The Best Avengers
Steve Rogers' covert team of Avengers hits Mars in search of a missing teammate and answers to a growing conspiracy.
This issue doesn't feature a whole lot of story progression, but that isn't a criticism. Because instead of it, Brubaker spends most of this issue showing us the team in action and that is what the second issue needed to be. The first issue was spent introducing us to our cast. Now, we start to see how they work together. How does Moon Knight operate as a team player? Brubaker writes him almost overcompensating for his own flaws by strongly adhering to a command structure, going so far as to refer to Steve as commander. How does someone like Ant-Man fit in with this bunch of heroes? He doesn't, and War Machine lets him know it. Brubaker wisely takes the time to show us pieces of the team's dynamic before moving ahead with his story.
It's no surprise that Steve Rogers is especially well written here. Brubaker writes him as a great leader and active participant and proves that the character isn't diminished at all by no longer having the Captain America costume and shield.
Besides Brubaker's writing, Deodato's art continues to be a strong selling point for this series. Every page is dynamic and appealing. I particularly love his depictions of Beast and Nova.
My only disappointment with this issue is not getting an explanation for the cliffhanger from the first issue. The supposed presence of Nick Fury in this conspiracy going on is something so big and apparently contradictory to things in Secret Warriors that I would prefer to get answers on it sooner rather than later. This is a minor complaint, though.
Secret Avengers is easily the best of the Heroic Age's Avengers titles. It has great writing, great art, a unique cast and an interesting premise. It's hard to ask for more than that.
