEMY is the place about training the Avengers of next generation, as well as redeeming tormented superhuman kids. That's a concept. But what of SECRET AVENGERS? It's initial purpose was obvious - give hit writer Ed Brubaker an Avengers book to play with and do spy adventures with. The problem is he left after a year, but the series has sold well enough since to keep around, so Marvel has. When Marvel essentially planned to have two writers combine for 10 issues of material, and both writers seemed to imply that they'd be one shot, aimless adventures, I saw the title as existing only to be an additional $4 Avengers book on the roster, and left. Ellis not usually thrilling me was just the extra boost. In theory the SECRET AVENGERS still do "spy missions", but they also go on general superhero team missions like adventures on Mars or stopping terrorist strikes in China in broad daylight. The X-Men titles often struggled for purpose once the core books went from 2 to 4 to however many dozen, and Avengers books may be similar. It'll be interesting to see what Marvel does when Bendis finally decides to call it a run on Avengers material. I mean, everyone leaves eventually. Even Claremont left UXM after 19 years and Marvel had to fiddle without him for a while.

Anyway, Rick Remender on SECRET AVENGERS makes it a maybe purchase again. I shouldn't, but I may.

 

[runawayboulder]

The Ellis issues have been single issues as well. The Shadow Council is still a threat but are rarely seen, mostly they're in the background. You wouldn't miss anything. I think Remender is going to go in a different direction.

 

[chamber-music]

Damn Captain Britain is in Secret Avengers now I'm going to have to buy this book. His rocking the classic costume too

 

[Dread]

The Ellis issues have been single issues as well. The Shadow Council is still a threat but are rarely seen, mostly they're in the background. You wouldn't miss anything. I think Remender is going to go in a different direction.

Doesn't just about EVERY writer "go in a different direction" once they move aboard a long running ongoing series?

In fairness, Rick Remender seems to be carving a niche for himself as the writer who either does black ops spy versions of franchises, like X-FORCE, or the guy who is allowed to go hog wild with a title nobody cares about, like PUNISHER/FRANKEN-CASTLE. After being ditched by Brubaker, SECRET AVENGERS likely qualifies for both.

That $3.99 tag, though...I didn't miss that. It'll be a toughie.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Doesn't just about EVERY writer "go in a different direction" once they move aboard a long running ongoing series?

That never bothers me. What DOES bother me is when an outgoing writer ends on a plot cliffhanger. Why end on an offer to John Steele that may or may not be picked up on? That always annoys me.

In fairness, Rick Remender seems to be carving a niche for himself as the writer who either does black ops spy versions of franchises, like X-FORCE, or the guy who is allowed to go hog wild with a title nobody cares about, like PUNISHER/FRANKEN-CASTLE. After being ditched by Brubaker, SECRET AVENGERS likely qualifies for both.

That $3.99 tag, though...I didn't miss that. It'll be a toughie.

Yeah, the price is the question mark for me too. I still want to drop a few more books and here I am considering 2 or 3 upcoming ones. The price tags and double shippings are destroying my buy list. I really do like Remender and most of this team though so I'll likely get it. I'll have to drop something else in its place but I'll get it.

 

[runawayboulder]

Remender hasn't disappointed me with anything in a few years. He's also a long time Marvel guy who started out as an artist/inker. He's well versed in Marvel history and that's a big plus for a writer in my book. No-brainer here.

 

[Drz]

Marvel has been hyping Remender's Secret Avengers by revealing members of the New Masters of Evil.

Whiplash!

Princess Python!

Vengeance!

 

[JewishHobbit]

Well that's underwhelming. Vengeance... wasn't he ultimately a good guy?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Silly. Only Johnny Blaze gets to be a good Ghost Rider these days. They turned Dan Ketch into a villain not too long ago as well. (Yeah, he got better, blah, blah, blah--it was still stupid.) I don't really mind in Vengeance's case, though. His methods were always pretty villainous, however decent his motives.

 

[Drz]

O YEAH! Max Fury is part of the Masters of Evil! Glad Remender is going to utlize the Shadow Council more, tho i'm also thankful Warren Ellis didn't forget them either.

 

[Watchman]

Do Nick Furys' dream of Electric Sheep is back. Neat.

As much as I'm anticipating Remender's run I'm upset that Ellis's run is so short. These done-in-ones have all been fantastic. The debonair Moon Knight costume needs to stay.