Secret Avengers #12 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Whereas we answered a lot of questions last issue, this issue puts a number of new ones on the table. I mean, it sort of does?  Maybe?  Mostly, it just sort of leaves me confused, so I'm assuming that the questions are there, even if I don't know what they are.

M.O.D.O.K. admits to planning on killing all the Secret Avengers, but stopped when he realized that he was in love with Maria Hill.  Snapper has kidnapped Jessica and Maria and, apparently, Kowloon.  (I could be wrong about Kowloon, but the fortress where he brings them looks like it, even if it's now in the middle of the Venezuela rain forest.)  He's also apparently kidnapped all sorts of artistic types, because he needs their imagination to defeat the "bullies."  This part is a little unclear.  Snapper clearly outmaneuvered M.O.D.O.K. at some point.  But, it's unclear if it was his plan all along to betray M.O.D.O.K. or if he only put it into place when he realized that M.O.D.O.K. had gone sweet on Maria.  It's also a little unclear (read:  VERY, VERY UNCLEAR) how he's going to harness all this "imagination" and weaponize it to take out the "bullies."  It is clear that he considers Maria and M.O.D.O.K. to be bullies and, honestly, it's hard to argue with him.

Meanwhile, Hawkeye, M.O.D.O.K., and Phil have returned to the Helicarrier to hatch a plan, though M.O.D.O.K. doesn't seem to be totally aware of Snapper's plan.  Either he sabotaged himself from knowing the details when he created an alternate personality after he realized that he loved Maria Hill or Snapper drugged him to make sure that he wasn't firing on all cylinders.  One or the other, I guess.  Either way, the remaining Secret Avengers seem to be in the dark.  In Tlon, Black Widow and Lady Bullseye are facing some monsters that may, or may not, be counterparts to the Secret Avengers.  It's -- you guessed it -- unclear.

I know by now that you've just got a wait an issue or two when Kot goes weird, because he usually makes it clear at some point.  Honestly, the issue does mostly flow (if a little abstractly), but it's clear that we really need to understand the nature of Tlon and the connection that it has to the denouement to fully appreciate what Kot is doing here.  Hopefully we'll get that in the remaining three issues.

*** (three of five stars)