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Secret Avengers #22: Review

Feb 2012
Rick Remender, Gabriel Hardman

Story Name:

New Life

Review & Comments

Rating:
3.5 stars

Secret Avengers #22 Review by (November 24, 2020)

Review: Info heavy issue is hard getting through with the new Avengers lineup, new headquarters, new conflicts among the characters, new baddies who are part of a much larger group of (mostly) new baddies in a last page reveal, including a robot Wasp. And there’s a cameo by the Queen, a brief visit to Otherworld, and the introduction of a villain who will never be seen again (Riot). And things get even more complicated when we find out who the new peoples [sic] are. I find Gabriel Hardman’s art a bit hard to follow in this series, odd considering I didn’t have any trouble when he was drawing Red Hulk a couple of years earlier. It may be because of the high proportion of new and unfamiliar characters. And I really find Origin’s power to be gruesome, reminding me of the classic short story “Lukundoo” by Edward Lucas White. (Read it for a jolt.) This does get a bit easier to read after a while.  

Comments: Part one of four parts. First appearance of the Descendants, the Adaptoids, and Deathlok Wasp; Father first appeared in UNCANNY X-FORCE #6. Only appearance of Riot. First appearance of the Lighthouse; not the same place as in the AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series. Otherworld, a pocket dimension composed of Great Britain’s subconscious, was first mentioned in FANTASTIC FOUR #54 in 1966.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Secret Avengers #22 Synopsis by Peter Silvestro

A suicide bomber stands in a market in Pakistan and detonates his explosive; a woman with a child standing nearby swallows the flames of the blast, holds them for a moment then spits them back out, devastating the marketplace. She is shocked by what she has done. A soldier knocks her out with a rifle butt….

Around the world, four sinister figures receive the call that a Descendant has been detected in Pakistan. They head out: The Adaptoids, composed of The Ideal from Manhattan, The Origin from Egypt, The Urn from Israel, The Swine from Mexico….

In London, Captain Britain is fighting Riot, an anarchist who has gathered a large number of people and formed them into a human-shaped biomass to power himself. With some encouragement from Queen Elizabeth II herself, the Captain pulls him away from his unwilling servants and hauls him off to Starlight Citadel in Otherworld. While there, Cap B meets his wife Meggan who is upset that while Brian is needed there, he has accepted a call from the Secret Avengers and is teleported to…

…The Lighthouse, the Secret Avengers’ brand-new secret space station, which is secret because Hank Pym has miniaturized it. He is met by Captain America who presents him to the others (Beast, Black Widow, Valkyrie, Ant-Man (Eric O’Grady)) but there is some misunderstanding as Cap B thinks he is to be the team leader. Hawkeye arrives to disabuse him of that notion and the two men fall to bickering. They are interrupted by a report of the incident in Pakistan. The team goes down to rescue the woman, Yalda and her son Parvez, from their captors. But the opposing team of Adaptoids also arrives for her and they battle. The Avengers come off much the worse, especially after Origin gives birth to her Diminutives, miniature versions of the Avengers, to fight for her. Hawkeye is able to kill the mini Captain Britain as the Adaptoids fly off with Yalda and her son. And we learn Ant-Man has hitched a ride in Ideal’s pants leg….

And in the Core, Father and the other Descendants (robots resembling Doctor Doom, Vision, Jocasta, Sentinels, Deathlok plus Lady Deathstrike, Max Fury, and Skullbuster) await their arrival….



Gabriel Hardman
Gabriel Hardman
Elizabeth Breitweiser
Arthur Adams (Cover Penciler)
Arthur Adams (Cover Inker)
Laura Martin (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Ant-Man
Ant-Man

(Eric O'Grady)
Beast
Beast

(Hank McCoy)
Black Widow
Black Widow

(Natasha Romanoff)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steve Rogers)
Hawkeye
Hawkeye

(Clint Barton)
Valkyrie
Valkyrie

(Brunnhilda)

Plus: Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), Descendants, Father (Descendants), Lady Deathstrike, Max Fury, Meggan, Queen Elizabeth II, Skullbuster.

> Secret Avengers: Book info and issue index

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