Secret Avengers by Ed Brubaker: The Complete Collection

Secret Avengers (2010) (Collected Editions) #1-2

by Ed Brubaker

Steve Rogers has a big secret! The former Captain America has assembled a special-ops squad to counter the world's deadliest threats. But who are the Secret Avengers? Spy intrigue meets super-hero action as the Super-Soldier, Black Widow, War Machine, Ant-Man, Valkyrie, Moon Knight and more take on a case that crosses dimensions and lands on Martian soil - and somehow involves Nick Fury! Then, the Celestial Order of the Hai-Dai launches a brazen attack on Shang-Chi. Its mission? To return him to his father, a man of consummate evil who has perpetuated his brand of wickedness and corruption for more than 3,000 years! Can Steve's stealth team - and an old friend from his World War II days - save the Master of Kung Fu? Ed Brubaker's blockbuster Secret Avengers run is collected in full! COLLECTING: SECRET AVENGERS (2010) 1-12

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Espionage

304 pages, Paperback

Published May 29, 2018

About the author

Ed Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.

Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.

In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.

Reviews

[Sud666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ed Brubaker's "Secret Avengers" wasn't bad at all. Apparently, Captain America has left his position to Bucky Barnes and is now calling himself Commander Rogers (Is he Navy now?) and has decided to put together a small clandestine unit of Avengers that operates like a SHIELD unit.

A mysterious organization called the Shadow Council is operating behind the scenes and Rogers and his Secret Avengers try to unravel the plot. Members of the SA include Black Widow, Ant-Man, War Machine, Valkyrie, and Nova. It starts with the team trying to regain control of two power serpent crowns, this will lead to the revelation of this Council. Worse still, there seems to be someone who is Nick Fury that is leading them. Joining with the real Nick Fury and Shang-Ti, the SA will have to fight against an ancient evil, and Rogers will come into conflict with America's first Super-Soldier.

An entertaining and interesting read. The artwork was ok and nothing to rave about-all in all this was a good volume. Nothing amazing, but a solid 3 star Avengers story.

[Travis Duke · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5)Brubaker delivers a solid story in Secret Avengers. Brubaker loves crime and mystery and he infuses a good amount into this title, maybe not the crime element but it has a serious tone to it that I like. The secret avengers are send to mars to uncover that happened to Nova. As the team arrives they discover an ancient evil looking to come back out. The story continues with the Shadow Council and Nick Fury and has some nice moments. Lastly the book focuses on an old war buddy Cap used to know named John Steele his story ties into the rest of the book really well and it was a good way to finish the book. The art is above average with nice detailed panels.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ended on a cliffhanger, but this is supposed to be the complete collection? So what happened to the rest of the story?

[Scott Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Secret is Out

I really like this new set of Avengers who quietly go about getting the job done and protect the universe while staying out of the spotlight. A lot of times, less is a lot more manageable. I like this new format.

[André Habet]

Silly me for thinking brubaker’s avengers would somehow be an improvement on his x-men run.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collects Secret Avengers (2010) issues #1-12

I was impressed by how interesting this title ended up being. Even though it is set in the post-"Siege" Marvel Universe, you don't have to know much about what was happening back then to enjoy this book. Steve Rogers is not currently Captain America, but rather Commander Rogers. He leads a covert team of Avengers including Black Widow, Valkyrie, Nova,The Irredeemable Ant-Man, Moon Knight, Agent 13, and Beast. The cool this about this team, is that not ever member is needed for every mission, so some issues go by, and you don't see certain characters until they are needed because of their specialties. Brubaker writes the Steve Rogers world very well, and this was a thoroughly enjoyable book. This has the feel of a "S.H.I.E.L.D." book, but with super-powered espionage.

My new prediction about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that Chris Evans' Captain America will not die at the end of Avengers 4, but rather will become Commander Rogers. More so, we will see a future MCU movie called "Secret Avengers," and it will have Chris Evans (as Commander Rogers) leading a team of Avengers to stop lower-level threats instead of cosmic threats. Black Widow, Falcon, Ant-Man, and the Wasp could all be on the team, and they could introduce new Marvel characters into the movies to join this espionage story. I imagine that it would have a similar feel as the film, "Captain America: Winter Soldier." Meanwhile, Bucky will go on to become the new Captain America in the movies.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, I’m going to have to check my records as I had this listed as having read it once before - but that doesn’t seem right. I don’t recall any of it. Although, as I wasn’t overly impressed, I suppose it’s possible that this rather forgettable clunker was something that I just, well to but it bluntly, forgot about. In theory, this would have been, or rather could have been great, but it just felt tone less and uninteresting. The use of Shang-Chi’s father was a complete waste. Moon Knight and Shang-Chi are completely underused and unappreciated. Valkyrie makes no sense with her timeline (but to be fair, most current writers have screwed up the character so badly that she’s basically become incomprehensible). And then there’s the whole John Steele, Shadow Cabinet and Prince of Orphans malarkey - yawn. War Machine is on the team, but hardly ever actually there. Beast is just in there as the team needs someone to spout pseudoscience mumbo-jumbo. Come on. Really? This was pretty much a mess from page one, so I can see that I might have completely forgotten having read it. Still, the art’s nice.

[Lucas Lima · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, i really like this. The way Brubaker writes this type of story is really good (he's probably the best cap writer ever). Especially 'cause, super teams stories, even today, always happens and end in the same way (a godlike treat, massive destruction and all), but this, it's a Avengers team, we got the threat that wants to end the world, but it's somehow more focused on something.

The only complaint about this is the way how it ended. I don't of Brubaker just left the book like this, but we got some loose ends here, that Rick Remender got the task to finish it. Gonna give this a chance, but Remender it's not a good super hero writer in my opinion (besides his Uncanny Xforce run that it's really nice).

[Colin Parfitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nova joins the team, gets into trouble and then pushes off.

Then the same with Shang-Chi.

The whole thing ends on a cliffhanger, so feels very incomplete and no clue who these Shadow Council villains are.

[Antonia (antoniaslonelybookclub) · Rating 1 out of 5]

2.5
En mi opinión, solo el issue 8 y un poco del issue 9 valen la pena, el resto… es un completo meh.

Update: me retracto, le doy solo 2 estrellas, no merece más

Update 2: 1 estrella es lo único que le puedo dar, solo porque es la puntuación más baja

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my cup of tea. have to dispel a lot of what I know about Captain America because the
Cap I grew up with would not run in the shadows like this. Plus why are all the girls soo chesty.

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume collects the initial twelve issues of the series, the entire Ed Brubaker run. The idea of a covert, deniable team of Avengers was pretty good, but in the end it plays out like a regular Avengers team dealing with cosmic threats. After the first issue the clandestine nature of the group is dropped.

It's a real grab bag of characters: Commander Steve Rogers when he hung up the shield for a while, Moon Night, Black Widow, Valkyrie, Beast, Nova, the irredeemable Ant Man, War Machine, and Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. Many of these shuffle in and out of the stories as was needed per mission. The stories themselves are pretty good. However it all ends on a cliff hanger with a meta-plot that seemed rather boring. Another ultra-secret society with aims of world domination and a mysterious past among immortals. I've read it before.

In the traditional Brubaker Marvel style, he resurrects some ancient near-forgotten characters. He adds John Steel - the original Man of Steel - and John Aman, called here Prince of Orphans, he was originally named Aman the Amazing Man and The Green Mist. Neither character was originally a Marvel hero, or Timely as it was called then. Both are in the public domain and alternate version have popped up in the past, Project Superpowers and so forth. Strangely these two characters get more play than most of the others.

[James Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

At a time when Steve Rogers was no longer Captain America, he led a clandestine team with the intent of preventing threats under the radar. He recruits an absolutely fascinating line-up full of characters I've wanted to read more about, so this was a team absolutely suited for me. It's a shame the majority of them seem to act as back-up to Steve Rogers' story, although I enjoyed their moments (especially Beast reassuring his assistant he wasn't an LMD). The stories go to space, cross paths with Shang-Chi, and also find a face from Steve's WWII past, while a common adversary recurs as an overarching threat. It's an excellent run, although it's a shame the story feels incomplete. The Complete Collection made me believe these 12 issues would be a complete run, although further research tells me it continues with Warren Ellis writing, so this is the complete collection by Ed Brubaker. After these excellent 12 issues, I'm definitely ready for more.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's still weird to me that Steve Rogers led this incarnation of the Secret Avengers since secrecy and espionage really don't feel like the strong points of the likes of Captain America. But here we are with a rather diverse team that's trying to exercise some proactive measures to stop threats against global peace. This really feels like more of a Nick Fury sort of deal. but post-Dark Reign Marvel was always a little weird with stories like this.

But it's an interesting enough book that has the Secret Avengers going up to Mars and fighting mysterious figures with dragon uniforms and mentions of a Shadow Council. IT's pretty good stuff that could have benefited from more character spotlight moments, but we work with what we have.

[Doctor Doom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars is too many, one would not be enough. Convoluted storyline. Confusing in other areas as well. I thought Steve Rogers had no problem killing during WWII- this book indicates otherwise. Oftentimes the characters stand in unconventional poses. Action stances when there is no danger and they are just standing around chatting- I Actually started looking for it for a laugh since the book wasn't very interesting.

[Joey Amorim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because Moon Knight is in it, and I thought it’d be worth checking out, but I was disappointed to find out that he only plays a bit role in this team. Seriously, throughout all 12 issues in this, he has maybe a dozen lines. This just felt like another chapter in Brubaker’s Captain America run. As it is, it’s well written and Mike Deodato’s art is good as always, but the stories overall had very little impact for me.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

first ten issues are really good spy and espionage comics. one overarching story.
11 and 12 are about deprogramming a brainwashed spy. getting some back story on a character and their history with Captain America.

deodato is doing their best work here. great art. ink and colours for this genre and theme of a book. his women are gorgeous too.
sometimes his hero faces look Sinister but I can get over that.

[Gerry Sacco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely disappointing. This could have been so much more. The art was absolutely not in a style I enjoy at all, and made the story even more off putting. Probably one of the worst characterizations of Captain America I’ve ever read. Really disappointed...

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Ed Brubaker, I love the idea of this book and I love the characters...so what's missing? Why don't I like the sum of these parts more? It seems like everything should be working together better than they are, or perhaps I just have too high expectations for a Brubaker comic.

[Zachary Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading again for the first time since this came out in single issues Ed brubaker's short run on secret avengers. The art is a bit shaky during the first arc but gets better in the second arc. This is a fun group of characters paired together in an avengers covert team.

[Eric Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing special

Overall, it's fine. Story has just enough intrigue and action to keep you going, but nothing here is going to blow you away. Artwork is good, but I've seen a lot of these posses before. Doesn't add anything new or exciting to the books.

[DOUGLAS J BERRY · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look at what lies beneath.

Marvel comics and Prime freebie. Suitable for teens and adults, deals with occultism. Good color artwork. Captain America assembles a covert team willing to assemble and kill an enemy. Things get out of hand.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was terribly boring. Not a single character did or said anything of interest for pages at a time, which is unfortunate, because I generally like Brubaker. The last two issues were somewhat okay, but by that point it was really too late.

[Eli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't like the art in the first four issues, but he got a bit better by the end. The second arc was better than the first.

[Kevin King · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read

I enjoyed reading this story. I think It would make a great movie or series arc, in my humble opinion.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun and interesting

I enjoyed this take on events. I would definitely love to read more. This would make a great movie with awesome characters.

[Chalupa Batman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid collection, but did not have an ending. Interesting collection of Avengers that Brubaker groups together in this collection.