Secret Warriors #2 Review

Secret Warriors #2

Story by: Brian Michael Bendis and Jonathan Hickman
Script by: Jonathan Hickman
Art by: Stefano Caselli
Color Art by: Daniele Rudoni
Letterer: Artmonkeys’ Dave Lanphear
Cover Art by: Jim Cheung and Justin Ponsor

SPOILERS CONTAINED IN THIS REVIEW

The first issue in this series ended on such a cliffhanger that I didn’t know how they would follow it up. The payoff though, wasn’t at all what I’d hoped for.

Spoilers are required, so if you haven’t read the first issue look away. Now that said, the first issue ends with Fury declaring that Shield has been an agent of Hydra for several years (the exact timeframe is never fully established). I left the issue believing that Fury knew this and had been knowingly working for Hydra. It turns out, he didn’t know anything, he was simply too dumb to recognize it until now.

This just feels frustrating. Rather than shake up the status quo, the writers grow nervous after just one issue and bring things back to square one. At this point, with Shield gone and Hammer in its place, how relevant is it that Hydra was running Shield? In my opinion, things didn’t really turn out that bad for the government organization, so who cares? It just feels like a cheap ploy to sell books before settling into a fairly straight forward story.

This issue’s best moments come with Hydra. The opening sequence features a stand-off between Hydra and some leftover Skrulls. A great start and from there the book fizzles. We learn a little bit more about the team, their future and their mission, but nothing that really stands out. There’s little action and only more set-up, as Hydra continues to ready itself for war against Nick Fury (once they learn he knows about their involvement with Shield). The issue does manage to end on an intriguing note…again. Hopefully, this time there’ll be a better reward for coming back.

The art, as in the previous issue, is great. All the team members are easily distinguished which is amazing considering it’s only the second issue and the layout is clear. The coloring on the other hand looks too digital for my tastes, lacking any human touch.

There’s a real sophomore slump in this second issue. I’ll keep picking it up to see if it gains any momentum, but I’m not sure if this will ever rise above the standard superhero fair, we’ve come to expect from Marvel.

C