Secret Warriors #8 – Review

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Alessandro Vitti (art), Sunny Gho (colors), and Dave Lanphear (letters)

The Story: The kids get stuck in front of Norman, Hawkeye, and Ares.

What’s Good: This month’s issue in the always solid Secret Warriors was a bit of a jump in quality from last month’s book, and that’s largely due to two big surprises.

First off is Norman Osborn/Dark Reign’s presence.  Often cringe-worthy whenever he shows up to disrupt a book, Hickman writes him amazingly well and manages to load Osborn’s scenes with such a malevolent intensity, that it seeps off the page.  Norman’s monologue to Nick Fury about his rise and Nick’s respective fall pinpointed what Dark Reign should be about and this scene really showed the potential that this status quo can have, if used properly.  Osborn was fantastic, written perfectly, and his presence actually enhanced a book for once.

The second surprise is Alessandro Vitti’s art.  Vitti still isn’t Casselli, but he felt a lot more comfortable this month, feeling more consistent in style and detail.  Sunny Gho’s change of heart aids this significantly.  Last month, it felt like Gho had worked the colors to make Vitti’s art as similar to Casselli’s as possible, which invited unflattering comparisons and ultimately exposed Vitti’s weaknesses.  This month, Gho actually adds colors more appropriate to Vitti’s style, and the book is the better for it.  Gone is the gloss and sheen, and in its place is a lot of darkness and shadow, making this feel like more of a cloak-and-dagger spy comic than the all-out action of Casselli’s arc.  As such, Vitti’s work finally manages to shine on its own, working with the more subdued, less action-intensive story, while evoking a different sort of Japanese/anime influence.

The other big hit this month is Phobos.  It’s always great to see a character, especially a kid character, act like a badass and show his superpowered muscle.  His interplay with his father, Ares, was also well-done.  Hickman avoids any possible overwriting and goes minimalist, making the interaction between the two speak volumes as a result.

Outside of Phobos, we also get some solid character moments and promising new issues for the Caterpillars and a mandatory “Nick Fury is a badass” scene.

What’s Not So Good: It’s better and he’s standing on his own, but Vitti’s art still isn’t perfect.  While he hits far more than he misses, this is particularly noticeable in some of his facial expressions, which can feel a bit off, strange even.

There’s also the Nick Fury scene.  While funny, this was so detached from the rest of the book, that I wondered how necessary it really was, aside from its fulfilling the need to have Fury in every issue of Secret Warriors.  Worse still, it felt a little too stretched out and decompressed.

Conclusion: This book is at its best when the kids are at the forefront, as they are this month.  Though still not perfect, Vitti is also coming into his own.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans

Dark Avengers #9 – Review

By Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Mike Deodato (Art), and Rain Beredo (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: With Utopia out of the way, I fully expect Dark Avengers to get back to being a favorite of mine. With a kick-ass cover and the promise of a guest appearance from Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Warriors, it’s a pretty safe bet that Dark Avengers #9 will deliver.

The Story: Ares discovers that his son, Phobos, isn’t exactly heading off to school during the day. Meanwhile, something strange is going on at Avengers Tower while some of the Dark Avengers chat it up about funny heroes.

What’s Good And What’s Not So Good: Before I really get into the review, I have to first toss out a quick suggestion: Do yourself a favor and try to ignore the cool image on the cover of Dark Avengers #9. While Ares goes on a little rampage and some stuff is destroyed, Brian Michael Bendis (I almost want to say, “as usual”) opts to let dialogue do almost all of the work in the latest issue of Dark Avengers. Is this a bad thing? Turns out, it’s not at all.

Bendis’ decision to let words bring resolution to an explosive situation works extremely well because of how the scene plays out. It gives the characters involved a little extra depth and goes a long way towards humanizing a character that, most recently, has been little more than muscle in superhero battles. I do, however, have one major issue with the dialogue in regards to how Phobos is portrayed. Bendis handles him as though he is a normal kid afraid of his father. While that works as far as what’s happening is concerned, Bendis’ take on Phobos seems to go against what Jonathan Hickman is doing with the character. It’s hard to really call what Bendis does a negative, but it is something that must be mentioned.

So the Ares/Fury/Phobos scene is pretty great. Thankfully, the rest of the book doesn’t disappoint. The exchange at Avengers Tower is something really close to hilarious, and the weird stuff happening left me thinking “WTF!?” in a good way. In short, it’s clear that the series is back on track and I really couldn’t be much happier. That said, I do wish that the Dark Avengers would stop being stuck as the supporting characters in their own series. I buy Dark Avengers to read about the Dark Avengers damnit…

The artwork in Dark Avengers #9 is, as expected, moody, gritty, and impressive all around. The unfortunate thing is that there really isn’t a whole lot of ways for Mike Deodato and Rain Beredo to show off given the script. The characters look good and the emotion on display certainly works, but it’s clear that neither artist is really being put to the test.

Conclusion: Dark Avengers fans… it’s safe to come back to the series now.

Grade: B+

-Kyle Posluszny