I recently reviewed Secret Avengers #9 for CBR and, in the process, wrote the following sentences: "The focus in Secret Avengers on the Shadow Council becomes a little more dominant in this issue with Steve Rogers and company aware that such a group exists, and that John Steele and Max Fury are working for them. For Rogers, the revelation of Steele’s involvement in this group and his willingness to kidnap Sharon Carter to further his ends (resurrecting Shang-Chi’s villainous father) is shocking. What could make this former ally and ‘original super-soldier’ seemingly turn against what he used to fight for? The slow build of Rogers and his forces on one side and the Shadow Council on the other becomes more interesting each month."You can read the rest HERE!
2 comments:
I was waiting to get to read your thoughts on this issue and the series as a whole. I don't know, most of the time I feel that "Secret Avengers" is by far the most weightless and generic of the ongoing titles that I'm currently reading.
Technically, it's sound, with a slow burning plot that ties in with "Marvels Project" and the "SuperSoldier" mini-series in this latest phase of Brubaker's Captain America writing, but it really suffers compares to his run on the main "Captain America" title.
And where the story of Bucky feels passionate and intriguing (the qualities I found even in the "SuperSoldier" mini-series), "Secret Avengers" feels continually mechanical and substandard. Surely, in this day and age, a capable plotted superhero book is to be taken for granted by any discerning reader - aren't the current best titles those that manage to take advantage of the quirks of their distinctive creative team?
With "Secret Avengers", month in and month out, I picture Deodato and Brubaker doing their professional best, but it seems very sterile and almost inconsequential. Even the controversial return of Fu Manchi seems like an interchangeable McGuffin at the moment, with Shang Chi replacing Nova as the capably represented Marvel character.
Likewise, aside from Beast and Sharon Carter, the rest of the team is consistently slighted, with War Machine, Valkyre, Moon Knight and now Ant Man being completely superfluous, without any subplots or character development on their own.
I really want this book to succeed, and it's certainly a well-paced page turner, but so far it consistently feels like the creators are holding back, and not delivering something that's anything bigger than a "Captain America" spin-off, disguised as C-list Avengers title.
I know what you mean and I agree. It seems like a great comic on paper -- even when you try to review it/sum it up -- but something is missing. 'Lacking heart' seems as accurate as any other reason.
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