The (Not So) Great and Secret Show

I was excited to put Secret Avengers on my subscription list.  I liked the idea of an Avengers team that went in to do the dirty work and stop problems before they happened.  I liked the team, as it has a few characters I really like (Moon Knight and Black Widow come to mind) and some I definitely enjoy (Beast, Valkyrie).  When I had the first two issues sent to me, I sat down and read them after letting them sit for about two weeks.

I was ... disappointed.

The story, which deals with a search for a new Serpent Crown, was lackluster at best.  The characterization was non-existent.  These could have been any characters, quite honestly.  It seemed like it was a thorough waste of potential and money, and I almost dropped it from my pull. Why waste the time?

Well, long story short, I have not dropped it yet.  I am going to give it a chance.  Sometimes it takes a few issues for a creative team to get into their rhythm.  My fear, however, is that this title will never realize its full potential.  By the second issue, when the team goes to Mars, I thought there could be possibilities ... and there were some ... but not enough.  What will the next few months bring?  I'm not sure, but if the writers don't let the characters shine (which should be anyone's reason for reading this), they will have a dead series on their hands, and they will be losing readers at a record pace ... myself included.

Brain Eaters

I will admit that the first thing that attracted me to iZombie (not the way the title is shown here) was the Mike Allred art.  I am a huge fan of his work and someday hope to own some original stuff.  A tale of a zombie girl who has to eat brains every thirty days or she goes all shambling, coupled with vampires and ghosts -- well, it can only be a good thing.

The first three issues from Vertigo have not disappointed me.  The art, as to be expected, is top notch.  The story has its humor, and it is something you can easily see being made into a television series, as is everything comic book related these days.  It's not the best series I've ever read, but it is holding my interest.

Zombies have been huge for the past couple of years.  There are too many titles to list, and the it seems like there are more being published each month.  It is -- no pun intended -- over kill.  At least it's not vampires, though.

I'm all for a good zombie tale.  I like my zombies slow and methodical.  With that in mind, it seems strange that I like this series.  The zombie is portrayed as a normal woman.  The horror is almost non-existent (as of the first three issues), and there is a little too much humor for my usual tastes.  Somehow, however, writer Chris Roberson makes it work.  He keeps me reading it despite it firmly falling into the land of things I don't normally like.

Time will tell if this will be a series worth watching or just another one taking up space.  (I have far too many of those for my liking.)  My guess is the former, but if I'm wrong I'll at least have some nice art to appreciate.