Avengers Undercover

Avengers Undercover 1-10

Sequel to yesterday’s Avengers Arena.  The kids deal with the fallout of their ordeal, which was filmed and released to the public by Arcade.  In what is probably a terrifyingly accurate portrayal of the general population of the country, Dennis Hopeless writes of a culture that makes the survivors instant celebrities, with all of the blind judgments and unthinking opinions that come with the package.  Because we’ve already spent eighteen issues getting to know them, the readers are in the rare position of seeing celebrity from the other side, and we’re reminded that these figures we’re so quick to bash or praise are actual people.  It’s not the most profound of messages, but it’s more than one normally gets from a comic book.  

Kev Walker again does a fine job on the art, but departs midway through for a new assignment on the New Avengers.  His co-workers use the letters page to sing their praises and express joy at his promotion to a more prominent book, but they could not have been happy to see him go.  Tigh Walker, one of his replacements, does zero for me.  He’s got a Paul Pope thing going on with his faces, and it’s flat out ugly to my mind.

No idea what's gong on with that captain's face.  At all.

Paul Pope. I know it's the Joker, but all his faces look like this.

Hopeless doesn’t sugarcoat the ethics of these kids.  When faced with the opportunity to kill Arcade, at least one of them is willing to pull the trigger.  And it’s not hard to imagine anyone acting differently in that situation.  It’s refreshing to see it happen, instead of artificially concocting a morality where everyone decides that it’s the wrong thing to do, even after everything that they’ve been put through.

On the other hand, I don’t buy Death Locket’s conversion to the dark side.  (Or as the comic states it at least two different times, “breaking bad.”)  While Hopeless does a nice job of developing her growing friendship with her villain friends, I find it difficult to believe that she’d ditch her old group so easily.  

Overall, a nice 28 issue run for Dennis Hopeless and (mostly) Kev Walker.  Oh, and I liked this panel, thought it was cute.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty Good