By: Warren Ellis (writer), Jamie McKelvie (artist), Matthew Wilson (colorist), Dave Lanphear (letters), Lauren Sankovitch (associate editor) & Tom Brevoort (editor)
The Story: The Secret Avengers find a Secret Empire base under Cincinnati. Chaos ensues.
Review: This issue was just what Secret Avengers needed. Brubaker’s run on the title wasn’t bad, but it was uninspired and made folks wonder why this title existed (beyond selling another comic that says “Avengers” on the cover). Nick Spencer had a few nice little issues tying into Fear Itself, but that didn’t answer the question of, “Why does Secret Avengers exist as a title and team?” The “event tie-in” can help a limping series continue for a few extra issues (Herc, Heroes for Hire), but there needs to be more meat on the bone.
Enter Warren Ellis. He’s probably one of my favorite writers ever for giving us Planetary, Transmetropolitan and Global Frequency. [Note: I still don’t understand why we can’t have more Planetary and Global Frequency.] Ellis has serious “big idea” credentials. While it is true that he isn’t at his best in a shared universe, I think that’s just because he isn’t reading all the other Marvel comics every month (even if he generally knows who these characters are). So, having him write a few issues of the “Secret Avengers” is a great idea because they’re not intimately tied to other Marvel events.
This issue is just gold. For one thing, they smartly narrow the team to just Steve Rogers, Beast, Black Widow & Moon Knight. These team books work so much better when there are fewer members involved because each member gets time. If you’re a fan of Valkyrie, sorry. I didn’t miss her in this issue at all. From there, Ellis has this team find a HUGE hidden city that was abandoned by the Secret Empire underneath Cincinnati and the heroes proceed to investigate in a pink 50’s-era convertible that still runs because it has an atomic engine. The whole thing just has this vibe that is a combination of sci-fi (the hidden city) mixed with Havana (rolling in a 50’s era convertible). There is great banter among the characters and, of course, they run into some action. This was kinda like a Global Frequency story set in the Marvel Universe.
Art doesn’t get much better than the combo of Jamie McKelvie and Matthew Wilson. I tend to like more expressionistic art, but if you’re going to be realistic, this is how I like it: nice and CLEAN. Everything is just so clear in a McKelvie panel. Okay…so I don’t love his Beast, but Beast has been screwed up looking every since he turned into a cat.
Conclusion: Just the shot of energy this previously mediocre series needed. Keep it up.
Grade: A-
-Dean Stell
Follow Dean on Twitter.
Grade
Conclusion