Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, Review | Tagged: devil dinosaur, inferno, karnak, Magik, Marvel Comics, Matthew Rosenberg, moon girl, ms marvel, Quake, Ramon Bachs, Secret Warriors, superheroes

Secret Warriors #12 Review: Cake, Risk, and Friendship-Mending

Quake is invited over to Moon Girl's house on the presumption that it's her birthday. When she arrives, she learns that this is supposed a babysitting gig. Worse yet, it turns into a Secret Warriors reunion when Inferno, Magik, Ms. Marvel, and Karnak arrive.

It's also a game night. On the menu is cake and an Avengers-themed game of Risk.

I've been a bit curious about Secret Warriors for a bit but never got around to checking it out. What better issue to start off with than the last, am I right?

Honestly, I am pretty disappointed to see this book get canned. It was a cool team; Ms. Marvel, Quake, Inferno, Magik, and Moon Girl are all great. It's one of the last gasps of the Inhumans in Marvel. Just because Marvel made a huge mistake in trying to position them as the new X-Men, that doesn't mean the Inhumans are a terrible group of characters. I know went a little hard on this particular family of characters in a Royals review a while back, but there are good parts to the mythos, many of the characters in it are great, and I didn't want to see them go away completely. Now, only Black Bolt and the upcoming Inhumans: Judgement Day remain.

How does this comic shape up? It's actually pretty good. It's cute, as condescending as that can sound. Each character is distinct and has good moments. Seeing Moon Girl try so hard to get the Secret Warriors to resolve their problems is sweet. Quake and Ms. Marvel's conflict makes a lot of sense based on their personalities and roles. This is actually the most I've enjoyed Karnak in a long time.

Magik gets underplayed and a little dejected in this comic. That would probably be my biggest criticism; Ilyana doesn't show up enough and is still abused by the rest of the team.

Sure, the whole premise is a bit goofy, but it's good-natured and wraps up the book in a manner that would be satisfying to anyone invested in the team and characters.

The art isn't particularly impressive, but it's not awful either. Ramon Bachs' artwork harkens back to the early-to-mid-2000's era of cartoony and lankier comic book art. It fits the book and its tone, even if it isn't that visually appealing. Israel Silva's brighter and more saturated color work is a little much for the eyes, even if it also fits the tone of the comic.

Matthew Rosenberg sends the Secret Warriors off in a cute and fun tale of mending bridges and respecting differences. It has its flaws, and it's not exciting or action-packed by any stretch of the imagination. However, it was still endearing, and I can recommend it. Pick it up.

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