The Masters of Evil, lead by Max Fury, continue along with their plan to obtain the three mystical crowns in the Red Light Nation of Bagalia and it’s up to the Secret Avengers to stop them. But first, there’s a little battle between Venom and Taskmaster to be settled. It’s a high-octane issue that doesn’t skimp out on the story.

Read on for my review!

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Rick Remender, when announced to be taking over Secret Avengers, seemed like he’d be absolutely perfect for the series, especially given the success of his Uncanny X-Force series. Luckily, that assumption was right, but what’s better is that he doesn’t make it seem exactly like his other series. While Uncanny X-Force deals with the moral conflict of killing innocents before they lose that innocence, Secret Avengers is a much louder, more action packed title that doesn’t apologize for how crazy it is. On top of that, Remender has made sure to follow up on plot lines that had been dangling since Ed Brubaker left the comic after issue #12.

In this issue, as well as handling his team of heroes expertly, Remender shows us a great handling of the mass amount of villains he’s using in this story. With Max Fury making an open call for any villains to come aboard and join a new Masters of Evil team, the book becomes stuffed with old familiar faces, including some favorites like Taskmaster and Whiplash. No matter how many characters become stuffed onto a page, it never seems like Remender loses his ability to write them successfully. The star of this issue though is, without a doubt, Taskmaster. Remender’s use of his powers are perfect in his opening page’s bout with Venom, and seeing that he’s going to play a larger role as the story moves forward is definitely exciting. 

The other star role comes in the form of Hawkeye. As a character who’s been getting a lot of attention since The Avengers film came out early this summer, it’s no surprise to see him take center stage, but it’s relieving to see that Rick Remender knows exactly how to portray his abilities and personality on the page. 

Matteo Scalera proves in this issue that he was a fantastic choice to take over on this title. His style is perfectly suited to the fast paced action that occupies the entirety of the issue, especially in a high-speed sequence starring Hawkeye on his motorcycle and Vengeance (who is basically an evil version of the Ghost Rider). 

With a cliffhanger that isn’t exactly what readers may have been expecting, this issue definitely succeeds in building interest in whatever Remender has planned for the next issue and the remainder of this arc. It’s great to see that he’s intent on revisiting unfinished plots from earlier in the series, as well as creating new conflicts for this team to face. 

GO Rating: 4/5

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