Saturday, February 25, 2012

Secret Avengers #23

Two issues into a new creative team on Secret Avengers, and - for me - the jury is still out.

There are things I like about it. I like the new members in the lineup, especially Captain Britain, Giant-Man and Hawkeye. I like that this issue gives the spotlight to the new Ant-Man, a good character who's been underutilized so far. I love the Art Adams cover (though the scene on this cover happens nowhere inside the comic).

But that's about it.

I don't like the way the team failed utterly in its first mission (last issue), and doesn't fare much better this time around. I don't care for the squabbling between members, and I don't buy that Hawkeye would be so quick to reject Venom's addition to the team - after all, the archer started out as a criminal, too.

I'm still not sure Gabriel Hardman's art is quite right for this series. His art has a dark, rough look to it - it's good, but the coloring is very pale and washed out, and it makes the characters and panels all run together. Perhaps more vivid coloring would help.

So, I'm struggling here. The villains seem lackluster, there are teases of a bigger conspiracy afoot, but we still don't know who the bad guys really are, why they captured a woman and her child, and how the Secret Avengers got involved.

There's still time to pull this story together, but it seems to be slipping away fast.

Grade: B-

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