Thursday, February 14, 2013

Secret Avengers #37


I really like Rick Remender’s Hawkeye. That’s the main thing I come away with after Remender’s run on this title; his no-killing Hawkeye seems clearly informed by the classic West Coast Avengers I read as a kid. I missed this version of the character. Hawk’s anguish about putting down the Descendants is exactly what a good Avenger should struggle with.

A lot of the team members get a moment or two to shine in this conclusion. Venom, Valkyrie, and Black Widow aren’t headliners, but they get to recap some stuff and we see how they helped. Captain Britain is another character who really seems to fit in as an Avenger now. Remender leaves the Black Ant/Eric O’Grady in a nice spot, too. The character is still out there and later writers are going to have a lot of freedom in developing him further.

One issue I have with the conclusion is how a few of the core characters feel a bit forced in. Hank Pym has been popping in and out of the story for months now, and once again, after a pretty sweet one-page appearance, he’s out of the book. I assume he’s fine and will morph back his normal self, but when we last see him, he’s a pretty gross cyborg. I also don’t know if I was as touched by the original Human Torch’s appearance as I should have been. The guy hasn’t been around in so long, I don’t think it hit me like Remender intended.

Matteo Scalera has really grown on me since his first issue. His scratchy style works well for mass combat and destruction, a good skill in comic book art. His Hawkeye has improved by leaps and bounds too. After seeing his Master Mold and Beast, I’d be curious to see him drawing some more X-Men. What is he moving on to after this?

Good

No comments: