Saturday, August 21, 2010

Secret Avengers #4

I feel confident that the week is fast approaching wherein I could do a week's worth of reviews based only on Avengers comics.

This week was close. I picked up three Avengers-based comics, including New Avengers, Avengers Academy, and today's topic, Secret Avengers. If I had picked up Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet, I would have been two-thirds of the way there.

Ah well, to the topic at hand. Here we reach the end of the first story arc, and I wish I could say it was an amazing ending - but it's not.

It's really a hodge-podge, as we get to see Steve Rogers formulate a way to beat Nova, who's been enslaved by the mystic Thorned Crown.

The problem is, aside from one other team member who (improbably) prevents disaster, the rest of the team just keeps busy with a side threat that appears out of nowhere and goes back there after its purpose has been served.

It's an anticlimactic conclusion to a battle that had built nicely over the previous issues - but at least it does leave us with a tantalizing mystery to solve.

The art by Mike Dedato, Jr. (as always) is outstanding - detailed and crackling with energy.

I still feel that this opening storyline has been a bit of a stumble. With a team that lacks the powerful heavy hitters, it seems odd to send it off on galactic adventures. Surely there's plenty of mischief to sort out at ground level in the Marvel Universe.

This opening series has had its ups and downs, but I think the series has a lot of potential. It just hasn't realized it yet.

Grade: B-

----------------------------

No comments: