Secret Empire #1
I got into this storyline because of the free comic book day excerpt. I missed the #0 issue. A school is named after Daniel Whitehall. Hydra have taken over somehow. Text-books have been burned and the outcome of WW2 rewritten. Hydra is a collective trauma. Captain Marvel whines. Why is the Hulk now Asian? Who is Wasp? Who is Vin Vision? Why is Spider-Man’s costume different? Why is Thor not Thor anymore? Mutants have a sovereign nation. Is Hydra Works a shout-out to ‘House Of Cards’? Why is Ironheart the new Ironman? Sharon sulks. This was preposterously melodramatic with twisted intensity.
Why is Cap Hydra? Why is Tony Stark an AI? He is still a tool with a dreary sense of inevitability. Tony Stark and his self involved disgruntlement is an entirely gratuitous presence. Cap is morally conflicted. Who is Rick Jones? This was good and better than that DC comic I read with Batman, the Flash, Thawne, Batman’s dad, the cosmic treadmill and The Comedian’s badge.
Best Lines:
“Punish weakness!”
“Report threats.”
“Resistance equals death.”
“I told you we shouldn’t have let them keep the internet.”
~
Secret Empire #2
NY is in peril. Wilson Fisk has controlled menace. This was over-aestheticed. Selvig was Hydra? Oh come on! Black Widow lacks serious insight. This was not brilliantly incisive or revealing. But it is gloriously bonkers. Cap isn’t really bad but his narrative recollection has been rewritten by adversial scheming. All this worthiness is gone. Clint killed Bruce? Cap now has passionate adoration for Hydra. Bucky is dead? Clint and Black Widow are in a relationship? Another Steve Rogers wonders around? WTF? This was okay, people assess the trustworthiness of Cap due to the purposeful alteration of him and they have differing ideologies on how to deal with him. People have been scathing about this storyline but I like it.
Best Lines:
“A Hep-A outbreak thanks to the poor sanitation.”
“He was also secretly Hydra (I know. Who isn’t right?)”
“Felt like Shmidt wasn’t keeping it real enough--”