Everything about the Secret Warriors is messy. Daisy is dealing with a group of children and a reluctant Karnak. Everyone is constantly squabbling and it seems that the impossible mission Coulson sent Daisy on (to free the world of the massive Hydra illusion) is never going to be resolved. At this point you just don’t believe the good guys are going to win.
Kamala Khan is at the center of issue three. As Ms. Marvel she’s been trying to navigate her superhero abilities, her faith and being a teenager. When Hydra hijacks the world her life goes from barely hanging on to fighting for survival. The Inhumans are facing extinction. What’s worse she picks a fight with one of the remaining X-Men who seem to have carved out a country of their own within the United States. And they’re hostile. You have to feel for Kamala. She’s barely an Avenger when this all breaks out. She is constantly fighting with Daisy in how to do things. But it’s not a hero’s world anymore, not when you have Captain America saying hail hydra. Kamala’s bogged down and so is the reader.
You want Kamala to punch someone because you’re tired of the mega Marvel crossovers. You’re tired of yet another set of number one comics, you’re sick of the reboots. And fed up with the multidimensional, overlapping worlds with their watered down characters. How many Beasts do you need? And where did Boom-Boom resurrect herself from? Barely a third rate mutant, here she is in a real hero’s face. The Marvel universe is a seeping mess. And issues two and three reflect the readers’ frustration. Still, you want more of Moon Girl and her dinosaur, Ms. Marvel, Inferno and particularly Karnak who never went through the mist for his abilities. They are the perfect response for a played out storyline. Then there’s Quake. Daisy’s family history is straightforward. Her father is a villain, so she aligns herself with Nick Fury, then Coulson. She’s never been with SHIELD. But like this new world order she’s in, Daisy’s adrift. Fury’s nowhere to be found, Coulson’s missing and how is she supposed to find this savior? And once she finds him, how is she going to right the world?
Overall, you want the comics to be as streamlined as the films. You want to know that Captain America knows who he is. No more amnesiac storylines. Readers want good storytelling, but not at the expense of the multitude of characters in the Marvel universe. Consistency is paramount and that’s the one thing the ‘Secret Warriors’ have going for it.
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