Secret Empire (Marvel) Review

Honestly, though? Most of theses
characters aren't in this book!

Writer: Nick Spencer

Artists: Andrea Sorrentino, Steve McNiven, Mark Brooks and Daniel Acuna

Background Information:

2017 was the year Marvel shot themselves in the foot more than barefooted man in a needle dump. Inhumans Vs X-Men was all about how evil the X-Men were for being gassed by the Inhumans- a claim that sounds a lot like blaming the twin towers for being in Al-Qaeda’s flight path. Various men over 38 complained that Thor was wearing lipstick and Captain America….

Oh, Captain America.

Review:

Captain America post Secret Wars was turned by Spencer into an agent of HYDRA. This pleased absolutely nobody. So-called “SJWs” hated the change because a character with a Jewish creator was now a Nazi and the “anti-SJW” community hated it because OF COURSE the straight, white, cis character was a Nazi because that’s what pop-culture does these days! That dedication to upsetting just about everyone continues in Secret Empire, which seems dedicated to driving away the last dregs of the Marvel fandom that still exists.

Remember how Marvel is supposed
to be the colourful one?

You know a book has a problem when the title bears no resemblance to what actually happens in  
 
the book. See, a secret is a fact or reality that is deliberately hidden from the public, whereas empire suggests a group of nations that is under the control of one larger, more powerful nation. Pay attention to that as we have a look at the plot of a book that is actually called Secret Empire:

The recently Hydrafied Captain America takes over the USA- and JUST the USA- and then makes everyone aware that Hydra is in charge by BLOWING UP WASHINGTON DC! So, Marvel, if this isn’t particularly secret and also not quite an empire, why are you calling it Secret Empire. Is it because you wanted to bank on the word “secret” that you’ve used in Secret War, Secret Warriors and Secret Invasion? Is it because the word “empire” sounds more like the kind of word used to describe the baddies than “kingdom” or “government”?

And how they had consistent art?

I mention this, because Secret Empire is a book that feels as though it’s more about PR than story. The book tries its best to put the focus on the new legacy characters- not because Marvel has any clue what to do with them (the characters do precious little in the story despite being given a huge chunk of page space), but so that Marvel can parade them around like so many Hollywood celebrities with Ugandan orphans. It’s more about how Marvel appears to the general public than where Marvel are going with the two years of monthly storytelling since Secret Wars.

I’ve heard rumblings amongst the community that Secret Wars is meant to be some scathing criticism of the Trump presidency. I for one am quite fond of Trump criticisms, but if Spencer wants this to be a Trump criticism, he’s absolutely failed at it. Before he got into power, Trump could be most charitably described as “not Hillary Clinton”. Captain America was considered to be an American hero by literally everyone. Furthermore, Cap is able-bodied, brave and intelligent! The only similarity between the two is the fact that they’re both terrible choices and there’s no way that’s enough for the metaphor to work!

And how that art was always interesting?

Nick Spencer isn’t by any means a bad writer. When he’s writing upbeat, humorous books such as his work with Ant-Man and The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, it’s pretty clear that he’s in his element. Secret Wars isn’t an upbeat book though, and Spencer seems to have no idea what to do with it. Most issues he starts out writing relatively dark dialogue which at worst is boring, but then something snaps in his head and he realises that if there isn’t a joke, he’ll likely develop a brain tumour. So he puts in the first joke that comes to his head, which is usually gaudy and instead of the issue just being boring, what we get is an issue that is painful.

If you don’t like to know the ending of books, stop reading now. I would call this a spoiler, but I get the feeling Spencer “spoiled” things enough since the beginning of the new Marvel NOW. One of the biggest kick to the teeth is the way that Secret Empire resolves itself. When HydraCap first started, Spencer insisted that this was the 100% real, cross-his-heart-hope-to-die Captain America. By the end of the book, however, we find out that HydraCap in fact isn’t the 100% real, cross-your-heart-hope-to-die Captain America and that the real version was inside the Cosmic Cube all along. Someone needs to tell Spencer that there is a difference between misdirection and flat out lying and that what he did was definitely the latter!

Actual footage of Nick Spencer in private.

I feel bad for criticising the artists here, because Andrea Sorrentino (who is one of my favourite comic artists currently in the industry) does at least a third of the art duties, but it honestly the worst Sorrentino art I’ve seen to date. Now, as I just said, Sorrentino is an excellent artist, but he’s an excellent artist when the writer knows what to do with him. When he’s working with Jeff Lemire, for example, you get a book that highlights just the right part of the action and it lends the book a kinetic, visceral energy the best example of which are in Lemire’s Green Arrow and Old Man Logan. In Secret Empire, there’s so little action in the issues that Sorrentino draws that we never get that feeling of primal brutality that makes him such an interesting artist.

The other problem is that this is an event book. Event books need big, colourful, artists who work with a sense of grand scale and that’s not Sorrentino’s wheelhouse. As such, the better art in this book comes from the other THREE ARTISTS. Each of these artists, though, have very different styles and as a result, nothing in this book feels like it belongs in the same story as anything around it, like a heroin dealer at a christening.

It’s been a long time since I’ve review a book this big and an even longer time since I spent this much time reviewing a book. But honestly, I keep finding things I hated and really nothing I liked outside of the artwork. It gets one out of five PR projects.

Captain America Vol. 1: Castaway in Dimension Z Book 1 (Marvel NOW!) Review

Captain America Vol. 1: Castaway in Dimension Z Book 1 (Marvel NOW!)

"When Captain America gives everbody
stinkeye!!!"

Writer: Rick Remender

Artist: John Romita Jr.

Collecting: Captain America #1-5

Background Information:

In previous iterations of Captain America, the star-spangled avenger faced some pretty ground-level threats. Recently, though, the Marvel NOW! initiative has taken a swathe of Marvel heroes and put them in new, status-quo-altering situations. For Cap, this means his stories are about to get a lot wierder

Review:

Castaway in Dimension Z has all the elements of a book I thought I would hate; it’s Captain America, who never really grabs my attention if he isn’t on the Avengers, it’s a story about alternate dimension, which is usually too weird for me (I even found DC’s Earth 2 hard to swallow) and it skips forward in time by a decade at one point.

But when reading this trade, I found the unthinkable happening: I was enjoying this book. In fact, I was really enjoying this book.

Okay, so in case the title doesn’t give it away, Captain America is trapped in an alternate dimension, caring for the stolen child of Arnim Zola, who I can only assume is an evil tellytubby (I’m not sure on the spelling, and that doesn’t bother me in the least) from mainland Europe. It sounds simple, but Castaway in Dimension Z  peppers it’s story with a tale form Steve Rogers’ rather terrible childhood, which adds plenty of extra complexity and character development.

Even more interesting, though, is seeing ol’ Cap become a father figure to Zola’s son, Ian. Ian’s a great character, and caring for him helps Captain America become a far more fleshed out character than he’s ever been before. As Steve protects Ian from all of the dangers of Dimension Z, writer Rick Remender somehow turns the WWII hero into an even better soldier, more hardened than previous versions of the character. It’s great to read and it actually makes me care about the super-soldier more than I did before. That’s not saying much, I realise, but I’m actually starting to like the guy now.

The book’s villain may look ridiculous, but both he and his daughter/sidekick feel very fleshed out in this volume. Zola’s hatred for Captain America evolves over time. He moves from simply hating the first avenger for opposing him, to believing that Steve killed his son to believing that Steve kidnapped his son out of some sick desire to torment him. It’s nice to see heroes progress and develop, but villain development is infinitely more satisfying. Zola’s Daughter Jet, also feels oddly fleshed out, considering she only makes major appearances in the last two issues.

My only problem with this story, is that the support characters, bar Ian, are bland beyond belief. I felt no remorse when they died, because the characters didn’t beg sympathy. Thankfully, the cast of supporting characters is kept to a minimum though, so they don’t exactly get in the way of things.

John Romita Jr’s art suits this weird new world like a glove. Harsh lines and exaggerated shapes abound here along with bold dark colours to make this whole world look strange and forboding. The book is littered with strange creatures as well as unfamiliar, alien landscapes. In short, you know you’re not in 616 anymore (note: 616 is the main Marvel universe). Usually, that would be a turnoff for me- you can only get so weird- but here it got me hooked. Each page feels like an act in exploration and it makes me wonder why I didn’t pick this book up sooner.

Castaway in Dimension Z Book 1 is a beautifully crafted book that takes a 90-year-old character and somehow keeps him feeling fresh. It gets a four and a half out of five evil telletubbies (seriously, how do you spell that?).

**** ½

+ Awesome Character development

+ Art presents a gorgeous new world

- Supporting cast is bland

Alternate Option: New Avengers: Everything Dies

Somehow Captain America is in the 616 universe as all of this unfolds. Heh, beats me.

The Avengers, Vol.3

The Avengers Vol.3

Captain America called all of their
mothers fat.

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Daniel Acuna, Renato Guedes, Brandon Peterson

Collects issues 18-24 and 24.1

Read as trade paperback

Background Information:

In the wake of an event known as Secret Invasion, Green Goblin Norman Osborn took over the Avengers. In an era known as the Dark Reign, Osborn utilised the Avengers to commit awful crimes against humanity. His reign ended when he tried to attack Asgard, and the Avengers once again formed under Iron Man and Captain America.

What you probably also need to know is that the Avengers have always had a rotating door; allowing multiple superheroes to enter the team. As such, don’t expect to see Thor or the original Hulk in this group.

Review:

The Dark Reign cemented Norman Osborn as one of the most interesting villains in the Marvel Universe; he’s manipulative, maniacal and very, very rich. The third volume of The Avengers takes full advantage of this character and does a far greater job of introducing new readers than the first volume of Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates.

Vol. 3 is essentially a new beginning for the Avengers. Captain America assembles a new team of avengers that includes Storm and a newly –rebuilt Vision (think a robotic superman and you’re pretty close). In the meantime, Osborn’s organisation H.A.M.M.E.R, the Nazi spin-off group HYDRA, and the terrorists A.I.M have joined forces to create super-soldiers based on the DNA of various Avengers. It’s a plot fit for the Avengers movie, and is actually a better plot all-round. Bendis’ storytelling packs Vol. 3 full of big cinematic moments- the kind that show giant soldiers attacking jets, Hulk-Spiderman hybrids chasing characters through tunnels and Wasp-powered soldiers making short work of Red Hulk. Admittedly, most of the story doesn’t have much in the way of depth- character development is sacrificed in favour of action scenes and witty dialogue. What I can say for the film is that it’s no less shallow than Joss Whedon’s Avengers film, which actually makes it pretty accessible to new readers.

When depth makes an appearance in Vol. 3 is in issue 24.1, which sees Vision trying to adapt to a world in which he has been dead for many years. He mends his relationship with She-Hulk, who apparently ripped him in two many years ago, he confronts Magneto, his father-in-law and mourns the loss of his one-time wife Scarlet Witch. When reading this issue, your heart has to break for Vision; he’s lost so much that Bendis makes us wonder if being repaired by Tony Stark was really the best thing for the robot. It’s a pity we didn’t see more of this scattered through the issue.

I’m a little disappointed that Storm was so under-utilised in this volume. She gets set up rather nicely in Vol. 3, as a suggest recruit by her husband Black Panther, and she is supposed to be the friendly face of Captain America’s new group of Avengers. For some reason, however, Bendis chooses to keep her only to try and zap things with lightning. It’s a shame, as Storm is one of the most interesting of the X-Men, and including her in the Avengers looked like an opportunity to bring her more into the spotlight. For some reason, though, Bendis doesn’t see it that way, and Storm’s inclusion seems only to be a way to fill numbers in the squad. Instead of the bold, dynamic character that the Queen of Wakanda is, she gets written as more of an afterthought.

I get a little worried when I see the names of three different artists on one book. It usually means that the quality of art is going to vary significantly and that destroys the feeling of unity that a book should portray. Thankfully, in the combined efforts of Acuna, Guedes and Peterson, I really didn’t notice any disconnect in the art. That’s a hard thing to do when there’s only two artists, yet these guys pull it off perfectly. The action is drawn really well and the panelling has some moments that really stick out; case point, in a scene where a jet is crashing, thin, diagonal panels cover the page, creating a “speed lines” effect that fits the moment just right.

Overall, The Avengers Vol. 3 is a great starting point for any new reader- the book offers a fantastic story, and the consistent arts helps that along. It’s just a pity that some characters feel underutilised. It gets a 3 and a half out of five speed lines.

*** ½

+ Plot idea is great.

+ So is the art.

- The story itself is fairly shallow.

- Storm is drastically underutilised.

Alternate Option: Ultimates Comics- Ultimates Vol. 1

Okay, it’s nowhere near as good a title, but if you really want a good starting point for an Avengers story, you could do much worse.