Avengers Undercover

As I begin writing this post, I think back to when and why I picked up both volumes of Avengers Undercover.

The when is pretty easy as I picked it up along with Marvel 2-in-1 Volume 1 back in November. It was Black Friday week and while looking for a second title to make buying to get the marks on my loyalty card worth while, I found both volumes in their second hand section for half price. They were in very good condition too so I'm not sure if 'second hand' could be a valid description.

However, beyond the money saving aspect, the 'why' I bought the series is something a little difficult to hold down. I know it wasn't a spur of the moment purchase but rather it was something I had planned to pick up, but I don't know why. I had picked up the first issue of Avengers Arena way back when and almost immediately dismissed the title as 'not my thing.' However, many years later and I found Dennis Hopeless' whole Avengers saga (Arena and Undercover combined) to be something that was piquing my interest.

Therefore, seeing both volumes of Avengers Undercover here seemed like and appropriate purchase (albeit not the chronological one).

So, Avengers Undercover takes place (if you hadn't guessed) after Avengers Arena, where 16 young superheroes are kidnapped by the villain Arcade to take part in a Hunger Games-like death match, only with added superpowers. Now, the survivors are ....well, surviving. Struggling to move on from the traumatic experience they took part in, all the while being vilified or mocked or spoken about by a public who watched the whole event from the comforts of their home.

Avengers Undercover Vol. 1 & 2.

But one other thing which seems to unite them is a vengeance on their missing captor and when one of their number disappears in his search for Arcade, the remaining survivors band together to travel to a Supervillain city to find him. However, when they arrive their fame provides them with an opportunity to be heroes again, by playing the part of villains in order to destroy this city from within. A plan which couldn't fail, right?

Now, I'll be honest. Despite having enough interest in this series, I found myself seriously lacking the enthusiasm to actually pick it up and start it. Even after four months of sitting on my shelves, I've gone on to read Avengers Forever, Marvel 2-in-1 vols. one and two, Batman: White Knight, The entire Slott Fantastic Four, No Justice, New Frontier, God country, FF Masterworks, Super Sons of Tomorrow AND Superfreaks before it. If that isn't a sign in 'meh'ness, I don't know what is!!!

 

However, now I feel like I've done this title a real disservice because, 10 issues later, I absolutely loved this series. In a world where the big 2 employ an 'illusion of change' over all their characters, this series felt different and full of consequences and, effectively, unpredictable in how it would end.

 

I think what it is I enjoyed about this series was how inverted everything we know about superhero comics as they are. I mean, rare do we see heroes 'Breaking Bad' or going 'undercover', given their natural heroicness (is that a word?) prevents them from being taken seriously. However, given the 'damaged' position that these characters (who aren't particularly big name characters) find themselves in at the beginning, I like that it feels realistically sound that they could conceivably do this.

 

However, Hopeless seems to do a lot more than making a engrossing conspiracy thriller-esque story, instead making it seem like maybe the bad guys side isn't, necessarily, the wrong side. As I read through this series (particularly the first trade), I found myself asking a number of questions: 

• Why haven't the heroes gone after arcade? I mean, nine times out of ten they happily go after villains who have hurt their own but these 'kids' don't seem to get the same respect.
• When these kids commit a 'questionable' (and I put that lightly) act in order to acquire justice for themselves, I noticed Shield were awful quick getting there to arrest them. Again, could/would they have picked up Arcade as quickly?
• When offered the chance to join the Masters of Evil, I thought Zemo actually made some good selling points. The point how everyone has skills which are greater than others, so why are these Superhumans expected to use them in altruistic ways?
• I thought that, in the context of the world's current political climate, Zemo's reasons for his plan are actually really understandable. (That said was his plan a little too intricate?)

Nonetheless, these questions aside, I loved this series for a lot of reasons:

• The characters, particularly the 'heroes'. Hopeless really wrote them well, making them feel realistically damaged and broken and I actually cared about (most of) them. I admit I do wish I knew who they all were better to start with but that's probably my fault for reading this before Arena.
• The villains too are pretty awesome. Zemo and Hellstrom are incredibly charismatic and actually made me think that their line of thinking might actually have some benefits. Constrictor and many of the side players, such as Excavator, are equally enjoyable. Madame Masque is too, although I did think she was too 'nice' compared to how she should be.
• The art in this series was gorgeous throughout almost all of the issues, with Kev Walker and Green's styles looking very much the same, especially the Hell town scenes which are beautifully hellish, but with a neon-like hint. The Tigh Walker issue wasn't as impressive to me but, despite a difference in style, it didn't affect my enjoyment.

In the end, I was actually stunned by how much I enjoyed reading this. I had almost expected to read through it and then sell it on, something of a throwaway story. However, now that I've finished I'm annoyed with myself that I 1. discounted it for all these months and 2. Didn't give Arena more of a chance back when that first issue came out.

I guess it now means I've have to go back and pick up the Avengers Arena trades.

 (And when I say 'have to' I do mean 'want to'!!!!)