Secret Avengers

As MARVEL enters its Heroic Age, no other upcoming title has been more secretive (pardon the pun) than Secret Avengers.

Secret Avengers, written by Ed Brubaker (Captain America, Daredevil) and drawn by Mike Deodato (Thunderbolts, Dark Avengers) will hit stands May 26. 

The first teasers of which members will be on the team have appeared in early February.  While fans have speculated on who is joining the team (guesses have been ranging from Black Panther to Spider-man), the roster was finally revealed in the last month. 

Beast - founding member of the X-men and former Avenger,

War Machine - former Avenger and best friend of Tony Stark

Valkyrie - an Asgard princess and one of the Defenders

Moon Knight - former West Coast Avenger

Steve Rogers - former Captain America who has recently been brought back to life, and former Avenger

Nova - former member of the New Warriors

Black Widow - former member of the Avengers and SHIELD agent

Sharon Carter - agent of SHIELD and Steve Rogers' girlfriend

Ant-Man - former member of the Thunderbolts

All in all, I am rather excited for this book.  In his X-men run and more recently in his Captain America books, Brubaker knew how to write team stories where each character plays a pivotal role.  Deodato is one of my favorite artists.  His art is smooth, but also gives a dark tone, especially on his Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers runs. 

What I really like about this book is the fact that Beast is once again in an Avengers role, something he had not really done since the Avengers Finale.  Although he is mainly known for his time on the X-Men roster, Hank McCoy was once member of the Avengers roster. 

After his departure from the X-Men, Beast spent some time as an agent of Sentient World Observation and Response Department (S.W.O.R.D) with his girlfriend Abgail Brand in the limited series S.W.O.R.D. I'm curious to see if Brand will make an appearance in the Secret Avengers, and if so, what role will she play.

One thing that makes this different than the other Avenger books that are coming in the Heroic Age is the selection of team members.  Avengers and New Avengers both written by Brian Michael Bendis, are set to debut within the next couple of months, features some of the same members together who have worked together, (Iron Man and Thor for Avengers, while Luke Cage and Spider-man on New Avengers). 

Brubaker is putting together a cast that many thought they would never see.  Although Rogers has constantly worked with Black Widow and Sharon Carter, he has never really interacted with Nova or Moon Knight.  It will be interesting to see how Ant-Man (whose real identity is Eric O'Grady) gets along with Moon Knight and Rogers.

Another secretive element the title is bringing, is their agenda.  While the main roster of the Avengers is set to have a classic confrontation with Kang, none of the previews for Secret Avengers have what they are doing, with the exception of the six page preview featuring Valkyrie, Black Widow, and Rogers. 

Brubaker has a knack of writing stories with elements of noir, espionage, and science fiction, so it wouldn't surprise me if he pitted his team of Avengers act more like spies against corrupt law enforcement, and the criminal underworld, and Dedodato's pencils will blend those elements well.

Whatever the case, the world will have to wait until May 26 to find out.