When Marvel launched it's Heroic Age (chronologically the time when Norman Osborn got toppled down as head of HAMMER; a corrupted version of SHIELD - and ceased to be trusted by the general public) It relaunched a few titles and realigned others to reflect the newer - and I would add, saner Marvel world.
Cornerstone to this change was Steve Rogers (back from time-displacement... hey wait a minute, didn't Batman somehow just do the same feat? - go figure) and his appointment as America's new Top Cop - and rather than revive SHIELD, Rogers... now out of his Captain America garbs and sporting the simple title 'Commander' decides to keep things close to the chest and just make sure his friends and colleagues get off the wanted list of Osborn, so they could do what they do best... act as heroes.
Unfortunately, these past years have given me a shadow of the team I used to like so much - the Avengers were reduced to being fugitives, busily fighting crime in a world where doing such actions would legitimately peg them as the wanted criminals. They were too busy running, hiding and talking as only Brian Michael Bendis could get them to... which is a polite way to say that they were talking like Bendis and less like their own characters. In fact, despite his vaunted gift for writing, Bendis showed a fatal flaw... lack of character understanding, lack of character depth and lack of character portrayals period. Sure he had a few gems... the Luke Cage spotlight in Civil War being an example - but he was struggling in Avengers both New and Mighty.
Well, despite it's vaunted marketing engines moving with all pistons firing, having the prospect of Bendis still writing Avengers was, at least to me, a move worse than ice water being splashed on an otherwise possibly exciting announcement. The thing is... and this is what puzzles me to no end, Bendis sold... and still sells Avengers issues - weird.
Anyway, the next set of news was a breath of fresh air for me... another Avengers title was going to be written by Ed Brubaker (of Captain America fame). Finally, the man I said who should be writing Avengers, was now going to be placed in hte helm of a third issue - but why call the Secret Avengers? This was even followed by an advertising campaign milking the 'secret' factor by releasing announcements with silhouettes of the 'secret' members.
It wasn't until the image of the Secret Avengers was leaked out that we saw the line-up... some with definite Avengers history, while the others were relatively new. There was, of course, Steve Rogers - sporting a new outfit, and gladly being handled by Ed Brubaker (so no need to worry about wrong characterization here). Then we have Rhodey a.k.a. War Machine, formerly of the West Coast Avengers; which settles the need for an Iron Man.
To continue the Avengers feel, the team has Natasha - the Black Widow, and a recent regular in Captain (Bucky Barnes) America too, I might add - plus a long absent member whose name always appeared when fans were asked who they wanted to see as an Avenger again - Hank McCoy, the Beast - fresh out of the X-men titles. Let's also not forget another past West Coast member in this Secret team - the Merc turned hero/champion of a particular Egyptian deity, Moon Knight.
Then we have the fresh faces - Valkyrie (a surprise move), which sort of ensures an Asgardian presence in the team, and another New Warrior who could easily fit in the team; and not to mention Galactic hero - Nova (Rich Rider). Yeah... some of those silhouettes were downright edited to not reflect certain giveaway portions of the heroes shapes... and Ant-Man (no, not Pym).
Issue one straps us on for a ride to Mars (when was the last time the Avengers went to space?) and encounter a new/old problem - the Serpent Crown (last seen in the all Annual major (forgettable) event cross-over Atlantis Attacks. (For a while there, I did forget it - as I more likely recalled the Avengers issues back when Hellcat's introduction and the Avengers battling Roxxon, as the time when the Serpent Crown became a problem for the Avengers.
Issues two to four had great characterization, build up and art (here's a sneak peek)...
but rather than reinvent the wheel, let me just link you up to some Secret Avengers Reviews made by a fellow Secret Avengers lover - and Avengers Forever (avengersforever.org) regular, Greg Orzech, and when you're done reading these reviews which I very much agree with, we can get back to discussing why I think the Secret Avengers are the Real Avengers title out there right now.
Secret Avengers Credits go to Ed Brubaker - writer, Mike Deodato & Rain Beredo - artists. All the images here from the Secret Avengers comic book were copied from various sites, and it is not my intent to plagiarize - soon as I remember where I got them I will place the necessary references (though I think I may have gotten them from Google searches or amazon.com).
Cornerstone to this change was Steve Rogers (back from time-displacement... hey wait a minute, didn't Batman somehow just do the same feat? - go figure) and his appointment as America's new Top Cop - and rather than revive SHIELD, Rogers... now out of his Captain America garbs and sporting the simple title 'Commander' decides to keep things close to the chest and just make sure his friends and colleagues get off the wanted list of Osborn, so they could do what they do best... act as heroes.
Unfortunately, these past years have given me a shadow of the team I used to like so much - the Avengers were reduced to being fugitives, busily fighting crime in a world where doing such actions would legitimately peg them as the wanted criminals. They were too busy running, hiding and talking as only Brian Michael Bendis could get them to... which is a polite way to say that they were talking like Bendis and less like their own characters. In fact, despite his vaunted gift for writing, Bendis showed a fatal flaw... lack of character understanding, lack of character depth and lack of character portrayals period. Sure he had a few gems... the Luke Cage spotlight in Civil War being an example - but he was struggling in Avengers both New and Mighty.
Well, despite it's vaunted marketing engines moving with all pistons firing, having the prospect of Bendis still writing Avengers was, at least to me, a move worse than ice water being splashed on an otherwise possibly exciting announcement. The thing is... and this is what puzzles me to no end, Bendis sold... and still sells Avengers issues - weird.
Anyway, the next set of news was a breath of fresh air for me... another Avengers title was going to be written by Ed Brubaker (of Captain America fame). Finally, the man I said who should be writing Avengers, was now going to be placed in hte helm of a third issue - but why call the Secret Avengers? This was even followed by an advertising campaign milking the 'secret' factor by releasing announcements with silhouettes of the 'secret' members.It wasn't until the image of the Secret Avengers was leaked out that we saw the line-up... some with definite Avengers history, while the others were relatively new. There was, of course, Steve Rogers - sporting a new outfit, and gladly being handled by Ed Brubaker (so no need to worry about wrong characterization here). Then we have Rhodey a.k.a. War Machine, formerly of the West Coast Avengers; which settles the need for an Iron Man.
To continue the Avengers feel, the team has Natasha - the Black Widow, and a recent regular in Captain (Bucky Barnes) America too, I might add - plus a long absent member whose name always appeared when fans were asked who they wanted to see as an Avenger again - Hank McCoy, the Beast - fresh out of the X-men titles. Let's also not forget another past West Coast member in this Secret team - the Merc turned hero/champion of a particular Egyptian deity, Moon Knight.Then we have the fresh faces - Valkyrie (a surprise move), which sort of ensures an Asgardian presence in the team, and another New Warrior who could easily fit in the team; and not to mention Galactic hero - Nova (Rich Rider). Yeah... some of those silhouettes were downright edited to not reflect certain giveaway portions of the heroes shapes... and Ant-Man (no, not Pym).
Issue one straps us on for a ride to Mars (when was the last time the Avengers went to space?) and encounter a new/old problem - the Serpent Crown (last seen in the all Annual major (forgettable) event cross-over Atlantis Attacks. (For a while there, I did forget it - as I more likely recalled the Avengers issues back when Hellcat's introduction and the Avengers battling Roxxon, as the time when the Serpent Crown became a problem for the Avengers.
Issues two to four had great characterization, build up and art (here's a sneak peek)...
but rather than reinvent the wheel, let me just link you up to some Secret Avengers Reviews made by a fellow Secret Avengers lover - and Avengers Forever (avengersforever.org) regular, Greg Orzech, and when you're done reading these reviews which I very much agree with, we can get back to discussing why I think the Secret Avengers are the Real Avengers title out there right now. Secret Avengers Credits go to Ed Brubaker - writer, Mike Deodato & Rain Beredo - artists. All the images here from the Secret Avengers comic book were copied from various sites, and it is not my intent to plagiarize - soon as I remember where I got them I will place the necessary references (though I think I may have gotten them from Google searches or amazon.com).
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Greg Orzech