Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Secret Avengers #22Secret Avengers #22
Marvel Comics
Remender, Hardman & Breitweiser

Remender and Hardman's run on Secret Avengers kicks off in this issue with a book that sets up the team and introduces the new threat. The book manages to establish unique voices for some of the members of the team. The comic also provides a good explanation for the inclusion of the some of the odder characters that were added to the mix. Overall, this is a good start to the book but I do not get the sense that this book is getting ready to launch into a saga, such as Remender's Uncanny X-Force.

Team books are difficult because they tend to stomp all over continuity and when readers try to piece together the character's timelines things get real messy. I think going into this book, if you ignore that stuff you will have a clearer head. However, if you are constantly wondering how Beast can be in outer space then I think you will drive yourself a little nuts.

That said, Remender does an incredible job at giving a distinct voice to characters, such as Beast, Hawkeye and Captain Britain. Remender also gives some good insight into why Captain Britain is on the team and it helps to set up some good conflict between Hawkeye and Captain Brit. I think the character work and their interactions helped this book a lot to get some footing and set itself apart from the other team books out there.

One thing I expect from Remender is "the weird". I want him to include bizarre and deranged things in his books and I felt like he held back a little bit in this first issue. Sure, he's got a villain that hatches eggs out of his back that are miniature versions of the heroes but that's about it on the weird scale.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsHardman's art is not standard super hero art. I think a lot of artists get unfairly knocked for doing something even a little out of the ordinary. Hardman has a lighter style where the book looks painted more than solid line art. It has soft lines and light shading in the coloring department. It works well and has some nice action to it. Obviously it's a personal preference but I found the art to be beautiful and a terrific companion to the story.

I was burned by not sticking through the first few issues of Uncanny X-Force so I am not giving up on a Remender book after one issue. However, I found the book to be a standard team book. There's some banter, some conflict, an epic fail going into a battle and a cliffhanger. If Remender is building a saga or is planning to throw a curve he is playing it close to the vest for now. I'm willing to deal another round and see where he is taking this.

3 out of 5 Geek Goggles