Secret Avengers #5 Review

Well, Secret Avengers did exactly what I wanted it to do. With the wrong character. As I talked about in my preview, the emphasis in the series has been less about the team than about the story. I think that can work fine with a single character who's established, like with Captain America or something, but not so much when you have a team, especially one consisting of characters who have never worked together before.

This issue is about Fury, the Nick Fury character helping the villains. It is a backstory for the character, and details how he came to be in general, and then how he came to work for the sinister organization opposing the Secret Avengers. It's a decent backstory that shows a good grasp on continuity, which I always enjoy.

My main problem, like I've said, is that this issue doesn't work as part of a team comic when they haven't established the team yet. If the team hadn't been put together yet, and this was a backstory so that they could team-up, sure, maybe. If the team hasn't really been seen much, though, it falls short.

Let me be perfectly clear. This is a pretty darn good stand-alone story and a decent issue. It tells a good story with good pacing and a good plot, while establishing the chatarcter of the villain Fury (named Max). It just doesn't make me like the Secret Avengers any more. The Secret Avengers still are uninteresting in their own book and I don't feel any connection to them. Even less connection here, since only Steve and Black Widow actually show up in it. That doesn't make for a good team comic.