Okay, so it's the only book I've actually read from this week so far, but I was so excited to read this one that I had to choose it. Assuming, of course, that it wasn't going to disappoint.
Marvel's Secret Avengers Volume 2, #1 has seen a new creative team take over, just like many of the other Marvel NOW! books. Nick Spencer has taken over on the writing from Rick Remender, and Luke Ross has done the artwork. The art has a different quality and feel to it, very characteristic of Luke Ross's style. That style contributes very well to the feel of the story.
The story has taken a new twist from the previous volume, in that the Avengers Hawkeye and Black Widow have been asked to join a new SHIELD initiative. Contrary to what the Avengers film has led some people to believe, the Avengers don't work for SHIELD, but occasionally work WITH them. The other interesting twist is bringing Agent Phil Coulson, the popular film character, to life in the comics world. What many Avengers film fans unfamiliar with comics may not know is that Phil was created for the films. He has never, until recently, been a comic book character.
Now some people will feel differently on this, but I like the Coulson angle. He's a very cool character, and including him in the new Secret Avengers was a smart move. Maybe not so necessary is the new Nick Fury. In a story arc called Battle Scars, we were introduced to the son of Nick Fury, Sgt. Marcus Johnson. Ironically, this is also where Phil Coulson had his first comic book appearance. Sgt. Johnson is of mixed race, but definitely took on an apeqrance by the end of the story strikingly similar to Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury in the Marvel films. This seems a bit forced.
Including Coulson made sense, as he was a character embraced by long time comic fans and movie-goers alike. Creating a new Fury was unnecessary, however. We already have a Nick Fury, and he's the only one we really need. The Ultimate Marvel Universe, however, contains the Nick Fury that the film character was based from. In fact, Marvel openly based his appearance on Sam Jackson back in 1992, even making a joke out of it within the pages of the story of Mark Millar's, "The Ultimates."
Clearly, the inclusion of a black Nick Fury in the standard universe is an attempt to snag more new readers by making the comics feel closer to the films. This isn't a bad thing, but in the case of Fury, it is just too forced. The character is very cool, and feels just slightly different from his old man, but I still don't think it needed to be done this way.
That major gripe and diatribe aside, Secret Avengers was pretty much what I hoped for, making me a satisfied customer. Oh, there is another nod to the Avengers film in the title of the new story arc: "Budapest." Will Hawkeye and Black Widow remember it differently (or at all, minor spoiler)? Buy it, read it, love it. On sale now.
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