Brubaker explains 'Secret Avengers' exit

Ed Brubaker has revealed the reasons behind his decision to leave Secret Avengers.

Brubaker launched the title last year in the wake of Siege, but Marvel's Senior Vice President of Publishing Tom Brevoort recently revealed that Brubaker will finish his work on the series with Secret Avengers #12.

Brubaker explained to Comic Book Resources: "It's just that a lot of personal life stuff went down at the end of last year, and I was getting behind, and I really felt like something was going to have to give.

"I knew that other big stuff was coming up in the future, so I called up Tom [Brevoort] and suggested that I leave the book at 12.

"So I'm glad to hear that everybody doesn't think I was leaving because I sucked at it!" Brubaker added.

Brubaker also revealed that he had hoped to keep cosmic character Nova on the team's roster for longer, but that the events of The Thanos Imperative stopped this from happening.

Brevoort confirmed that the villainous group the Shadow Council, created by Brubaker specifically for the series, would be reappearing in both Secret Avengers and Captain America down the line.

Nick Spencer takes over as writer on the series for a special Fear Itself tie-in arc beginning in Secret Avengers #13.