The Secret Avengers are now in the hands of Warren Ellis, the mad genius of comics. If anyone can bring a fresh look at a series, Warren Ellis is the person I’d trust to do just that. I was about to drop this series, since it had floundered over the past few months. Ed Brubaker left after two stories, Nick Spencer popped on for the Fear Itself crossover, and the series has been in a state of flux. Now Warren Ellis is here to take the series to the next level. Jamie McKelvie being the first artist on this run, pulls out some of the best work I’ve seen of his to date. With this team in place, it’s time to explore the “Subland Empire” in Secret Avengers #16.
In any book Warren Ellis writes, you learn to expect the unexpected. Ellis takes this small team of the Secret Avengers to a Secret City, ran by the Shadow Council, to go hunting for a Time Machine involving a great concept, Von Doom (Doctor Doom) particles from his old time platform. The twists and turns this story takes, you won’t see coming which is what makes this issue so much fun. Beast and Moon Knight have a unique chemistry together. Jamie McKelvie plays with body language with facial expressions, giving a unique feel to conversations. The mission preparation is of special notice, for the one thing with Secret Avengers was leaning towards covert ops. The fact of the matter is, Secret Avengers never felt any different than any of the other Avengers titles. How the mission is explained felt less like an Avengers comic, and more like a covert operations story. Beast explains the weapons they’re using for this mission in a way that felt like Q explaining his new toys to James Bond. Very well played Warren Ellis.
When you get into the mission, you’re greeted with a breathtaking double page spread of Moon Knight gliding over the Secret City. Jamie McKelvie made that scene breathtaking. Following from that scene, you see the team in Black Widow’s beloved Atomic Cadillac, driving through the city, Beast gives the most realistic description of time travel in comic history. This made me laugh out loud, I will never look at time travel the same way in a story ever again. After an impressive fight scene with Moon Knight against some Shadow Council soldiers, you get a breakneck car case that has to be seen to be believed. That leads to how the Shadow Council was going to have their scheme work. Warren Ellis went absolutely nuts with this story, and as comic fans we’re all the better for that. When you get to the ending, it will break your heart. Adding an extra emotional punch to an already phenomenal story.
With this issue, Warren Ellis made a splash on Secret Avengers. If this is any indication of what we’re going to be reading the next six months, six months of done in one issue goodness, that we’re all going to be happy with. Yes you heard this right, this issue of Secret Avengers is all wrapped up in one issue. For anyone who’s wanting a complete story in an age where most stories take six issues to complete, grab Secret Avengers #16 and remind yourself of why you love comics in the first place. This sort of comic takes what we know of the superhero story, then turns it upside down. All hail Warren Ellis, and the excellent artwork of Jamie McKelvie backing him up on this first story. I cannot wait to see what Warren Ellis is going to do next on Secret Avengers.
