Secret Avengers, Vol. 3: Rise of the Descendants

Secret Avengers (2010) (Collected Editions) #7

by Rick Remender (Writer), Andy Kuhn (Illustrator), Matteo Scalera (Illustrator)

The Rise of the Descendants - the event that will devastate the lives of the Secret Avengers - is here! The robots of the Marvel Universe revolt! Can the Marvel Universe survive the plague of contagious robotic evolution? As Father launches his invasion, laying siege to the team's lighthouse station, a terrible new Avengers foe is born. Beware the bite of The Black Ant! But if the Secret Avengers are all that's left to save the world, then why has Captain Britain just hurled mankind's only hope of salvation into the black heart of Earth 4680?

Collecting: Secret Avengers 33-37

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Ebooks, Fantasy

112 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2013

About the author

Rick Remender is an American comic book writer and artist who resides in Los Angeles, California. He is the writer/co-creator of many independent comic books like Black Science, Deadly Class, LOW, Fear Agent and Seven to Eternity. Previously, he wrote The Punisher, Uncanny X-Force, Captain America and Uncanny Avengers for Marvel Comics.

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Undead Avengers. They exist in Earth 666. Seriously, they do.

The roll call has FrankenWeenieBerryPunisherCastle, a mummy Thor, a Cap Wolf (Yes!! *fist pump*), a ghoul Wolverine, a few other monstrous versions of superheroes and they’re led by the ghost of Brother Voodoo. Undead Avengers assemble!!

The crux of the story is this: Captain Britain’s dad is trying to create a race of android/cyborg/LMD/robots called the Decendants. He’s using a huge nanocloud to combine the Decendants with the human race. He originally used something called the Orb of Necromancy to instill life in Jim Hammond, the Torch, an android, whose favorite movie by the way is Pinocchio as in I want to be a “real” boy. The orb is hidden in Earth 666. Captain Britain guards the gateway to all the versions of Earth. There’s also a child, who’s somehow connected to all of this. Battles between Secret Avengers and Decendants and Secret Avengers and Undead Avengers rage throughout. End of summary – my brain hurts.

And this is why I rarely bother with extended plot summaries in my reviews. Time for a nap.

Notes: Captain Britain is not as lame as I thought he was, but I only say this in hopes he would fix me up with his superhot sister, Psylocke.

Giantman is even lamer as a cyborg.

Black Ant, you are one cold motherfu…

Why is Nick Fury’s Life Model Decoy named Max?

Also: the cover on this thing is not the cover that is on my library book.

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this is the end of Remender's big Descendants storyline, and that's a good thing. By the end, it starts to drag a bit. There are still interesting bits, here and there. The idea of an alternate Earth populated entirely by undead creatures (it's Earth-666, because of course it is) is actually a pretty cool idea, but it doesn't really fit with the Descendants story. Fun, but out of place. There's an interesting moral dilemma at the end of the book, and Remender both does and doesn't take the easy way out, in a way I can't really explain without going into a lot of detail about what happens. But I can say that it goes to the hardcore "heroes- especially Avengers- don't kill" line that I've come to expect, in a situation that makes sticking to that stance very, very difficult.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I forgot I never read the end of this, one of Remender's earlier runs. And boy does it stand out how insane he was back then, and that his work lately feels...almost tame by comparison (though still quite entertaining) later on.

Undead Avengers? All the monster'd versions of major Marvel heroes together in one pocket of the universe, all drooling and snarling between games of gin rummy? Wolf-Cap: check. FrankenCastle: welcome. Spider-headed Spidey, yeah I'll pretend I remember you. Devil-DD? Vampire Wolverine?

Ooh, even better - future Avengers come back to the past after being conscripted into The Deathlok Legion. Haha! That's when you know the story is bathing deep in the waters of crazytown. No writer dares to touch the third rail of Deathlok without a good goddamned nutty reason - you never stumble into a Deathlok scenario through happy (or lazy) accident.

Fun romp, good way to thread the needle on the end of a run. Thanks Rick!

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now THIS was cool. I've been a big fan of Remender's Secret Avengers ever since he took over, but this finale really took things into overdrive. I was so satisfied with the culmination of all of Remender's shifting allegiances and murky subplots. Nothing felt left out. Every character got their due diligence, and the threat of a scientist forcing the world to accelerate immediately into the singularity felt pretty modern and prescient. Remender continues to impress me with his comics work, and I can only hope he's going even further up from here.

[William Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remender is a golden god when it comes to writing for Marvel. If you've read any of his other work, you can expect more of the same here- the quirky, retro style updated and modernized. Moreover, he makes us take every bit of it seriously. Where he may be writing stories that remind us in ways of 60s and 70s Steranko and Kirby, we don't see them as campy, but with the gravity they deserve.

My only gripe would be that the end felt rushed and that the original Human Torch should have been punished for his involvement.

Grade: B

[Charline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this run of Secret Avengers, it's definitely my favorite one!

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bueno, pues terminada la etapa de Remender en Vengadores Secretos, a falta de leer los cruces con Vengadores vs X-Men, y me da la sensación de que esta colección se convirtió en un atontizador. Es decir, en el caso de Nick Spencer que haría la siguiente etapa, no recuerdo ahora mismo leer nada de él, y es verdad que Vengadores Secretos fue una de las pocas colecciones de las que me bajé sin haberla llegado a terminar, pero Rick Remender, al mismo tiempo que en Vengadores Secretos, andaba haciendo una etapa que quitaba el aliento en Uncanny X-Force. Y además, con un concepto bastante parecido, es decir, los Vengadores Secretos eran el grupo de intervención secreta de los Vengadores, y X-Force lo era de la Patrulla-X, con lo cual, sabía a qué estaba jugando. Pero en Vengadores Secretos no creo que consiguiera trazar una buena historia, y parte de la desgana que da leerlo creo que viene del dibujo, y es que Matteo Scalera me pareció especialmente horrible.

Remender lo primero que hizo fue ajustar el grupo (eso me parece bien), con una nueva alineación dirigida por Ojo de Halcón y con la Viuda Negra, el Hombre Hormiga, la Bestia y Valquiria procedentes del antiguo equipo y las incorporaciones del Capitán Britania y el Agente Veneno al equipo. Y luego, lanzó su gran apuesta, crear un nuevo "grupo" de enemigos para la franquicia, los Descendientes. Todo comienza con un intento de atentado en Pakistán en un mercado, cuando una mujer que va con su hijo consigue absorber la explosión para luego redirigirla a sus atacantes, siendo atacada por los presentes en el mercado. La historia conduce a que esta mujer es una Descendiente, una raza de robots que se hacen llamar los Homo Syntozoides, y que parecen descender de alguna manera de la Antorcha Humana original, y otros elementos, como los Muertebots, el centinela Molde Maestro, una Avispa Deathlok venida del futuro, las ultravisiones, los Cosechadores (incluyendo a Dama Mortal), los adaptoides... En fin, que todos estos están dirigidos por un tal Padre, que busca a toda costa a Parvez, el niño del mercado pakistaní, pues es el primer Descendiente nacido, ya que su madre es una adaptoide, pero su padre es humano, y ha nacido como un niño humano.

Tras un primer enfrentamiento con los Descendientes, Remender pone fin a la trama de Max Furia, el Consejo de las Sombras y las Coronas Serpiente y Espinosa, incluyendo una tercera corona, la Corona Lobuna, que está en posesión del Supervisor. Max Furia decide reunir en Bagalia a cuantos villanos quieran participar en su nueva encarnación de los Señores del Mal, ayudado por Padre (y es que los SDV también son formas de vida tecnorgánicas), lo que lleva a los Vengadores Secretos a intervenir, especialmente Veneno y el Hombre Hormiga, que se verán atrapados en Bagalia y enfrentados a todos los aspirantes de Furia... sin embargo, el tema de las coronas y de Furia acaba de mala manera para dar paso al último arco, que de nuevo enfrenta a Vengadores y Descendientes, ya que estos quieren convertir a toda la humanidad en sintozoides a través de un tecnovirus, y mientras varios de los miembros del equipo hacen frente a los Vengadores, el Capitán Britania, la Bestia y Ojo de Halcón viajan a Tierra 666, una tierra de Vengadores Sobrenaturales, tomada por un Celestial Muerto Viviente, donde tienen que intentar conseguir el Orbe de la Nigromancia, que se utilizó para dar vida a los Descendientes...

Bueno, el final de la historia tiene algunas escenas bastante chulas (ninguna en Tierra 666, da todo bastante pereza, aunque el equipo de Vengadores formado por el Capi Hombre Lobo, Thor momia, Lobezno vampiro, FrankenCastle, Spiderman y la Viuda Negra arañas, y dirigido por el Hermano Vudú fantasma, tiene su aquel), especialmente en el ataque de los Descendientes a la ONU en particular y NY en general, con Spiderman como invitado especial. Pero es cierto que la historia es floja, la amenaza de los descendientes es un poco buaaah, el tema de Max Furia y las coronas es muuuy malo... En fin, que no es el mejor trabajo de Remender, ni de coña.

[Rick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why? Why? Why? Do I keep reading stuff by this hack? Garbage. I hope I’ve learned my lesson now. It’s just the same thing story arc after story arc. Lots of frenetic, meaningless and pointless action with gritty fight scenes and trivial throw away lines that are supposed to be witty and poignant ... it’s really all just a mess of trivialities and pointlessness that NEVER actually progresses a narrative or characterization. Terrible. Just terrible.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lackluster ending a lackluster run. For sure one of Remender's weakest works for Marvel right before he left.

Basically Eric is a piece of shit, even more so after he died and brought back in the service of the father. This everyone getting attacked by the other side, monster cancer-verse versions of the heroes, is just boring at this point.

Yeah this entire run tbh is skippable and this one doesn't do much other than having some sweet moments with Flash as Venom.

[Sean · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a pretty terrible book in series that showed potential. Father is a terrible antagonist and this was an extremely weak plot. The dialogue was even bad. Rick Remender is capable of so much more. It doesn't feel like an Avengers book and it just seemed not to matter. The art was subpar as well. Overall, this was an unpleasant read.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seems like an underwhelming climax after the series had been building and building for so long. And it's one that I don't think anyone else picked up on, although I think there's only one note that is left to be played.

[Tim B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A step forward from the other volumes. This one is written better. Still, the characterization of Captain Britain is so off, it is a distraction. Venom is interesting. I like the Undead Avengers and Descendants arc pretty well.

[Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very satisfying finale to the Descendants' arc and Remender's run. Overall really liked the run--probably my favorite of the title so far. It also doesn't hurt that Scalera did the art for a lot of it (he's a favorite of mine due to his work on Black Science).

[Jdetrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm just so glad its over.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 stars.

Things start off a bit chaotic and hard to follow but the story tightens up as it goes, building to a surprisingly emotional (if not entirely earned) climax.

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Talk about a book that evolves over the years. This went for a special ops Captain America book to Captain Britain guarding a portal to other dimensions while robot duplicates play out Shakespeare. While I wouldn't say I was all in on this ride, it did come to a pretty epic end.

[christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh I wasn't really impressed with this storyline that much.

[Anchorpete · Rating 5 out of 5]

I forgot that Rick Remender is liquid gold, injected into the Marvel Mythos.

Let's take b list, c list characters, make them far more interesting and realistic than some of Marvel's main characters. Let's take plot lines, characters and story ideas from the worst period in comics, the 90s (a time when a lot of modern fans, including myself, grew up) and make them relevant today.
Take all of that, and tie it together with Wonder inducing Scientific concepts, and you have a Rick Remender Marvel book.
The Absolute best part?

Punisher
Venom
Uncanny X-force
Secret Avengers
Uncanny Avengers
Captain America

All of his Marvel books, they are all connected. Remender was meant to work for Marvel.

This book is proof of that.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rick Remender is a writer with big ideas; unfortunately, like his truncated Uncanny X-Force run, he doesn't really get the time to give them breathing room here as his Secret Avengers run comes to a close. The conflict with Father and his Descendants is resolved with the deus ex machina of the day, but the character moments for almost all of the cast bar Beast make up for the quick resolution. The art is mostly the visceral style of Matteo Scalera, which is kinetic and full of bite, whilst the opening issue by Andy Kuhn tries to emulate this and just comes off scratchy and dull.

This is an enjoyable ending, I just feel that a few more issues would do the epic storyline more justice. Perhaps we could have done without the pesky AvX issues, eh Marvel?

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The portion of the Descendants storyline that begins in this volume gets off to a rocky start but by the end, it's cooking. Great dialogue (as always) from Remender and a great use of the book as a sandbox wherein any characters can play. Captain Britain probably gets his best ever moments in this series and the fact that someone bothered to write the original Human Torch is great, let alone how well it's done in this book. Loved the stakes and consequences that HT had to deal with - pretty remarkable, big time stuff, even if it were placed on another character's shoulders.

This story played out over a very long arc and while that's not terrible in any way, a bit of fatigue developed for me. Had I read all three volumes back to back, I might have felt differently.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked where this ended, I just thought it was a little too 'hail Mary', as Flash would say. Speaking of, he and Valkyrie are like my favorite thing ever. Honestly the only thing I wish with them is that a writer/artist would get slightly *more* into it with their sex; I know, let me explain. I once read a review of 'Into the Stars' or whatever by John Green, and it was a kid who had also lost a leg and had great things to say about a book actually talking/showing paraplegic sex scenes (without fetishing). Flash lost both his legs but this series dos a great job of acknowledging that and his emotions in the superhero gig, but I wanted to see a little more of this very human element with him and V.

[Jacob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Public library copy.

The best thing about this book was the cover art by Arthur Adams, I've been a fan of his since junior high. I thought this work paled in comparison to Ed Brubaker and Warren Ellis' run as Remender's effort drifted too far away from the usual cast and espionage the book used to have. There were some neat moments, but not enough reason for me to regret dropping my purchasing support of this title. I often like Remender's work enough to buy titles he writes, but I won't miss this book or the volumes of his that came before or after.

[Travis Duke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Earth is once again on the verge of destruction. Descendents and Father are back with ant-man and evil wasp to take charge. They are hell bent on starting a new race on earth yet black widow,beast, and venom are not going to stand by idle. Rick Remender is top notch on this series and does a nice job at connecting all the storylines. Andy Kuhn is not my favorite artist, his style is sloppy and basic. The other artist Matteo Scalera is much better and saved this book. We get a conclusion with a bulk of the story and its satisfying.

[Silas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fitting conclusion to this iteration of the Secret Avengers, bringing back some of the story threads established earlier. It also sort of went all over the place. There were robots, alternate dimensions, the undead, and stories in space. Spider-Man showed up, which was a bit of fun, and the ending was suitably melodramatic. I still enjoyed the character interactions, though the story had a weird way of coming together. Still, it was fun, and at least it rolled over into a new version after this.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collects Secret Avengers (2010) issues #33-37

By the time this was over, I felt like I had finally been put out of my misery. For a series that started off so well under Brubaker's guidance, the Remender era took an unfortunate turn for the worst.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remender's finale to the Secret Avengers is good, and it borders on greatness. The ideas of robots gaining sentience finally gain full prominence here, and everything really feels like it fits together. Alongside that, we get some great character, especially of Black Ant, whose current incarnation really isn't that different from the Eric Grady of his own series.

I think the whole Descendants plot dragged on for a bit too long, but this final volume is nonetheless a great payoff.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A swing and a miss. Stupid and incoherent. And yes I read this without reading the previous volumes but books need to stand at least a little bit on their own. And the undead world and the robot world and the Captain Britain corps was all a bit much. And too much combat and no interesting character bits. And not especially good art with definite awful art. And yet there were some interesting ideas here, in fact too many of them.

[Kris Ivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hawkeye, Captain Britain, and Beast/Dr. McCoy fight on Earth-666 whilst Black Widow tries to rescue the few Avengers that she can get to. The Descendants have risen and plan to take power so that all will be as they are (much like in the 1999 X-Men film with Magneto wanting everyone to become mutants so that there would be no discrimination). The answer lies with the Human Torch.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Avengers have to go to another dimension to collect a weapon to destroy the descendants. This involves Avengers in the form of classic monsters. This is quite fun, and has some good one liners. The main story line is quite touching, and Hawkeye has to make a terrible decision. A good read.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

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