Now I've been a fan of Hickman's work since he started his baby "Nightly News" and when Secret Warriors began I was heavy into it. I seriously thought this was the black ops team to start SIEGE if not end it with some Sentry-Killing Weapon. Now being defantisied by reality of the comic business I began to accept that this Fury Troop was in its own pocket universe with original characters and story development. Things were running smoothly.

Artwise? It's clearly an attempt to imitate the genius that is Stefano Caselli whom I loved from #1. This Gianluca Gugliotta though... it's such a far cry from what we're used to. Examples like Nick Fury's extremely distorted face and Sunny Gho's dull bright brown coloring are what await the illfated reader who looks forward to the Caselli/Rudoni team. The thing I looked forward about this book the most is definetly the Metal Gear Solid feel about it. Just knowing that a story set in this kind of genre in the Marvel U hits all of the right N-spots for me but this... this just leaves that bitter taste in my mouth.

Scriptwise? A betrayer in the group? Really? After all this time and NOW we're having a traitor? When did JT *actually accept said money? It sure as hell didn't happen in issues 1-15, or ANY of the tie-ins. Also, done much? I mean seriously... does anyone even REMEMBER a title called Avengers: The Initiative? We've already had a traitor story set in the same plot, ugh his name is HARDBALL people! Which brings me to another point: Why is Marvel wasting a perfect cast of characters to build the Avenger U upon by not recycling them in Avengers Academy? ...

All in all, I guess Hickman finally spat out a stinker. I love the guy, don't get me wrong and I bet his attention is elsewhere-SHIELDIGUESS- but whatevs, it's definetly a slacker issue. Bring back Caselli & Rudoni or I'm-a-droppin'-the-best-title-in-the-last-year.

I'd gladly pay 3.99 if it get's back to the good quality it was in at #1