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Secret Avengers (2010) (Collected Editions) #5-7
Secret Avengers by Rick Remender: The Complete Collection
Hawkeye takes over Steve Rogers' covert Avengers team! And with a new leader comes a fresh lineup as Giant-Man, Captain Britain and the original Human Torch join Black Widow, Beast, Valkyrie and Ant-Man as Earth's stealthiest heroes. But will Hawkeye draw the line at Cap's final recruit: the deadly Venom?! As the Avengers battle the X-Men, Thor takes a secret squad to stop the Phoenix by any means necessary! But on the Kree homeworld, can Ms. Marvel and the Protector break free of Minister Marvel's influence to aid their former companions? As Hawkeye and Black Widow seek to unmask the spy in their ranks, a new Masters of Evil forms - and the Shadow Council's true goal is revealed! But the robotic Descendants' rise may end the Secret Avengers once and for all!
COLLECTING: SECRET AVENGERS (2010) 21.1, 22-37
COLLECTING: SECRET AVENGERS (2010) 21.1, 22-37
384 pages, Paperback
Published March 26, 2019
7 people are currently reading
50 people want to read
About the author
Rick Remender
1,244 books1,422 followersRick 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.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 19, 2020
This was fun...robots, evil Max Fury, Agent Venom and Captain BRITAIN!
April 13, 2024
Boy do I have mixed feelings about this one.
The tone shift from previous Secret Avengers arcs was palpable, though that isn't necessarily bad.
I didn't care for the art, despite there being multiple illustrators. I think it was the color palette. They made an artistic choice, and a reasonable one, but I didn't really like it.
Did this happen before or after Paul Cornell's Captain Britain and MI-13? Because that was my first Captain Britain comic and that guy and this guy feel like two entirely different Brian Braddocks. I don't really understand all the CB lore, but it seems like his costume and powers are all designed to Nerf him whenever it's convenient.
Hawkeye was useless. More on that later.
Agent Venom, a pet character of Remender's, seemed to be the only person who was consistently on-point. And, good for Flash, but the rest of the team aren't chumps, you know?
Black Ant was an interesting concept, but he shouldn't have had legs in a book ostensibly about spy shit. It was obvious from the start he was a robot plant when he came "back." For a guy who calls himself 'Hawkeye,' he doesn't see much.
Beast was kind of a dick. Not evil like he would become later on, but definitely a smug prick.
Black Widow should have been the lead of this book. She's the only one in the whole group who's even competent at covert ops. Why she's taking orders from a carny with an inferiority complex is beyond me. She dead ass named Black Ant as the mole and Clint told her to piss off because he manipulated his trust. Dude, listen to the ageless Russian super spy, because you're all id.
Jim Hammond, the Human Torch, killed Hitler in Marvel continuity. You can't tell me that he would even consider going along with Father's plans to genocide the entire human race and replace them with android duplicates. Yeah, he came around in the end, but it shouldn't have been a question.
I'm not sure I like Remender's retconning the entirety of the Shadow Council to feed this android plot. On the other hand, Marvel has plenty of shadowy evil organizations, and at least we got this one off board.
Valkyrie: also underutilized. I don't think it was malicious, but she didn't really get much to do.
And what the fuck was that bit in the middle with Mar-Vell? That was weird, and also a little cheap. Marvel Boy really got the short end of the stick in that story.
Anyway, I'm going to give this a 3.5, rounded down, because, even though it really wasn't my cup of tea, Remender's Secret Avengers was decent for what it is.
The tone shift from previous Secret Avengers arcs was palpable, though that isn't necessarily bad.
I didn't care for the art, despite there being multiple illustrators. I think it was the color palette. They made an artistic choice, and a reasonable one, but I didn't really like it.
Did this happen before or after Paul Cornell's Captain Britain and MI-13? Because that was my first Captain Britain comic and that guy and this guy feel like two entirely different Brian Braddocks. I don't really understand all the CB lore, but it seems like his costume and powers are all designed to Nerf him whenever it's convenient.
Hawkeye was useless. More on that later.
Agent Venom, a pet character of Remender's, seemed to be the only person who was consistently on-point. And, good for Flash, but the rest of the team aren't chumps, you know?
Black Ant was an interesting concept, but he shouldn't have had legs in a book ostensibly about spy shit. It was obvious from the start he was a robot plant when he came "back." For a guy who calls himself 'Hawkeye,' he doesn't see much.
Beast was kind of a dick. Not evil like he would become later on, but definitely a smug prick.
Black Widow should have been the lead of this book. She's the only one in the whole group who's even competent at covert ops. Why she's taking orders from a carny with an inferiority complex is beyond me. She dead ass named Black Ant as the mole and Clint told her to piss off because he manipulated his trust. Dude, listen to the ageless Russian super spy, because you're all id.
Jim Hammond, the Human Torch, killed Hitler in Marvel continuity. You can't tell me that he would even consider going along with Father's plans to genocide the entire human race and replace them with android duplicates. Yeah, he came around in the end, but it shouldn't have been a question.
I'm not sure I like Remender's retconning the entirety of the Shadow Council to feed this android plot. On the other hand, Marvel has plenty of shadowy evil organizations, and at least we got this one off board.
Valkyrie: also underutilized. I don't think it was malicious, but she didn't really get much to do.
And what the fuck was that bit in the middle with Mar-Vell? That was weird, and also a little cheap. Marvel Boy really got the short end of the stick in that story.
Anyway, I'm going to give this a 3.5, rounded down, because, even though it really wasn't my cup of tea, Remender's Secret Avengers was decent for what it is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 10, 2020
This book was a lot more cohesive than the previous ones and tried to focus more on a singular plot instead of the rather episodic anthology style of the previous writers. And to keep the team on track, the first smart decision was putting Hawkeye in charge of the operation instead of Steve Rogers, which really fit more the supposed secret nature of the team.
The big challenge in this book involved the whole secret society of artificial beings with some big plot of an unspecific nature. The plan really starts to come together in the latter part of the story, but the first half leaves a lot of questions in the area and thus gives the team a lot to focus on.
Things get a little carried away by the meta-plot across the issues and individual character arcs aren't quite as strong beyond Hawkeye getting into the groove of being the leader and the likes of Captain Britain also trying to figure out their place in things. Everyone else was listed to being more of set pieces or pawns being moved around the board, despite never a little intra-team romance to a degree.
But the book ends with a really big finale - something that could have been expanded into a crossover series even given how widespread the scale of the threat was. Funny how this book about a covert black ops team ended things with a very public story.
The big challenge in this book involved the whole secret society of artificial beings with some big plot of an unspecific nature. The plan really starts to come together in the latter part of the story, but the first half leaves a lot of questions in the area and thus gives the team a lot to focus on.
Things get a little carried away by the meta-plot across the issues and individual character arcs aren't quite as strong beyond Hawkeye getting into the groove of being the leader and the likes of Captain Britain also trying to figure out their place in things. Everyone else was listed to being more of set pieces or pawns being moved around the board, despite never a little intra-team romance to a degree.
But the book ends with a really big finale - something that could have been expanded into a crossover series even given how widespread the scale of the threat was. Funny how this book about a covert black ops team ended things with a very public story.
January 19, 2020
Not my preferred style of Avengers. The narrative is frantic and moves rather inexplicably from chaotic sequence to chaotic sequence.
There basically two stories here. One that inexplicably bisects the other longer story. Neither are particularly well done.
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.
There basically two stories here. One that inexplicably bisects the other longer story. Neither are particularly well done.
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.
September 21, 2024
While Secret Avengers by Rick Remender had some promising elements, I found it didn’t quite live up to the earlier books in the series. Hawkeye stepping up as leader, along with Venom Agent's addition, was a highlight, but the espionage element was lacking. Instead of the intense covert ops feel, it leaned too heavily into sci-fi superhero territory, which was disappointing.
The Descendants storyline was underwhelming, and the art felt overly cartoony at times, which didn’t match the tone I hoped for. Overall, a less-than-stellar entry in the Secret Avengers saga.
The Descendants storyline was underwhelming, and the art felt overly cartoony at times, which didn’t match the tone I hoped for. Overall, a less-than-stellar entry in the Secret Avengers saga.
March 26, 2021
This run has aged well for me. I remember enjoying the series in single issues but felt like it wasn't a very cohesive story. This reads better as a collection. The gritty nature of the art fits the series well. Solid story from Remender with characters like Beast,Venom Hawkeye and even Captain Britain that is nice to see as a team.
August 7, 2025
The Brubaker run and the Ellis Run are definitely better. This feels like it goes on for way too long. It's fine. RIP to my boy Eric O'Grady.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 8, 2019
Collects Secret Avengers (2010) issues #21.1 and issues #22-37
In the past I have enjoyed Rick Remender's writing, but his "Secret Avengers" run is much worse that the Ed Brubaker run that proceeded it. There was so much promise with this series, and the Remender stuff, plus the lower-quality artwork, made this era of "Secret Avengers" a less enjoyable experience. Here are my volume-by-volume reviews:
VOLUME #1 - Issues #21.1 and #22-25:
Considering how good the Brubaker run was of this series, and seeing as how Remender continues some of the story threads, I ended up feeling pretty disappointed with where Remender is taking the series. I'll read on, but only because I like the seeds planted in the first 12 issues of this series.
If you're curious, this is where Agent Venom joins the team. This is also where Steve Rogers exits as team leader, and (inexplicably) puts Hawkeye in the role instead.
VOLUME #2 - Issues #26-32
The story is forced to tie in to the event "AvX," so there is pointless missions and in-fighting.
VOLUME #3 - 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.
In the past I have enjoyed Rick Remender's writing, but his "Secret Avengers" run is much worse that the Ed Brubaker run that proceeded it. There was so much promise with this series, and the Remender stuff, plus the lower-quality artwork, made this era of "Secret Avengers" a less enjoyable experience. Here are my volume-by-volume reviews:
VOLUME #1 - Issues #21.1 and #22-25:
Considering how good the Brubaker run was of this series, and seeing as how Remender continues some of the story threads, I ended up feeling pretty disappointed with where Remender is taking the series. I'll read on, but only because I like the seeds planted in the first 12 issues of this series.
If you're curious, this is where Agent Venom joins the team. This is also where Steve Rogers exits as team leader, and (inexplicably) puts Hawkeye in the role instead.
VOLUME #2 - Issues #26-32
The story is forced to tie in to the event "AvX," so there is pointless missions and in-fighting.
VOLUME #3 - 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.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews