[ComicBookReviewClub] Secret Avengers #22

http://i.imgur.com/5O8xa.jpg
Secret Avengers #22
Writer- Rick Remender
Artist - Gabriel Hardman

Quote:

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Captain Britain and Giant-Man join Hawkeye's new Secret Avengers team! Featuring the Adaptoids! Sentinels hunt mutants, Adaptoids hunt Avengers!

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Welcome to the first Comic Book Review Club group review. As you can see this week we are reviewing Secret Avengers #22. Everyone is welcome to join in provided you have read the issue. To be clear, you must read the issue prior to reviewing it. If it is clear that you have not read the issue or your post is completely off topic, I will ask a mod to delete your post. I want this review session to be fun but I also want it to stay focused on the comic we are reviewing.

If you are interested but don't normally read comic books, I have purposely chose an issue that is supposed to be new reader friendly. If you have questions on where to acquire this issue, feel free to pm me.

Ok first off, an art team consisting of Gabriel Hardman and Bettie Breitweiser? Motherfucking yes. I really enjoyed their recent work in Hulk and so I had high expectations when I saw both of their names on the cover. They did not disappoint. (Well there is one scene where Hawkeye's face looks a little funny but I'll forgive Hardman)

I enjoyed the story a great deal. I like comics that mix a little real-world (Muslim terrorist organization) in with the fantasy (Adaptoids).

I'm happy with the team roster. Ant-Man has been missing from the last few issues of Secret Avengers and I'm glad to see he's back. I'm also excited about the addition of Captain Britain. I know him mostly from Remender's other book Uncanny X-Force. He seems to be an interesting character and will provide some internal tension. Captain Britain plays an important role in this issue for the readers. It's a common technique for a writer to provide exposition through the introduction of a new character and Remender used this technique seamlessly.

Surprisingly (or perhaps not), Remender inserts a lot of humor in this book while still maintaining a serious tone. Another plus for me.

My biggest complaint is about the letterist. There are two different scenes where captioning was used for Captain Britain and the style of the caption box was totally different. This error took me out of the story when I was trying to figure out who the caption was for during a fight scene.

Overall I really enjoyed this comic and I recommend it as a jump-on issue for new readers. I'm excited to see what Remender has planned for Secret Avengers, especially since it looks like Venom is joining. (Venom is currently a soldier gone AWOL in Remender's other book Venom, so I'm curious how this will tie in)
I give this comic an 8.5/10.

The Good:

I agree with kt that the roster is pretty good. Despite Captain Britain being an asshole in uncanny x-force right now, he is a good character that has been underutilized in recent years. I'm also a fan of beast, valkyrie, and the new ant-man. The addition of venom next month is a plus as well. As for the villains, normally adaptoids are retarded villains, but I like the new batch with individualized adaptoid powers. The issue was fairly action-packed as well, which is pretty good especially for an intro issue to a storyline.

The Bad:

While I do like a lot of the roster, having Hawkeye leading the team is a real negative in my books. Hawkeye is one of the most boring marvel characters of all time and I wish he had stayed dead (thanks bendis). Same goes with Hank Pym. Black Widow I don't really care about either way. While I did like the new adaptoids, the adaptoid battle seems like it's going in the same direction as any other one. Avengers get their asses kicked, they'll find some sort of deus ex machina loophole and win. Hopefully I'm wrong, but only time will tell. Also I have no idea what the fuck was going on in the last panel, but maybe that's what they were going for.

The Ugly:

I completely disagree with kt on the artwork. I'm pretty good at ignoring bad artwork, but I was still pretty offended when I first opened the book. There are a lot of squiggly lines that are supposed to represent people and sometimes they are given facial expressions (which are weird). I never ever notice the lettering in a comic though, so I wasn't offended by that.

Overall:

Definitely a comic with some flaws, but worth following up on. Looking forward to see where this is going and hopefully hawkeye won't survive to the end of this storyline.

My final rating is 7 / 10

As a new reader, this issue does not entice me to read any more. The humour seems cliche and out of place. Aren't they seasoned superheroes? What's with the lame bickering http://i.imgur.com/dS4qS.gif with important issues at stake? Where's the sense of urgency? How can I take Captain Britain seriously when he's introduced by conveniently landing in front of the Queen after getting hit?

Is it just me or could the Pakistani mother's devouring of the flames have been drawn better? It looked to me like she was breathing out fire instead of in (third panel on that page).

Yeah mutton, until I read the next panel I thought she just breathed fire on the dude to stop him. Also I guess I'm desensitized to it, but yeah the team bickering was weird now that I think about it although if I was Captain Britain I wouldn't want to take orders from Hawkeye either

Oh. I guess I didn't realized she was sucking in the flame as well.

As far as team bickering goes, I must be desensitized to it also because it didn't seem out of place at all. I mean it wasn't like they were fighting among themselves during actual battle. Character wise I think it makes sense for Captain Britain and Hawkeye not to get along initially. I guess it might seem odd if you are new to the characters.

I'll go on record by saying I was a bit biased before I picked this comic up. I'm not a big fan of Hawkeye, Hank Pym or Captain Britain. The only character that excited me was Beast, and that's just because he's been missing from a lot of the X-Men series until very recently.

However, I did enjoy the story. It was a decent mix of real-world problems with super-hero overtones. The writing was strong and there was the right mix of humor and seriousness.

The art, on the other hand, was dreadful. All the wrong things were detailed, while all the things that should have been detailed weren't. the only thing that looked great was the flames from the explosions. Captain America's armor/uniform looked more like he killed a blue fish and draped it over his shoulders than anything else. And Beast ... well, let's just say he's seen way better days. Really I feel like the art was just phoned in.

The only saving grace with this issue is the writing. In the end, even with the promise of Venom next issue, I won't be continuing with this series.


Note: The issue I purchased was missing the middle 4 pages and I was so completely lost before I figured out what the hell happend. I'll be taking it back tomorrow, hopefully for credit or a refund or to exchange it with something else. I got the last one on the rack, so I won't be able to exchange it for the same thing. Thankfully I saved some other poor schmuck from wondering how they went from Captain Britain pulling a dart out of his mouth to the adaptoids attacking in the next panel.


Final Rating 5/10

I don't understand how you guys don't like the art. Hardman/Bretweisier is like one of my dream teams.

I'm not too fond of the art either, with my limited comic book reading experience. When Valkyrie is fighting the ghouls from hell, it looks like she's posing in front of a 2d wallpaper.

Is it their style to put diminishing circle patterns everywhere? For example, when Black Widow is getting BTHWOOOOM'd. This effect is used on almost every page.

So Hawkeye's look is influenced by the upcoming movie. What's your take on it as Hawkeye fans/haters?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mutton

I'm not too fond of the art either, with my limited comic book reading experience. When Valkyrie is fighting the ghouls from hell, it looks like she's posing in front of a 2d wallpaper.

Is it their style to put diminishing circle patterns everywhere? For example, when Black Widow is getting BTHWOOOOM'd. This effect is used on almost every page.

So Hawkeye's look is influenced by the upcoming movie. What's your take on it as Hawkeye fans/haters?

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Yeah the patterned backgrounds as opposed to solid color or a gradient is Bretweiser's coloring style.

As far as Hawkeye, I don't have strong feelings about him one way or the other, but I've always thought his old costume was pretty retarded, especially those fins/wings on his mask. I actually like his new costume sans those ridiculous purple glasses I've seen him wear in The Avengers (comic book). I'm glad Hardman opted against Hawkeye wearing them in Secret Avengers.