Avengers Undercover, Vol. 1: Descent

Avengers Undercover

by Dennis Hopeless (Writer), Kevin Walker (Artist), Timothy Green II (Artist)

When teen heroes infiltrate the Masters of Evil, who will break bad? Damaged by their experience in Murderworld, five conflicted young superhumans go rogue and pose as villains, planning to bring the Avengers' rivals down from within. But the longer the teens spend undercover, the more they descend into darkness — and as they start to build relationships with these multi-layered criminals, the line between good and evil blurs. What will happen first: joining the Masters for real, or getting exposed and killed? What happens when the teens confront their former captor, Arcade? And what on earth do the undercover heroes do that brands them as Public Enemy No. 1? As Death Locket must choose between murdering Captain America or blowing her cover, Baron Zemo makes the teens an offer they can't — they dare not — refuse!

Collecting: Avengers Undercover 1-5

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Young Adult

112 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 2014

About the author

Dennis "Hopeless" Hallum is an American comics writer from Kansas City, Missouri who has written for Marvel Comics, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Boom! Studios, Arcana Studio, and Oni Press.

See also under Dennis Hallum

Reviews

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me start by first saying that I loved Avengers Arena.

Yes - I'm the one.

Secondly, I'm a pretty big Runaways fan.

So yeah, I liked this book. Why would I not? I would probably be more apt to give this a 3.5 star rating rather than a 4, but since I can't I am leaning more heavily upwards on the rating.

I don't really have much to say in regards to this book. I love how it picks up right after Avengers Arena. I love how fucked everyone is, and I love how and where they end up.

Yes this comic is angsty, yes its a little over the top and silly, and yes...I look forward to it every month.

[Gary Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

85th book read in 2017.

Number 54 out of 649 on my all time book list.

Some of the most interesting and original heroes to date.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

I, too, enjoyed Avengers Arena, which prompted me to read a bunch of Runaways and Young Avengers books, so why wouldn't I want to read what happens next to these characters? This first volume isn't as immediately gripping as Arena was, but it's not bad and the artwork is a step up from some of the final issues of that title. I'll keep reading to see where this is going.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

[This is a review for both volumes 1 & 2]
I know this isn't a *great* book. But I LOVED Avengers Arena and I LOVED Runaways and Avengers Academy and so it was a joy to me to discover that there was a postscript to Avengers Arena that I didn't know about. These are some great characters and it's nice to see that several years later a few of them are still hanging around the Marvel Universe. One thing that really bothered me was that the female characters, who were supposed to be teenagers, were pretty consistently drawn as full-grown women. Cammi is supposed to be 13 at the time of the story, for crying out loud! I think that Marvel has gotten better at that in the years since-Ms. Marvel is a good example of that-but it was still distracting and unsettling here.

[Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great continuation to Avengers Arena. Perhaps even better. We get to see the fallout from Murder World, and Dennis Hopeless does some great world-building for Bagalia, adding some points of interest like Hell Town and Tower Zemo. There's also some great character development for the main cast, and a huge surprise for Runaways fans. And the art, as always, is on point.

[Matej Kondas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pokud jste případě comicsu Avengers Arena nepotřebovali mít nic načteno, tak u tohohle comicsu je nutností mít Avengers Arena přečtenou. Zčásti proto že jde o přímé pokračování, z části také proto že k pořádnému pochopení toho co hrdinové vyvádí potřebujete vědět jak moc jim bylo ublíženo.

Avengers Arena byl comics o tom že maniak jménem Arcade shromáždil teenage superhrdiny a nechal je se vzájemně zabíjet. Někteří vydrželi opravdu dlouho, někteří umírali opravdu dlouho a někteří v bolestech. A ti kteří to přežili dopadli nejhůř. Celá footage Avengers Areny unikla na internet.

Youtube praská ve švech a prostý lid s nadšením komentuje vše co se tam stalo. Panáčkové a panenky v diskuzích to nevybíravě komentují a fanoušci si píšou svoje fanfiction. Protože to byla přece skvělá show! Jenže pro těch pár přeživších to nebyla žádná show. Dokonce ani legrace. A návrat do světa, kde jste najednou "divná" celebrita nezvládne každý úplně dobře. Natož když je to rozháraný teenager s masivním traumatem a superschopnostmi.

Avengers Undercover není jen vynikající comics s teenage superhrdiny. Je to vynikající comics, který navazuje na vynikající comics. Navíc se rozhodně nebojí ostrých metafor na téma toho, jak internet, youtube, tumblr a další sociální sítě dovede být krutý. Jak podivně jsme dnes díky seriálům, comicsům a elektronickému obsahu pokřiveni. A jak nebezpečná je kyberšikana. Protože když si někdo vytiskne vaši fotku z facebooku aby si nad ní honil, je to samozřejmě opruz. Když to řekne vašim kamarádům, je to opruz ještě větší. Jenže když si vytiskne vaší fotku jak si honíte nad fotkou přítelkyně vašeho nejlepšího kamaráda a dá to na facebook. Jste sociálně odepsaný případ. Přičtěte si k tomu superschopnosti a fakt že mladý člověk je ovlinitelný. Šikmá plocha láká a lákala vždycky stejně.

U hrdinů Avengers Undercover se nasrání přesunulo z levelu "tantrum" do levelu "berserk" a vy se ani nedivíte že se chtějí pomstít. No a takové uzlíčky plné hněvujsou ideální kořistí pro... záporáky. Protože nábor do jakéhokoli kroužku se musí dělat v mladém věku. A to i mezi superzáporáky.

[TinTin Kalaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the aftermath of Avengers Arena our remaining survivors, except X-23 and Reptil, are plunged in the gray area of heroism and villainy. Suffering from PTSD, some succumb to their darker thoughts to escape the nightmare that is Murder World, some try to return to normalcy, whereas one is being a complete jerk about it and riding the wave of instant fame (*ahem* I'm looking at you, Chase).

Some good points: the artwork, like Avengers Arena, is great. I love the powered-up Nico and Hazmat. Both girl look pretty bad-ass and fight amazingly as well -- Nico with her new arm and upgraded abilities to cast spells even without the Staff of One, and Hazmat being able to control her radiation and no longer needing to wear a containment suit.

What I dislike about this is Chase being an ass to the team. He was a pretty okay character in The Runaways but they ruined him here. And also the fact that the kids immediately jump to the conclusion that the 'heroes' will brand them as 'villains' just cause they offed Arcade. In fact, I believe the 'heroes' should have done something to help these kids from their trauma and brought Arcade to 'justice' along the way. But that's just me.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

To. Było. Świetne. Nie miałem żadnych większych oczekiwań co do tego tytułu i okazało się to zbawienne. Avengers Undercover uderzyło mnie z siłą Mjolnira, aczkolwiek żadnego ze "zwykłych" członków Avengers tu nie uświadczymy. Wręcz przeciwnie.

Mamy tu kilkoro "złoczyńców" z Baronem Zemo na czele kontra kilkoro dzieciaków, które przeszły piekło w MurderWorld w serii Avengers Arena. Każde z nich radzi sobie jak najlepiej potrafi, aby stawić czoła traumom. I tak znów zobaczymy Hazmat, Kammi, Chase'a, Nico (świetna!), Death Locket, Bloodstone czy Anachronism. Zresztą ponownie zjednoczą siły, aby raz jeszcze stawić czoła swojemu oprawcy, Arcade'owi. Tyle, że co dobrego wynikło z bycia dobrym?

Pierwszym z takimi wątpliwościami jest Bloodstone i to on będzie też motorem napędowym, który sprowadzi na całą ferajnę konkretne kłopoty, bowiem po uporaniu się z przeszłością (to było super!), Baron Zemo dostrzega w młodych potencjał, jaki chciałby wykorzystać ku własnym celom. Także grupka wpadła spod deszczu na rynnę. Tym bardziej, że Zemo jest przecież o klasę gorszym przeciwnikiem niż Arcade. Pozornie "dobrotliwy" złoczyńca wprowadza młodzież w nowy, kuszący świat. Ale raczej wszyscy wiemy jak to się skończy...

Mam już swoich faworytów. Nico jest świetna. Hazmat potężna. Ciekaw jest co zrobią z Death Locket i w końcu Ci źli. Zemo intryguje, ale to Daimon Hellstrom kradnie całe show! Zdaje się być w takiej szarej strefie działań, gdzie nie opowiada się jednoznacznie za byciem dobrym i złym. Ciekawi mnie jakie będą jego następne posunięcia.

Walker i Green II robią kapitalną robotę. Szczególnie ten pierwszy prezentuje nam bogate w detale okienka, co tylko uzupełnia świetna paleta barw, a wszystko to sprawia, iż omawiany tytuł ma własny, wyczuwalny i co najważniejsze, kapitalny klimat. Dałbym z chęcią więcej, ale zdaję sobie sprawię, iż całość jest przewidywalna. Obstawiałem tu kilka rzeczy, które trafiłem bezbłędnie. To mi przeszkadzało. Reszta miód.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ooh, is that Baron Zemo on the cover? During the Fabian Nicieza run of Thunderbolts years (and years and years) ago, he became one of my favorite characters. I haven't seen him used well since then. We'll see how this goes.

This is a direct sequel to Avengers Arena. The survivors of MurderWorld have PTSD, except for Chase Stein of the Runaways, who's doing interviews. The recordings from MurderWorld are all over the interwebs and are super popular. So Cullen Bloodstone starts making his own webisodes of hunting down Arcade. He disappears into Bagalia City, supervillain hangout and home of the Masters of Evil. So the other kids decide to go get him.

What's the "Undercover" part of the title, you ask? Well the kids get offered the opportunity to join the Masters of Evil and they decide to take that offer, but only to take them down from the inside.

This is a slow burn set up. It takes this full volume before the kids go undercover. The kids make a lot of dumb decisions because they're kids. Not sure why they feel the need to play sleeper agent. Also not sure about the "Avengers" part of the title. Only one of these characters went to Avengers Academy. None of them are actually Avengers.

Oh, and Baron Zemo is only in the background manipulating things at this point.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The survivors of Murder World return to the real world to find they are infamous; Arcade released video of their battles to the world. And so they hunt him down and kill him, which is also broadcast to the world. Shield tries to arrest them, but Zemo offers them a chance to apprentice under him as junior supervillains.

This is so weird. The characterization is off. Everyone feels wrong. The art is mediocre, which is a problem because almost all of the characters are short teenage girls with black hair, and I could not tell them apart. The story itself is weirdly slow; it takes until issue 5 for them to go undercover. I assume Hopeless must have expected a long run, or at least more than 10 issues, which is odd seeing as Avengers Arena only had 12.

[Craig Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I wanted more of this book. Still, if two volumes is all we get, it is better than nothing.

Our Stars
Nico and Chase from Runaways
Hazmat from Avengers Academy
Cammi from Guardians of the Galaxy
Cullen Bloodstone, Anachronism and Death Locket from Avengers Arena

In the aftermath of Avengers Arena Cullen goes a bit nuts and goes missing down a deep hole, rumoured to be the hideout of Baron Zemo and the potential hiding place of Arcade. Everyone else gathers, some more reluctantly than others, to rescue him and seek their own kind of closure.

[Tim B · Rating 4 out of 5]

On my Captain Britain shelf because some of the Braddock Academy students are still hanging around. Bloodstone is obsessed with vengeance while Chase is bathing in the limelight. Arcade and the Masters of Evil are doing what they do in opulence. I really enjoyed Avengers Arena and this volume continues to show depth of character and growth.

[Adrian J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was OK. I guess.

Not a fan of how Zemo or Madame Masque were portrayed, Chase Stein was... different, everyone was whingy, I dunno... the whole thing seemed weird, off-point, and at least one issue was really confusing right from the start.

Just a general misfire, I feel, but technically OK.

[Tyler Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow Dennis Hopeless is awesome. I hadn’t read Avengers Arena, but I was able to follow along perfectly while enjoying this super-fun, subvertive anti-hero team tale. Kev Walker’s art is slick and sublime, compliments perfectly to Hopeless’s energy.

Can’t wait to read the volumes before and after this! This is a writer/artist pairing for the ages.

[☽Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

wtf I didn't even know this existed until I happened to notice it at the library. I loved Avenger's Arena, but I finished it 2 years ago so I don't remember everything. Hopefully one day I can reread all of them and then reread this. I wouldn't be surprised if that bumped this up to five stars.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

The evolution of teenage heroes going through hard times.

[Shantal Murillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5... I wasn't loving the start but it pick up really fast

[TK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of my faves working with some really annoying friends (plus a lot of set up.) Cautiously here for it.

[Andres Pasten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesante vuelta de tuerca al conflicto, veamos como cierra esta historia en el segundo tpb.

[devyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

i guess

[mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

the way i RAN to read this after finding out it existed

[Madeline Rossell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Were there like brawls in the Marvel office over which teen team got x23?

[Joe Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dennis Hopeless - writer
Kevin Walker & Timothy Green II - illustrators

This volume picks up after the events of Avengers Arena, with all the kids who survived Murder World trying to pick up the pieces of their lives and move on. Although the survivors vowed not to speak of the traumatic events, Arcade got the last laugh by live-streaming everything that happened in Murder World on the internet; by the time the kids came crawling out of the wreckage they were the most famous reality stars on the planet.

Each person reacts differently to the news - Chase almost gleefully capitalizes on his new fame by going on a series of public appearances, while Nico, Hazmat, Death Locket, Cammi and Anachronism try to deal with varying levels of post traumatic stress and psychological pain and suffering. Cullen Bloodstone is perhaps the most affected - unable to focus once he returns school, Cullen becomes obsessed with finding Arcade and making him pay. When Cullen disappears and the only clue is a video linking him to a secret, hidden city of super-villains, it's up to the rest of the Murder World survivors to track him down and rescue their friend. But what they find in the mysterious city of Bagalia will challenge everything the young heroes believe in, and for some of the survivors it will signal the start of a descent they may never recover from.

If you weren't paying attention before, Avengers Undercover should cause you to sit up and take notice. Dennis Hopeless is a tremendous writer, with a fascinating, unique style. He definitely warrants mentioning in any discussion of the best comic book writers of today. The art by Walker and Green is excellent as well. All in all, this is an amazing graphic novel. Do yourself a favor and read volumes 1-3 of Avengers Arena before diving into volume 1 of Avengers Undercover.

5/5

Highly Recommended.

[Mela · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, I guess I'm one of the few people that really enjoyed Avengers Arena. I'm cool with that. I'm also pretty excited about seeing where life after the arena takes the survivors.
But here's the thing about Avengers Undercover (at this point, I'm only 20 pages in or sos): I love Chase Stein. He's not my favorite Marvel character, he's not even my favorite Runaway, but I do really love his character.
Or, what I should say is 'loved', because I loved the BK Vaughan version of him. Hopeless has turned him into a media tool. Yes, Chase was always a dark character, in the Runaways we were never really sure about his past, but he was darker than all the others. Now he's breached into the potential super villain territory (at least it kind of made sense for Bloodstone to go dark side, but Chase? I'm sorry, it just doesn't jive to me).

Also, it was said pretty much from the start that three months have passed since the events of Avengers Arena... so why does Death Locket look like she's years older?

This could be just me (I've missed a few things between Runaways and here, so maybe this was covered already?), but Nico has gotten hella good at her magic thing. I might think unrealistically so. There used to be the constant problem of "I've already done that spell, I need a different one". Even in the arena she mentioned that should couldn't do some things because she'd already done them. But here she seems to be having zero trouble finding the right way to get what she needs done. Maybe she's growing as a character, but I think it's more likely that it's just lazy characterization.

Still a good story though, and I enjoyed reading it, despite several shortcomings.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avengers Undercover certainly starts well. It pulls you in with the surviving cast of Avengers Arena and promises to show just how these past events are affecting them now. It achieves this with some characters better than others, but the cast itself is the greatest strength of the comic. If you enjoyed Arena then this is the natural next step in the storyline and I'm glad they attempted this. On the other hand the plotting didn't feel as tight and motivated as I had come to expect, though mileage on that front may vary. I also chaffed at the absence of the 'adult heroes' in the storyline so far. Arena did a great job of settling (at least partial) blame for its events on these authority figure who failed the children in their care, but the absence of ANY of them throughout the first five volumes of Undercover -especially in scenes where you would expect them to show up - feels odd and unexplained.

Regardless, if you've come to love these kids and need to know what happens next, this might be just what you're looking for.

[Anchorpete · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the back of this trade, there is an ad for three trades of Young Avengers..... Not the original young avengers line up, but the book written by Keiron Gillen that features Kid Loki and Miss America. That book thought it was super hip, and it was, and it even captured the vibe of what I picture modern day teens being like, BUT this book and Avengers arena did a FAR better job at telling a story about super powered teens that I actually cared about. There were stakes here, and almost every teen on the team is interesting in their own way (the one guy from Runaways is a bit of a caricature versus a real character). I wasn't a fan of Dennis Hopeless, but when I found out that this book was just a part of a long Teen Superhero story arc that he wanted to write (which included the Avengers Arena story) I became a fan.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's easy to see why this new comic was a hard sell: it's not a standalone, but instead a coda to Avengers Arena. That doesn't make it any less brilliant, because this is the type of follow-up that you almost never see in a superhero comic: the repercussions of the awful things that the heroes had to face.

Though this is a slow five issues that only hits its main plot point in the last pages, it's still a great character study of these seven survivors of the Arena. Overall, it's both a strong follow-up to the saga of Arcade and a great look at a new part of the Marvel Universe. Though it's not quite as pulse-pointing as the best of Arena, it's still superhero comics at their best.

[Alex Sarll]

Following on from the teen superhero Battle Royale riff that was Avengers Arena, this is in large part a pretty effective study of PTSD (and its first-world-problem cousin, difficult second album syndrome). It even gives a villain as profoundly daft as Baron Zemo some heft, by turning what generally comes off as motiveless malignity into a pragmatic response to the absurdities of the superheroic code against killing, profit &c. Alas, it is slightly undermined by the sort of niggling errors that tend to creep in when grown-ups write about the young persons and their Internets. Videos of Murder World were on YouTube, were they? I rather bloody doubt it, given the site's content policies.

[Timothy Ferguson · Rating 2 out of 5]

An odd graphic novel that follows Avengers Arena. Avengers Arena was written in a style similar to Battle Royale or Hunger Games. In this sequel, the characters who survived track down the evil genius who forced them into a deadly game and murder him. They then need to earn their forgivness, and decide to go undercover in a conspiracy of supervillains, hoping to bring it down from inside. The plot doesn’t hold together, and it wraps up too conveniently. There are some great comics out there, so why read this one?

Review originally appeared at https://gcbooks.wordpress.com/2015/04...

[Brian Rosenberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confession - I'm a big fan of Hellstrom (The Son of Satan), Baron Zemo, and the Constrictor. Given these characters have substantial roles in this story, it's hard for me to be objective. Cover art is great, especially issue 2 and issue 5, showing Baron Zemo offering a pen to sigh a contract and a pistol to sweeten the deal (sign or else). This book features the survivors of Avengers Arena (which I have not read) seeking vengence against Arcade (the long-time X-Men villain). The Constrictor sums things up to the Arena survivors, "The man gave you a choice... You picked wrong."