Secret Empire (SPOILERS)

[Detective 445]

Secret Empire 0 pulls together threads from several different books which constitute the prologue. They are conveniently laid out here:

I only read the Steve Rogers issue and didn’t really feel like I needed to read the rest to follow what was going on in Secret Empire 0. In Steve Rogers 16 we see Cap’s secret plan start to coalesce as Hydra seeks to reassemble the Cosmic Cube without reawakening Kobik and Zemo appears to kill Bucky.

This brings us to Secret Empire 0 wherein it is outlined that the Cosmic Cube was apparently created by American scientists during the World War II era and used to create the reality that we know as the original Marvel Universe.  Hyrdra’s plan is to use Cap to “undo” that “fake” reality and restore the “true” reality in which Hydra conquers the world.  So they appear to be telling us that the entire Marvel Universe is all just one big EYKIW.

On the other hand, we are still getting the intro text page telling us that Kobik has rewritten reality.  In which case this whole Captain Hydra saga is just one big bad dream that can be Bobby Ewinged out of existence at any time.

In the meantime Nick Spencer has started knocking down the dominos that he has nicely put into place over the last year or so.  This isn’t just a bunch of random stuff thrown together to sell a summer crossover. There appears to have actually been a lot of planning that went into this.

Here’s the way it will unfold going forward:

It doesn't appear that there are too many tie-ins or spin-offs, although I suppose that could change but so far I'm on board for the main series and probably Uprising as well.

[Randy Jackson]

Is Marvel's fascist Captain America losing command of his fans?

[Mark S. Ogilvie]

Well if nothing else they are getting noticed by the press.  Anger from the fans is nothing new is it?  It never seemed to bother marvel before.

Randy Jackson said:

Is Marvel's fascist Captain America losing command of his fans?

[Detective 445]

Very mild spoiler warning

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Steve Rogers #17
Captain Hydra conducts a propaganda interview with a TV reporter and promptly throws her in jail when she asks an unauthorized question. This issue doesn’t advance the Secret Empire plot at all which means it’s not necessary to read it if you’re just following the main story. It does, however, give us some insight into how the Captain is running things and fills in some of the blanks we’ve been discussing in terms of the takeover. This issue draws a lot of inspiration from real world events as we see Cap trying to spin the narrative of his victory in some very familiar ways.

Secret Warriors #2
This series continues to document a group of young Inhumans that is on the run from Hydra. It mainly ties into Secret Empire because Hydra doesn’t much like Inhumans and is trying to round them all up and put them in what basically amounts to a concentration camp.  I usually don’t have much of an affinity for these books that focus around the newer generation of characters but this one has really caught my interest.  Mostly because it’s really funny. I especially like how Karnak is being used as comic relief.  I really like the art on this one too. As with Steve Rogers, this one isn’t really crucial to following the main series. 

[Jeff of Earth-J]

“Captain Hydra conducts a propaganda interview with a TV reporter and promptly throws her in jail when she asks an unauthorized question.”

I remember the discussion we had on this board regarding the same reporter’s previous interview with Cap during Secret Wars. Her criticism of Captain America’s non-use of social media was presented as a “slam dunk” leaving Cap speechless, whereas the general consensus on the board at that time (certainly my opinion) was that it was just bad writing. It’s not unheard of for a politician to schedule a follow-up with the same journalist from a controversial interview.

“This issue draws a lot of inspiration from real world events as we see Cap trying to spin the narrative of his victory in some very familiar ways.”

I found this entire issue somewhat disturbing.

[Detective 445]

I'll give the usual spoiler warning here although there didn't seem to be any major developments in today's books

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Secret Empire #3

This time around we get continuations of the various subplots we saw last issue:

• The other (possibly time displaced) Steve Rogers continues to try and help the woman he saved last issue. Still no indication of where they are.
• Starlord tries to recruit help from various alien races with no success and Captain Marvel and friends continue to float around in space.
• Black Widow plots to kill "Stevil" and trains her New Warriors team for the missions they will carry out in the Uprising comic.
• The rebel heroes talk Sam Wilson into helping them across the border so they can search for Cosmic Cube fragments. Apparently some of them have a secret plan to meet up with Hank Pym, who appears to have merged with Ultron. Don't know if that already happened prior to Secret Empire.
• Stevil's underlings attack Atlantis and Wakanda as they also continue to search for the Cube fragments.
• The Punisher enters the fray and appears to be working for Stevil.

Secret Empire Uprising #1

Black Widow sends her Champions team on a mission to infiltrate what looks to be a Hydra version of the American Idol competition. Not imperative to the main story and definitely not my cup of tea.  The tone just felt all wrong to me.

Captain America Sam Wilson #22

Again, not crucial to the main story. But we do learn how Sam ended up in Montana helping fugitives get across the border.  I imagine regular readers of this book will be disappointed with the lack of substance here.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

Nice recap but as you say, no major developments.

Now I’m thinking the “time displaced Cap” might be the “Dimension Z Cap” (because Sharon is with him).

Regarding your speculation about regular readers of CA:SW: you imagine correctly.

I am in the process of re-reading Steve Englehart’s “Secret Empire” story from the ‘70s. Yesterday as I read Secret Empire #2, I kept imagining what each panel would have looked like if drawn by Sal Buscema. I’ve got to admit, if some of the characters had not been identified by dialogue, I would have no idea who they were. I’m still convinced that the one identified as “Hercules” is, in fact, Wil Wheaton.

[Detective 445]

Jeff of Earth-J said:

Now I’m thinking the “time displaced Cap” might be the “Dimension Z Cap” (because Sharon is with him).

I've been thinking that this new bearded WWII Cap is somehow tied into Standoff. There was a point during that story where Kobik restored "Old Steve" to his younger self and we see a bunch of flashbacks to the past. Maybe when she restored him as Captain Hydra, she actually kept the original Steve's consciousness as a sort of backup and stored it within Captain Hydra's mind. That could explain the dreamlike quality of the scenes involving bearded WWII Steve.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

That makes sense... in a comic-booky sort of way.

[Philip Portelli]

Hawkeye's plan to reassemble the Cosmic Cube and return Cap to normal is risky at best as they don't know exactly how much of the 616 reality was changed. They can't just zap Steve back to his true self with the world the way it is. Most of his HYDRA inner circle wants him gone as he is!

Plus two events happened in this new reality:

• the Red Skull was killed
• Professor X's brain fragments were destroyed

Re-altering reality may undo those acts and create yet another menace.

[Detective 445]

Strangely enough, It’s not really clear if this even started from the 616 Universe.  Technically, that continuity was wiped away during Secret Wars and replaced with something new by Reed Richards.

[Philip Portelli]

With the addition of displaced people from other times/dimensions/alternate realities like the Young X-Men, Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, the "other" Spidey from Renew Your Vows, Red Wolf and the Squadron Supreme, it may have been easier to rewrite this continuity as there were already loose threads and pinholes in it.

[Mark S. Ogilvie]

Will this be a way to bring back Prof X?  I'm not sure if he's still dead or not.

Philip Portelli said:

Hawkeye's plan to reassemble the Cosmic Cube and return Cap to normal is risky at best as they don't know exactly how much of the 616 reality was changed. They can't just zap Steve back to his true self with the world the way it is. Most of his HYDRA inner circle wants him gone as he is!

Plus two events happened in this new reality:

• the Red Skull was killed
• Professor X's brain fragments were destroyed

Re-altering reality may undo those acts and create yet another menace.