Secret Avengers #27 Review
- Details
- Published on Tuesday, 29 May 2012 01:00
- Written by Rokk
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Oh, look at that. It is the "dramatic" "return" of Captain Marvel. We have never seen Marvel tease this over the past few years, have we? As a longtime Mar-Vell fan I am less than enthused about seeing one of my all-time favorite characters used as a cheap gimmick. Again. Maybe Remender can win me over with this recent appearance of Mar-Vell where his appearances during Chaos War and Secret Invasion did not. Let's hit this review and find out.
Creative Team
Writer: Rick Remender
Art: Renato Guedes
Colors: Bettie Breitweiser and Matthew Wilson
Story Rating: 3 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 3.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Capt. Marvel has been brought back to life by the Phoenix Force. The cancer in him has been placed in stasis by the Phoenix Force. Carol decides to join Captain Marvel. She is totally in love with him. Captain Marvel has his orders from the Kree which is to kill the Avengers and to bring the Phoenix Force to Hala. The Kree think that the Phoenix Force is their savior. The Avengers realize that this is a lie and that the Phoenix Force will simply come to Hala to destroy it and then head on to Earth. Therefore, the Avengers end up fighting both Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel.
During the issue, Captain Marvel thinks about how he had no problems with being dead. That he did not feel the need to return to life. That he was always a hero and his primary purpose in life was to protect the innocent.
We have a big brawl between the Avengers and the two Marvels. The two Marvels kick ass on the Avengers. A bunch of Kree get hurt in the battle. Upon seeing the injured Kree, Captain Marvel then questions his orders. End of issue.
Commentary:
The Good: Secret Avengers #27 is a solid big event tie-in issue. Is it particularly creative or original? No. Of course not. This issue employs all the standard and conventional plot devices and story elements that have been found in countless big event tie-in issues. However, the fact remains that Secret Avengers #27 is a fun straight forward super hero story. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, Marvel and DC could use a lot more straight up and classic super hero tales and less boring indie stories and social commentary masquerading as super hero stories.
Remender serves up plenty of fighting. Action fans will be satisfied with the amount of brawling that we get. At the same time, Remender still devotes a fair amount of time to character building with the scenes between Carol and Mar-Vell. This makes this issue a pleasantly balanced read.
Secret Avengers #27 is a nicely paced story. Remender has a fine hand for how to massage a story so that it speeds up at the right spots for wild action scenes and then slows down for the character heavy moments. The flow of this issue is top notch. We also got some nice plot progression. This is a focused read and Remender moves the story forward with a purpose.
The Bad: Honestly, for the average reader there is not much bad at all to be found in Secret Avengers #27. This is a solid super-hero story. However, for Mar-Vell fans? Well, they might not be as happy.
During Secret Invasion, Marvel made a big deal over the "return" of "Captain Marvel" only to give Mar-Vell fans the biggest middle finger I have ever seen a comic publisher whip out by revealing that it was not Mar-Vell. Instead, it was just a Skrull who thought he was Mar-Vell. It was a truly awful mini-series. Then during the Chaos War big event, Marvel had Captain Marvel return to life only to return to being dead at the end of the event. And now we have Avengers versus X-Men and Marvel is once again breaking out their double middle fingers like Steve Austin after a big match by "returning" Captain Marvel from the dead once again.
Enough, Marvel. Fans of Mar-Vell are done with this lame and predictable gimmick. Either return Mar-Vell to life permanently or just leave him for dead and respect the incredible Jim Starlin story "The Death of Captain Marvel." But, no. Once again, Marvel is breaking out their double middle fingers like Steve Austin after a big match by "returning" Captain Marvel as a mere gimmick only to sure return him to the dead at the end of Avengers versus X-Men.
It is all rather predictable and uncreative. It is clear what will happen. Remender is being about as artful and subtle as a pre-schooler's drawing from art class. Remender absolutely hammered over and over the fact that Mar-Vell did not want to return to life and was okay being dead. That signals to the reader that Mar-Vell will be fine to be dead at the end of this story arc and for the reader to not be upset. Also, Remender drills through the ground the fact that Mar-Vell prided himself on being a true hero and being willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of others. This sets up the obvious moment where Mar-Vell must "sacrifice" himself in order to save Hala and the Avengers from the Phoenix Force.
Remender also pointed out that Captain Marvel's cancer was only being held at bay due to the Phoenix Force's powers. No Phoenix Force means full blown cancer and Captain Marvel is dead once again. Clearly, we all know the Phoenix Force is not going to win at the end of this story arc. So, it will be full blown cancer and death in store for Captain Marvel even if he was able to save Hala without sacrificing himself in the process.
Furthermore, Marvel in their eagerness and exuberance befitting a dumb and drooling Labrador Retriever have stumbled all over themselves to pimp the new Captain Marvel comic starring Carol Danvers. This makes Mar-Vell's death at the end of this story the most obvious outcome. And it explains why Carol would assume the Captain Marvel mantle. At the end of this story arc, we will get a "powerful" and "emotional" scene where the dying Mar-Vell tells Carol not to mourn him since he is fine with death. Mar-Vell will tell Carol that she is the better hero than he ever was and for her to keep fighting the good fight. Mar-Vell then dies and Carol then does the hackneyed and uncreative move of "honoring" the memory of Mar-Vell by assuming the Captain Marvel mantle even though she will feel that she can never truly replace Mar-Vell.
Now, I could be wrong. But, based on all the facts and Marvel's track record from Secret Invasion and Chaos War, I think I feel pretty confident in my prediction.
I am not a fan of Guedes' artwork. It looks sloppy in some panels. There is too much line work at times. I also find the faces of the characters to be horrifying looking at times. Guedes manages to make people look ugly. Also, the faces all seem to blend together. Overall, I found the artwork to be dull and unappealing.
Overall: Your enjoyment of Secret Avengers #27 will greatly vary depending on if you are a Mar-Vell fan or not. Mar-Vell fans will probably be annoyed that our hero is being used as a cheap gimmick. Again. On the other hand, regular readers will probably find Secret Avengers #27 to be an entertaining big event tie-in issue. As a general rule, big event tie-in issue are often crap stories that are heavily editorial mandated that are imposed upon writers and usually break the flow of whatever story the writer had been trying to build on the title. However, Remender does the best he can and actually delivers an issue that offers up a quality classic super hero story.
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Rokk began his little Blogger blog known as Rokk's Comic Book Revolution on January 24, 2006. One wife and two little boys later he is now the Editor In Chief of the Comic Book Revolution and works with some great fellow comic book fanatics. You can keep up with Rokk and his musings through various formats.
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Secret Avengers