COMICS IN THE CAN- Episode XXX (Secret Avengers #1)

COMICS IN THE CAN
I used to have time to read my comics in a coffee shop. Now I have to read them in the bathroom. Then I write reviews of them. I wash my hands in between.

SECRET AVENGERS #1

So last month you read my review of Secret Avengers #16, the final issue of the latest volume.  Well, fourteen of you did. For me it went out with a whimper and not a bang. I was honestly prepared to not continue with the new series. Then, by some strange twist of fate (I think it was Pat Loboyko’s fault) I ended up with the new #1 issue in my pull this week.

And I am SO glad.

This is hands down THE most fun I’ve had reading a comic book in ages. And I was all ready to hate it, from the cover alone! Yeah, yeah, don’t judge a book by its cover…well guess what, I hate the cover artist. What the hell is a ‘Tradd Moore’? Maybe he should have ‘trod more’ at art school before subjecting me to this cartoony, disproportionate head business. But you know what? It kind of totally works for what’s inside.

This book is FUNNY. Like seriously funny (not funny strange). It manages to be at the same time wholly irreverent and remarkably reverent. It’s got lots of action and adventure. It’s got M.O.D.O.K. caught being not as smart as he wants everyone to believe. It’s got hot female superheroines fighting AIM agents while wearing only towels (for me) and a completely naked Hawkeye in the same fight (for the ladies). The easter eggs and in-jokes in this issue are staggering, but don’t take away from the story. 

And there are REAL STAKES. By the end of the book, two big name characters are adrift in space and another has a bullet hole through the middle of her hand. This isn’t some jokey bwah-ha-ha business. The writer described his take on this book as ‘Michael Bay directs an episode of Breaking Bad as it meets Arrested Development, but with spies and super heroes’ and that’s exactly what it is. If you like any of those things, pick up the issue. If you like comics in general, pick up the issue. This is a rare #1 continued from a recent series that DOESN’T require a lot of previous knowledge to follow along *cough*lookingatyouCaptainMarvel#1*cough*

And you know what, I am so in love with this comic, I recommend it SO highly, I’m not even giving a recap. Because I want so much for you to pick up this book and enjoy it, I won’t ruin it like I usually do when I hate a book. So run, buy it, read it, then leave me some comments on what you thought of it.

I’ll leave it at that. Oh, but with two more words: Hulk Hands.