By Title: Secret Empire #3
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writers: Nick Spencer
Artists: Andrea Sorrentino, Rod Reis
Story Rating: 9
Art Rating: 6
Color Rating: 7
Overall Rating: 8.5
Marvel Comics dives deeper into Secret Empire as Captain America the supreme leader of Hydra continues to rid the world of once claimed superheroes. His global forces are hunting down possible threats to the new world order by any means necessary. The Cosmic Cube, a source of great power, is the only force capable of reversing the Hydra corruption.
Written by Nick Spencer the main focus of the issue follows our heroes trapped on earth underneath the planetary shield. Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, leads the remaining superheroes to fight back against Hydra. While the Underground heroes track down the Cosmic Cube the only item strong enough to challenge the legion of villains and Captain America.
The artwork within this comic is inconsistent; certain subsections have an art style directed toward a dark and rugged nature with loose line work. The other portions of the comic have a more vibrant art style featuring watercolors with more contained line work giving better shape to characters. The reader may believe they are reading two separate comics.
The main colors presented in this issue of Secret Empire are strong tones of black, red, and blue. The red and black highlight immediate danger or express facial features for instance shading of the eyes almost every character is covered in shadow. The shadows create a feeling of secrecy between characters.
The comic presents multiple cliffhangers within the conclusion. The suspenseful build up will eventually pay off in further issues of this comic book series. These ever evolving circumstances may either help or hinder our superhero friends.
A few good qualities about the story are unpredictability and character development. We see more character development within Captain America himself as he views the world under this new ordinance. His decisions affect the planet as his league of super villains stand tall and abide by his demands. The strategic plans to eradicate any amount of resistance to the Hydra order wherever it may reside till death claims them.
The other points of interest follow character agendas, which place superheroes taking sides of both the Hydra Empire or the underground of makeshift vigilantes. We as readers do not know what to expect as the comic continues to unfold in impactful circumstances. One receives the feeling of hope being lost, as the death toll is tremendous for the Marvel universe. Thousands shall remember the sacrifices made from the aftermath of the greatest betrayal in comic book history.
