Secret Avengers #21.1

After months of waiting, it finally came to be. Rick Remender has taken over another section of the Marvel U as he has proven himself in this great jumping on point for any new reader. And what great way to start his run? By giving Hawkeye a test for the leadership for the secret avengers team as well as the introduction of the brand new Masters of Evil!

The issue begins with captain and hawkeye on a mission in which I can't stop thinking how much it looks like a futuristic version of L. But it’s also a place which seems to be run by criminals as they go to rescue an American politician. The two exchange a nice chat between each other as hawkeye slowly realizes that this might be a test as they arrive to the room where the politician is, only to be revealed to be a trap that was obviously set up as they are forced to retreat. During the escape the two get into a discussion of how hawkeye doesn’t feel that the cap sees him as an equal and in the end it’s revealed that steve knew about the trap and revealed to him that he needed him to become the leader of the undercover avengers team but he isn't ready for it. Because Hawkeye is way to impulsive and just rushes into action without thinking even if he has the experience. This doesn’t please Clint at all as they get into a big fight which steve tells clint that he knows that he sees him as a father figure for he didn't have a real one and he just wants his acceptance. Hawkeye leaves annoyed as Cap feels bad for bringing Clint’s family into the conversation but as he goes after him, he is attacked by!!!.......a green ghost rider….the hell? Cap manages to get away from him only to be attacked by the second whiplash and princess python. Outnumbered, our hero is defeated and taken away. Clint now out of costume decides to leave the city till he hears the news of a captured American spy and obviously he knows who it is.During this time, captain America is being held by the three as it’s revealed that Max Fury and the shadow council are not only seem to be working in this country, but they have created a brand new masters of evil. The evil clone tells steve that he will reveal the identity of the spy to the world which will ruin cap’s reputation and trust all over the globe….that’s till we get the classic hero pretending to be a guard trick as hawkeye jumps to the rescue and manages to escape with steve. The issue ends with cap finally approving of Clint to lead and starting a brand new era for the secret avengers.

The Good:

This is a great jumping on point for any new reader and of course essential for this new run since it's already building up future storylines as we get to see a great passing on the torch mission…..sounds weird but that’s what happens. Because cap is busy now being in the main team, he gives his position as leader of the secret ops team to someone that he totally trusts for the job even if he still acts like a moron sometimes. The new masters of evil are pretty cool as the members show to be worthy for the name (well, they did manage to take down captain america....even if they were all caught off-guard by a guy with cool trick arrows). The issue runs smoothly as it proves to be a great stand alone story as well and nothing feels rushed. The action was another great thing that has me pumped for more now as the book is in good hands now. Also liked the pacing, didn't felt rushed and the story itself felt a lot like an episode of a tv show.

The Bad:

Nothing I can say besides that for some reason, Captain acts a little cold here. For someone who has been with hawkeye for such a long time acts more like a tough father figure instead of a teammate. But I kinda understand because this is a test and also because as much as I believe Cap is a very understanding and caring person who believes in his country and people (but not so lately because everyone is acting like a moron, specially under bendis) he is still a soldier and if he is giving away his position of leader of a team which is almost feels like a military squad. So everything is understandable even if I do kinda dislike hawkeye (his jerk attitude is just annoying sometimes, probably felt like this ever since he started for no reason talk bad about spider-man behind his back during the whole spider-island avengers one-shot).

Overall: 4.5/5

A great issue which is perfect for any new reader even if it might confuse people with the whole “Max Fury” thing but hey! It’s still a great one-shot and is an ongoing so it shouldn’t surprise nobody that there is still continuity in place here. The issue is a perfect prologue to Remender’s run which I hope it will be awesome since the team looks great (even if I find it weird for giant man to be there, but we have venom and captain which are awesome).