Published by - Marvel Comics
Written by - Nice Spencer
Art by - Daniel Auna and Rod Reis
Letters by - VC's Travis Lanham
Release Date: April 19, 2017
To be able to truly appreciate the 'Secret Empire' crossover you have to be vested in the idea that Captain America: Steve Rogers series' is built upon, that Steve Rogers thinks himself to be a secret Hydra agent. This event is the ultimate culmination of that fact as Steve Rogers uses his brilliant strategic mind to achieve his goal of one nation under Hydra rule. And this 0th issue of Secret Empire does more than enough to launch this new event based on all the build up from the last year.
Despite Marvel's recent bad performance with most of its crossover events (IvX, Civil War II, Clone Cospiracy etc.), I do have high hopes from the 'Secret Empire' as I am one of those readers who liked the of Steve Rogers as a villain. This issue also does my hope justice, as it is not just a prequel issue like the numbering suggests, but rather kicks the event into a solid and action pack start as Rogers attempts at dividing and incapacitating most of the heroes of the Marvel Universe using his recent promotion as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The issue also has a prologue delving further into the secret past of Steve adding an interesting twist into the Hydra's background. The action sequences are nicely done and the plot progression is as fast and aggressive as befitting the overall concept. Reading this issue made me much more vested in the total idea of this crossover as a reader and that is an achievement in its own in my opinion.
This issue is jam-packed with big name characters of Marvel Universe, and while it is quite impossible to give everyone their due screen-time, Nick Spencer does a fine job of establishing the main characters in this unique struggle. Hopefully author will establish the whereabouts some of the other teams and characters missing so far from this struggle pretty soon.
The art is quite extraordinary and completes the plot of such a huge event while adding depth to the mood of the characters. The action seems to flow and is quite enhanced by beautiful artwork from Daniel Acuna. The atmosphere Rod Reis created on the prologue with his unique style added much to the atmosphere. If this event continues to deliver such top-notch art it is bound to be a step towards Marvel finally getting an event that does deliver.
I am quite vested in the idea of Steve Rogers as a Hydra agent and that might have been why I like this issue so much. This issue or rather this event as a whole is bound to have a mixed reaction for sure, but I, for one is one the positive side on this.
A big 'HAIL HYDRA' from me and this gets 4.5 out of 5.
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