Secret Avengers #16 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I get the feeling that editorial interference at some point got in the way of the story that Spencer was telling.  Maybe it was the need to wrap up everything in time for yet another #1 issue?  Who knows.  At the end of the day, this issue doesn't manage to tie up the loose ends that it needed to address to leave me feeling satisfied.

First, Spencer and Kot leave a lot on the table when it comes to A.I.M.  We never really get any final insight into Dr. Forson or his motivations.  Was he just an agent of the Entropy Cult?  What was his goal for A.I.M.?  Was he somehow maneuvering the situation the entire time simply to deliver Mockingbird back to him?  Although we learn that someone basically engineered Forson's loss of control over A.I.M., it's left unclear how or why.  Was it one (or several) of the Ministers, since they went M.I.A. when Forson needed them?  Or was it S.H.I.E.L.D. using information gleaned from the A.I.M. spies to shut down A.I.M.?  I also found it hard to follow the somewhat bizarre Mentallo segment, since it's not like we've really gotten that great of an insight into him in the first place.  Why decide to transfer your consciousness into nanobots that you then send into the sea?  Was it a sort of suicide?  If so, what motivated that?

Second, I'm still not sure what we're supposed to believe when it comes to Bobbi.  Who was the Barbara personality?  Who was the real one?  How does she get in touch with Bucky and Daisy?  Was she Daisy's mole?  If so, did everything happen the way that Daisy wanted it?  What happens next?  Spencer and Kot almost leave you thinking that the next season, if you will, of "Secret Avengers" will be about this trio and not the usual suspects.  If not, then where will they go?

As you can see, we've got way too many questions here to feel happy.  I'm going to try to put aside those questions and enjoy the new series, but they still leave me disappointed in this one.

** (two of five stars)

Secret Avengers #15 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Holy crap, I didn't see that coming.  We don't get any real sense of where we stand when it comes to Bobbi's identity in this issue, but, suffice it to say, even a disoriented Bobbi is still craftier than most people on a good day.  Switching identities with Belova at the last minute not only meant that S.H.I.E.L.D. got to recover Mockingbird's camoflage device (as Hill wanted) but, most importantly, that Forson's sniper took out Belova and not Bobbi.  The best part, though, is that Spencer cleverly leaves us right where we started this arc, with a disoriented Bobbi stuck with an assumed identity on A.I.M. Island.  I honestly have no idea where we go next issue.

**** (four of five stars)

Secret Avengers #14 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Ugh.  I was really hoping Spencer didn't go this route.  Mockingbird has already spent most of her history as some sort of suspect personality, from her time under the influence of the Phantom Rider in "West Coast Avengers" to the revelation that she was one of the heroes replaced by a Skrull in "Secret Invasion."  Now, we suddenly learn that her entire heroic personna was a "fake identity," whereas the "real" Bobbi Morse was an agent of the Entropy Cult.  I mean, the Entropy Cult is just too ridiculous to be taken seriously.  They believe in..."entropy?"  Really?  I'm not sure what that even means.  They're dedicating their life to chaos?  Isn't that just life?  (Maybe that's just my life.)  Finally, if Belova's plan was to kill Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Nick Fury, why bring them to A.I.M. Island to do it?  Why not just kill them in the field, exactly so that they couldn't engage in their tricky trickery and escape exactly where Mockingbird happened to be?  If Bobbi wins control of herself inspired by her love of Hawkeye, I'm going to be very, very angry.

* (one of five stars)

Secret Avengers #13 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

OK, a lot happens in this issue and I honestly had a hard time seeing the forest through the trees for most of it.  But, in summarizing the main stories here, I feel like I've got a better handle on it:

- Taskmaster takes on an A.I.M. scientist as an apprentice.  During a training exercise where Taskmaster is supervising A.I.M. agents sparring with his robot, a group of A.I.M. agents attacks him, though I'm not sure if it's part of the exercise or if A.I.M. has discovered that he's a double agent.  When we next seem him, he's uncovering a hidden boat that he plans on using to smuggle Bobbi from A.I.M. Island.  However, he's stopped when he's attacked by his robot, who's under the control of his apprentice, who reveals that he's Anton Trask, presumably of the Sentinel Trasks (and presumably why he can control the robot).  Taskmaster awakens in front of Dr. Forson, who orders Bobbi to shoot him, which she prompty does, through the head.  (Bobbi was essentially catatonic for the entire issue.)

- M.O.D.O.K. makes it clear that he's turning traitor due to the influence of "religious fanatics" (a.k.a. the Entropy Cult) taking over the "unscientifically minded" within A.I.M., seemingly meaning Dr. Forson.  He provided Hill the location of data worth billions, which the Hulk and Iron Patriot investigate.  However, Dr. Forson activates a bomb at the location, destroying the base and telling Superia that they've discovered a traitor within their midst (presumably Taskmaster, unless someone else is double dealing).  Most interestingly, he says that "the plan" is working.

- Black Widow, Fury, and Hawkeye are hostages of A.I.M.  A group of A.I.M. agents are returning them to A.I.M. Island and, in the process, they seem to discover that Shang-Chi is likely a robot under control of Mentallo.

- After Dr. Forson blows up the base with the Hulk and Iron Patriot, Maria Hill thinks that M.O.D.O.K. planned that all along and demands something from him that she can use to her advantage (lest she shoot him).  M.O.D.O.K. suspects that Forson has a high-ranking double agent inside S.H.I.E.L.D. and mentions that Forson, before becoming Scientist Supreme, worked on a technology that could erase a person's mind with a trigger word.  Spencer seems to be implying that S.H.I.E.L.D. might, in fact, have bought its technology from Dr. Forson.  Moreover, it seems like Forson used the technology on Bobbi long before S.H.I.E.L.D. did and that she's the double agent.  M.O.D.O.K. also says that Forson turned Taskmaster before S.H.I.E.L.D. got to him, but I'm not sure what that means.  Was Taskmaster really working for Forson?  If so, why did he shoot him?  M.O.D.O.K. also says that S.H.I.E.L.D. has 11 A.I.M. agents in its lower levels and suggests that they go after them.

At this point, it's clear that Forson's playing a deep game.  We're basically left unsure where Mockingbird and Taskmaster's loyalties lie and, if they don't lie with S.H.I.E.L.D., whether Forson used his technology to change those loyalties.  (Also, it seems possible that Shang-Chi is Shang-Chi and just under Forson's control.)  We've also got a hint that he's not driven as much by his role as Scientist Supreme but perhaps as his membership in the Entropy cult.  Color me intrigued.

*** (three of five stars)

Secret Avengers #12 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I can't say that I was all too thrilled with this issue.  The revelation that M.O.D.O.K. was the power behind the throne at A.I.M. was a little anti-climactic.  I was sort of waiting for it to be Dr. Doom or somebody.  (Mr. Fantastic would've been an actual surprise.)  After all, M.O.D.O.K. has always been connected to A.I.M.  It's no real surprise that he's running it again.  That said, Spencer invites the obvious question why M.O.D.O.K. would suddenly decide, after years of fighting the heroes of the Marvel Universe, to form an alliance with S.H.I.E.L.D.  If M.O.D.O.K. is really the power behind the throne, then why would he need to displace Dr. Forson?  Moreover, if he did need to displace him, why couldn't M.O.D.O.K. do it himself?   Also, it's unclear how A.I.M. suddenly became aware that Bobbi was inhabiting that scientist's body.  I guess that it could be Mentallo, though I'm not sure if we're going to get that information any time soon.  It's only the first issue of the arc, so I'll give Spencer time to tease out the plots a bit, but, right now, we don't seem to have much there.

** (two of five stars)

Secret Avengers #11 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

For a tie-in issue related to a cross-over event that I find remarkably boring, I have to say that I really enjoyed this story.  Garza's shock at the assassination of the crazed Inhuman gave us some real insight into a civilian's view of the ethical implications of the battles that superheroes fight on a daily basis.  It leads to the rare moment of someone getting super-powers, but deciding that they don't want to play God.  Garza isn't necessarily bothered by the powers themselves, but more the decisions that come with them.  I liked how Brisson didn't play up the outrage card:  Garza doesn't judge Fury for killing the Inhuman.  She acknowledges the complicated factors involved in him making that decision; she just knows that she doesn't want to make them.  The fact that Maria Hill essentially throws her into prison as a result is pretty much all you need to know about Maria Hill.

*** (three of five stars)

Secret Avengers #10 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This issue is a great example of why events suck.  Whereas DeConnick managed to connect the "Infinity" tie-in issues of "Captain Marvel" to the ongoing story in that series, Spencer disappears from this title, along with the ongoing saga of A.I.M. Island.  How's Mockingbird?  Doesn't the assassination crew wonder what happened exactly on A.I.M. Island?  What's Daisy doing with Bucky?  Why would Bucky agree to help her depose Maria Hill?  All those questions get shelved for the requisite "aliens are invading New York...again."  I mean, yes, it makes sense that, in real time, those questions would get shelved since, after all, aliens are invading New York.  But, aliens seemingly invade New York weekly at this point in the Marvel Universe, so it's hard to see this tie-in issue as anything other than an unwelcome distraction from the pretty detailed and involved story that Spencer had been telling.

** (two of five stars)

Secret Avengers #9 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

As if the last page wasn't enough, the rest of this issue also rocked.  Spencer dispenses with any pretense that Maria Hill is the "good guy" and Daisy Johnson is the "bad guy" here.  If Daisy exercised questionable judgment in ordering the assassination of Dr. Forson, it was at least because she saw A.I.M. as a threat to global security (and maybe wanted some revenge for Reb).  Maria engages in equally questionable judgment, but for a lot less lofty of a reason.  As Nick Fury (the real one) himself implies, Maria is all about Maria and she's not going to let Daisy ruin her ascension to the Directorship by remembering all those secrets that Maria was uncomfortable with her having in the first place.  Assassinating a crazed dictator running a terrorist organization is one thing; wiping the memory of the former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. to give yourself job security is another.  Sure, Maria is probably convinced that she's acting to protect global security, but it's not an argument that anyone other than her (even if her) would believe.  As I mentioned last issue, I was never a fan of Daisy becoming Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and I did find her hit on Dr. Forson to be arrogant and naive.  But, Maria takes it so far here that you also have to wonder how suitable she is at this point to be running S.H.I.E.L.D.  Enter Bucky and, maybe, the possibility of all this mind technology being used for Natasha to remember who she was.  Color me effing excited.

New-ish Comics! (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Secret Avengers #7:  Holy crap, shit hits the fan in this issue.  I really enjoyed that Spencer had Daisy be so arrogant and naive that she did, in fact, order Dr. Forson's assassination.  I've never understood why Steve Rogers decided to make a teenager head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Daisy's comments about not caring about the politics of her actions (when all that matters as head of S.H.I.E.L.D. is the politics of your actions) show how bad of a move that was.  To prove the point that the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. has to make difficult, politics-driven decisions, Spencer has Maria Hill take out Mockingbird in order to keep Dr. Forson alive.  (I can't wait to see how Bobbi manages to extract herself from A.I.M. Island.)  However, she's also forced to re-write the memories of the other agents in the field, removing their memories of Bobbi being on the mission so that they can leave the island as quickly as possible.  This action obviously raises some serious moral questions that go beyond just "Maria Hill can make difficult, politics-driven decisions."  After all, Clint and Natasha agreed to have their memories of missions wiped; they didn't agree to an ongoing mind-control process.  This series keeps raising questions about S.H.I.E.L.D. and its moral code and, as such, keeps getting better and better.

Secret Avengers #8:  Unfortunately, after I wrote the above review, I'm now forced to write a not-so-great one.  I was really excited about this issue, because I wanted to see Bobbi's ingenuity on display as she escaped from A.I.M. Island.  However, Spencer leaves a lot of this issue unclear.  For example, I don't understand why Bobbi doesn't know that she's not the A.I.M. scientist.  Isn't she just using a cloaking device (a.k.a. "camotech")?  Wouldn't her body feel the same as her usual body?  Also, what the Hell happened with Jude the Entropic Man?  At first, I thought that he melted Dr. Forson, but it was only in re-reading the issue that I realized that it was just some random A.I.M. dude.  Why exactly is he killing off scientists?  Does his power grow from that?  In the end, those questions left me wanting a lot more answers than I got here, particularly when they seem to come more from logic gaps than intriguing conundrums.

Wolverine and the X-Men #34:  Holy effing crap, Bobby as Voltron is about the best thing I've ever seen in a comic ever.

Wolverine and the X-Men #35:  Honestly, for all the grief that I've given this series, I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome of this arc.  Broo returns to us, thanks to some divine inspiration from Nightcrawler.  (I love that this connection came thanks to Broo biting a Bamf.)  Toad saves Husk, though I'm eager to learn why she lost her mind in the first place.  Idie discovers the redemptive power of first love, finally seeing the beauty in the world again.  It's all hugs and puppies and it's about damn time that Broo, Husk, and Idie get a happy ending.

But, it's really all about Quentin Quire, a statement that would thrill him.  In fact, reading this issue, you realize that this whole series has always been all about Quentin.  We finally see him complete his journey to becoming a hero, a conclusion that he reaches organically (with maybe a little inspiration from the aforementioned redemptive power of first love).  Aaron never rushed the story, letting Quentin get there himself.  It's what makes the reflective moment that Quentin enjoys after the battle so powerful, where he says to himself, "So that's how it feels to be a good guy" as he watches everyone's tearful reunion with Broo.  (My second favorite moment of this issue is clearly Quentin punching Kade after he says, "I think I'd like a hug before I die.")  This epiphany feels hard won, not a sudden change of heart that we see so often from authors taking short cuts.

Of course, one of the reasons that it took so long to get here is that Aaron has only recently started treating the kids as people.  He often focused on the hijinks at the expense of the emotions.  Here, he got the formula right, to a really fantastic degree.  Quentin still gets to be snarky when it comes to telling Idie that "girlfriend" sounds too "human," but he also allows him the emotions of a teenage boy who grew up a bit.  It's why I teared up a bit at the good-guy quote, because I could actually feel Quentin feeling that way, for once enjoying a victory won for the right reasons.

It's really rare that a series wraps up so many plot lines in one arc, an aversion born, I think, from the worry that people will see it as a good time to drop the series.  But, I had the opposite response to this issue.  With Aaron no longer treating the kids as simply vehicle for one-liners, I'm excited to see them continue to grow, particularly as a team.  In other words, welcome, the next generation's "New Mutants."  You're finally here.

Secret Avengers #6 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

First things first:  I hadn’t realized that the Iron Patriots were still out there and I’m a little unclear if they’re still acting on the orders of A.I.M. or if they’ve gone totally rogue.  Spencer probably should’ve clarified that, since, if A.I.M. is still in control, it makes it a little easier to justify the number of fronts that S.H.I.E.L.D. has open in its war on the group, given the threat that it clearly poses.  Either way, though, bringing in Rhodey to become the general of an army of Iron Patriots is a pretty clever (and totally awesome) move.

Beyond the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. currently has two teams active on A.I.M. Island (Mockingbird and Taskmaster, to hack the communications system so Rhodey could do his thing, and Black Widow, Hawkeye, and “Nick Fury,” to assassinate Dr. Forson), Spencer implies that this war extends to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.  Daisy Johnson may not have ordered the hit on Dr. Forson, though it’s unclear to me who would want to manipulate events to implicate – and thus remove – Daisy.  After all, I’m not sure who could possibly think that Maria Hill would be more beneficial to them.  Maybe it’s Dr. Forson himself, playing a long game?

At any rate, Spencer manages to do a pretty good job of keeping the plot coherent, though small details like who’s controlling the Iron Patriots in the first place do occasionally get dropped.  However, he’s really excelling at keeping up the spy-thriller pace and I’m more than willing to let such minor plot details remain unclarified to continue getting these types of stories, where you don’t know what’s going to happen from page to page or issue to issue.

Secret Avengers #5 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I was enjoying this issue until the whole "permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council" business.  Um, no.  Simply because the unconfirmed director of S.H.I.E.L.D. ordered an assassination attempt -- that, might I add, didn't work -- the United Nations doesn't just hand a permanent seat on the Security Council to the country whose leader was targeted, particularly when said country happens to be the domain of a terrorist group.  The United Nations didn't give a seat to the Taliban-controlled areas of Afghanistan simply because the U.S. assassinated Osama bin Laden (and he was actually assassinated).  I get where Spencer was going here, but it was definitely a bridge too far.  That said, the rest of the issue is decent, particularly now that we've moved past the Daisy-Johnson-as-Director nonsense.  But, the permanent-seat bit spoiled the issue as a whole for me.  The good news is that I'm actually glad that Dr. Forson is alive, since his ability to bedevil S.H.I.E.L.D. is really quite fun.

Secret Avengers #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

This series just keeps getting better and better.  Spencer tells a pretty complex and brilliantly executed story here, full of double- and triple-crosses.  I love that he brings it to the place where S.H.I.E.L.D. needed it to be, but from the completely opposite side of the actual events.  (Instead of S.H.I.E.L.D. using the Hulk to eliminate the mind-controlled Iron Patriots before they bombed Tehran, as actually happened, they tell everyone they used the Iron Patriots to stop the mind-controlled Hulk from destroying Tehran.  Different story, same result.)  The way that the story unfolded felt totally organic and I legitimately had no idea (in a good way) where we were going to end.  Great stuff.

Secret Avengers #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

You know, I'm really digging this new series.  Spencer's doing a great job of building an extremely competent cast of characters facing some problems that truly challenge said competency.  After all, I did find myself questioning whether Daisy didn't inappropriately provoke A.I.M. at the weapons expo.  I mean, sure, A.I.M. stole the Iron Patriot armor after Daisy and Nick attacked, but we never learned what it planned on doing had it not been attacked.  The best types of these stories show the characters not as rank amateurs but as trained professionals outmaneuvered by a worthy adversary and Spencer makes Dr. Forson exactly that here.  Plus, he makes it personal besides with the death of the Senator, something that could push Daisy into being more reckless than she normally would be.  We end this issue wondering what Dr. Forson has planned for the armor and why Jocasta knows Phil Coulson's name, which is a pretty great cliffhanger either way you cut it.  Plus, on top of the excellent plot, we get to see Clint bumble his way through missions with his ex-wife and, as Matt Fraction called Natasha in "Hawkeye," his "work wife."  How good is that?

Secret Avengers #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Huh.  OK, I'm game, I think.  I mean, I've never been hugely interested in SHIELD and the forced uploading of Marcus Fury/Agent Coulson into the Marvel Universe continues to bother me.  But, I love me some Hawkeye, so I'm game for a few issues.

Spencer sets up the framework of this series with this issue, embracing the "secret" part of the title by subjecting both Clint and Natasha to memory-modification programs to ensure that their missions stay classified.  Given Natasha's experience with mind control, Spencer knows that he has to explain why she would agree to such a thing.  The answer?  Unclear.  Apparently, SHIELD has a target that both Black Widow and Hawkeye want eliminated and, if they play nice, SHIELD will eventually let them go after him/her.  The problem, of course, is that it seems difficult to believe that the two of them wouldn't have been able to track down this person without the help of SHIELD if they had really wanted to see him/her imprisoned.  I mean, they're both pretty resourceful.  But, without knowing who the individual is, it's hard to say.  I have to give Spencer the benefit of the doubt here.

Looking ahead, I'm assuming that we're going to see some other folks join the team at some point, maybe some of the previous team members.  One of the things that disappointed me was that Spencer didn't bother to explain why the previous Secret Avengers team disbanded.  Was it because of the Descendants?  Given that this issue came out a week after the other title "ended," I think we were due some sort of explanation.  But, I doubt we're going to get it.

So, I'm not thrilled with this issue, but I'm willing to see where we go.