Secret Avengers #23:
Summary: Hawkeye is disturbed by the fact that Ant-Man still hadn't reported back to the Secret Avengers after hitching a ride with those androids last issue. As a result, he hasn't slept for well over a day and is VERY short with everybody, including Captain America, who tries to add Venom to the Secret Avengers. Cranky Clint tells Cap to take Venom and to get lost before collecting the Human Torch(the one from WWII) and Beast, as well as the rest of the Secret Avengers, since he had finally gotten a signal from Ant-Man. Ant-Man manages to save the child kidnapped by the androids last issue, but is unable to save the child's mother from the leader of the androids, some feeb named the Father. The Secret Avengers follow Ant-Man's signal to some weird underground robot city, but are unable to get to Ant-Man before he is apparently beaten to death by the androids while making sure to give the child enough time to make a run for it.
Thoughts: Well, if this was the end of the Eric O'Grady Ant-Man, he went out like a true hero, which is always a good thing. Granted, I don't think we needed a death here, but you know what happens when a new writer takes over a series... Somebody usually has to die so said writer can “make an impact”. Speaking about impacts, this issue really didn't make much of one with me... Sure, I enjoyed Hawkeye acting like an ass to Captain America, because that's Hawkeye, and you'd think Hawkeye, with NO sleep and worrying about a teammate, would be even more of an ass than usual. One thing I didn't enjoy was the strange jab Beast threw at Pym when Beast told Pym that while Beast was alive he'd never allow Pym to create another artificial intelligence... Throwing Ultron in Pym's face seemed unusually nasty and uncalled for from Beast, who's a character I usually find myself enjoying... I have to say, I didn't like the way Remender wrote Beast in that scene at all... I think Hank Pym has done MORE than enough good things with his life to have made up for the accidental creation of Ultron. As for this issue itself, it really didn't do much for me. It wasn't awful, but I definitely wouldn't say it was all that good...
Score: 6 out of 10.
Cranky, sleep-deprived Hawkeye rules!
I feel like the cover of this issue tricked me, that's all I can say.
ReplyDeleteHuh, good point... Flash wasn't in his Venom attire at all...
ReplyDeleteI'm still thinking about picking up this series.
ReplyDeleteim really hoping we get a story arc or at least a single issue about how jim hammond is alive and how he killed hitler, Heah AMERICAAAAAAA. lol
ReplyDeletelast i beleive we saw him was in the Man with no face Arc of Captain america a bit before cap reborn. his body was stolen by a chinese mad scinetist so make weapons from
In theory this series should be good, Tom... I mean the team itself looks really strong, so there COULD be some good stories here.
ReplyDeleteThe WWII Torch also popped up in the last few Cap/Bucky comics, Movieartman. I keep thinking he showed up somewhere else recently, but I know he's been in at least 2 recent Cap/Bucky books.
I enjoyed this issue. I felt that beast was more making a playful joke about the ultron thing, specifically because he was putting up his own meits against pym's with the whole better scientist thing... Which is awful because of what ultron was and did. But i didn't think of it as a jab. Maybe i should re-read it. Also, someone mentioned it, but stone-faced cap telling flash that Jim killed Hitler had me cracking up. I was like bam! take that flash!
ReplyDeletemerits*
ReplyDeleteI definitely could have misread the Pym-Beast-Ultron line(I've had A LOT of reviews to get through this week, and haven't paid as much attention to certain books as I could have). I def got the playful banter vibe in the beginning, and I really enjoyed it because that is a great representation of Hank and Hank's relationship. They have a pretty cool, playful relationship. But idk, Beast pulling out the Ultron card just seemed cruel, not funny... I mean I know I wouldn't make Ultron jokes around Pym, especially considering how much Pym blames himself for many of Ultron's actions. In a way it would have been like Pym throwing in Beast's face his failure at trying to cure the Legacy Virus.
ReplyDeleteSo far I've enjoyed the writing in this series, but I really dislike the art. It's got that whole neo-retro look present in a lot of the Captain America books, and to me it really detracts from the storytelling. It works better in say, Winter Soldier, for example, because you are reading about spy drama and action. The grittiness of the visuals matches the gritty and dark feel of the stories. However, for a superhero book it just looks off, and has the effect of diminishing how cool the heroes and their powers are.
ReplyDeleteAny thoughts?
Hmm, good point, TRobb... As somebody who pays little attention to the art in a comic, I really didn't think much about the art here... But I totally see what you're saying. A team superhero book SHOULD look flashy and bright(to really highlight the heroes and their powers), while a book like Cap, Daredevil, and especially Winter Soldier should have a more gritty, gruff look to it. Although, since I guess(maybe?) Marvel wants the Secret Avengers to be more of a covert/spy team, that's why the art is more reminiscent to Winter Soldier than Avengers... Or at least that would be my best guess.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that they revealed so much about Venom's new status quo -- given that "Venom" #13.4 or #14 weren't even on the stands when this issue was published -- and then never used him. Are we not going to see the "Project: Rebirth" folks again? Is there still a kill button? We started this series with this whole mythology attached to it, and I felt like it was super weird that we just discarded that completely only a year or so into the run...and in another book!
ReplyDeleteI finally got around to reading this, and I'm surprised there's been no commentary on the adaptoids back-story they revealed here. Father's little spiel I found interesting, sets up a very interesting sci-fi angle to this book. I look forward to learning more about how exactly the adaptoids evolved to their current state - they seem incredibly powerful.
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