HA Secret Avengers #1

Brubaker writes some pretty badass black ops Avengers. The team's mission statement isn't anything terribly original ("...Stealth tactics and preemptive intervention. We go where we're needed and perform surgical strikes"), but the script makes it work well. Brubaker's got Steve Rogers at the helm, with War Machine, Black Widow, Valkyrie, Moon Knight, Ant-Man, Beast, Sharon Carter, and Nova rounding out the team in this first issue. Steve handpicked the crew based on each individual's unique skill set, and I like the dynamic between characters I wouldn't picture normally working together.

So Valkyrie, Black Widow, and Steve nab a Serpent Crown (or a distant cousin thereof) from a skeevy Roxxon suit, and it turns out the artifact was mined from Mars. Nova investigates but isn't exactly welcome on the red planet. And Nick Fury knocks out Sharon Carter because he's the leader of the Shadow Council and they want their artifact back? Right? Wild.

Choker #3

So I kinda lost track of what's going on in Choker. I mean we're 3 issues into a 6-issue series, but I'm foggy on the specifics. Doesn't particularly bother me, though, since Ben M. and Ben T. produce some wicked writing and art. We get some more info about Jackson's history with Man Plus & where the name "Choker" comes from. Another grisly homicide. And those crazy cracked out vampires. Fucked if I know. But I'll be back for 4, 5, and 6.

Oh and there are some cool photos in the back of the creators getting tattoos at Atomic Comics. The Bens seems like cool dudes.