Reviewer: Tim Sheridan
Story Title: Secret War: Part 2
Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Art by: Brent Anderson
Colored by: Pete Pantazis
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Cover Art by: Mike Mayhew
Production by: Omar Otieku
Assistant Editors: Nicole Wiley and Molly Lazer
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Publisher: Marvel Comics
For the first time, pretty much ever, I was disappointed by a comic book written by Brian Michael Bendis. Since 2000, when I read his Fortune and Glory book, I’ve been hooked. I’ve just been one of his biggest fans, and follow every book he writes. I usually like it too. Even the Elektra story he did interested me on some level.
But this issue was the first comic that he’s written that I have not liked at all. I didn’t go into it hating it, or wanting to dislike it. But it just rubbed me the wrong way. This “Secret War” series he has going on is a hoot. It’s so much fun, and I’ve been loving it. But the side story in The Pulse seems like the “deleted and extended scenes” I’d find on the DVD. I didn’t mind it so much for the first part. It was a bit annoying, but not overtly. But this issue I thought would push things forward. We have this great character, Jessica Jones, and all she does is do and say things we’ve heard before. She meanders about and with almost no forward motion. And that’s disappointing from Bendis. Because this series only comes out every two months, the story that is taking place here has already happened in Daredevil, Secret War, and any other Bendis-related book. So it feels a bit like we’re playing catch up.
I feel bad trashing a book by a writer who I very much respect, but I guess I just expected more.
As for the art, Brent Anderson also disappoints. His work is usually so excellent over in Astro City, and I was expecting that high standard once again. Unfortunately, his work here seems sketchy and sloppy. Perhaps it is a creative choice, or perhaps it is because he is overworked, doing both this series and Rising Stars, as well as additional Astro City work. Either way, it just doesn’t seem to work.
I really hope this series turns itself around. The bimonthly schedule does not help it at all, as it just doesn’t seem as immediate as Bendis’s Daredevil does or his or Alias did.
