Review: SECRET AVENGERS #27

SECRET AVENGERS #27
Written by Rick Remender
Art by Renato Guedes
Release Date: May 23, 2012

So…the space component of Avengers Vs. X-Men continues, with no Avengers fighting X-Men or really doing anything that appears to be impacting or at all related to the events of the main book. You can probably sense from my tone where I’m going with this one….

Secret Avengers #27 chronicles the events of the space mission, the suicide mission to stop the Phoenix before it ever makes it to Earth. This mission, of course, fails, and takes the team and storyline in a direction that I do not at all understand. Taking the Phoenix force away from Earth is doing absolutely nothing but adding a huge amount of confusion to an already sprawling crossover and, based on publication schedule, this story is already resolved in a book that comes out prior to it. No matter what occurs in this arc Remender is building, we already know the outcome from Avengers Vs. X-Men #4. That alone dooms this book in many ways, as I simply do not care what happens in it.

Remender’s writing is the strongest part of this comic. The dialogue is sharp, but as far as the story is concerned, I do not have a clue why or what is happening. I read this issue a couple of times figuring I was just missing some component, but everything involving Mar-Vell is a cluttered and confusing mess. I struggle with reviewing this book because the dialogue is never weak, but the overlying concept is so weak and confusing it dooms the book before it begins.

I hate staying on the negative train, but Renato Guedes does nothing for me in this book. I’ve seen his art described as very polarizing, and I am in the group that does not dig it. The facial structures of the characters actually distract me as a reader, with each character’s hooked noses and random vertical wrinkle lines detracting from me being able to actually tell what is going on. There are no emotions expressed by any character and the visual style of this book does nothing to keep me coming back for more. If you are a fan of Guedes, he is very consistent with his prior work. I, sadly, am not a fan.

All in all, this book is a shining example of what I consider to be the worst points of the Avengers Vs. X-Men event. This issue only connects to the main event in the loosest sense, drawing on an iconic character for virtually no reason and drawing some major characters into a fray away from the main event. This arc has to pull a serious 180 to save itself.

Verdict: 4.0/10

Authors

Related posts

Top