New Comics!: The Avengers Edition #3 of 3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Secret Avengers #21.1:  OK, I was annoyed about this issue before I even opened it.  First, I was gone for three weeks and had three issues of "Secret Avengers" waiting for me when I returned.  WTF, Marvel?  Are we going to start publishing it daily at some point?  Second, didn't we already have a .1 issue?  I notice that "Amazing Spider-Man" is also getting another .1 issue, as I'm sure other comics I collect are.  Again, WTF, Marvel?  Do you know what havoc it wrecks on my database?  Unfortunately, my annoyance continued when I read this issue. 

First, the characterizations are terrible.  Someone needs to do for Hawkeye what DnA did for Nova, helping move him past the irresponsible characterization he's suffered for years and moving him into a more adult role.  Hawkeye has been a character for 48 years.  It's time for us to move past every issue revolving around his daddy issues.  Plus, Cap's treatment of Hawkeye is a completely unforgivable sin on the part of Remender.  I just absolutely don't believe that Cap would, first, put his life in danger just to see if he would defy his order or, second, berate him the way he did.  On the first point, Remender doesn't have Hawkeye rebut Cap's allegations that his busting down the front door against Cap's orders shows that he can't lead with the obvious retort, that a leader doesn't necessarily do everything he's told, even if it's by Captain America.  Second, Cap can be an arrogant ass, but going so far as saying "Parents ended up wrapped around a telephone pole because the old man couldn't go twenty minutes without bourbon" is just un-fucking-believably over the line, one I'm pretty sure Cap would never cross.  I know Remender is forced to this level of exposition by the .1 format, but I'm pretty sure we could've gotten Clint's life story in a more believable fashion.  Remender won me back a bit by allowing Clint to get in a good dig at Cap at the end, when it turns out he wasn't so well informed as he thought.  But, the only reason Clint needed to get in a dig was because Cap was an unbelievable ass in the first place.

Second, the plot isn't much better.  The whole event was staged by Max Fury to trick Cap into taking action on foreign soil?  OK, I get that.  But, why reveal that the Shadow Council was putting together a new Masters of Evil when I'm pretty sure a couple of guys in super-powered suits could've eventually taken down Cap?  Moreover, why exposit it to Cap, allowing Hawkeye to overhear?  Also, how did Hawkeye track down the Shadow Council's base?  I'm assuming it didn't have a "Shadow Council's Base" sign hanging in front of the door.  Instead, it just happens to spend five hours torturing Captain America, rather than putting him on video immediately, which conveniently provides enough time for Hawkeye -- who it knows is in Bagalia -- to find its HQ?  Also, why would Hawkeye rescuing Cap change his mind about Hawkeye's readiness to lead?  I don't think Hawkeye's resourcefulness was ever in doubt, so it shouldn't be a surprise that he managed to infiltrate the Shadow Council.  It was his ability to chose to be discrete when he didn't necessarily have to be that Cap was testing, and saving Cap from the Council didn't prove that.  Also, why would Hawkeye want to lead the Secret Avengers, when he establishes here that he "absolutely" hates the spy business?

About the only good thing about this issue was Zircher's pencils and Troy's colors.  I'm sad to say it, but it's true, at least in my book.  I was going to read and review the "Avengers" and "New Avengers" annuals in this review, but I think I need to take a break from the Avengers for a while.  These were a rough few issues.