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How Imperial Are Today's Secret Empire Comics? Avengers #9, Champions #10, Jessica Jones #10, Brave New World #3, X-Men Gold #7

Published Wed, 05 Jul 2017 07:30:25 -0500

Last updated Thu, 06 Sep 2018 06:42:08 -0500

A look through this week's Secret Empire tie-ins to see which are essential to your Hydra experience and which are mere frippery that you can knock along well without. The more Imperial importance they contain, the more Hydra Heads we give them. Four Secret Empire comics out today from Marvel Comics. And one interloper. Avengers #9, Champions #10, Jessica Jones #10, Brave New World #3, X-Men Gold #7.

As we said elsewhere, Avengers #9 Mark Waid, Mike del Mundo and Marco D'Alfonso is a very engaging story about Thor, sent to another dimension, when opposing Hydra, without her hammer. Funny, moving, easy on the eye and a sweet Bill-Mantlo-esque moment of a comic book. That has little or nothing to actually do with Secret Empire, save for some limited initial setup, above…

Brave New World #3 by Ethan Sacks, Marco Lorenzana, Juan Vlasco, Erick Arciniega, Mags Visaggio, Sean Izaakse, Tamra Bonvillain, Paul Allor, Brian Level and Jordan Boyd continues to explore the world of Secret Empire, by doubling down on its details. A story of the Daily Bugle with Kraven denied his Spider-Kill, and attacking journalists instead doesn't really tally with Captain America's no killing policy or the revelation that Doctor Octopus made the Darkforce dome appear as if it were caused by Parker Industries – that should have been newsworthy for the Bugle?

Star Brand has a crisis of confidence, the unstoppable force meeting the immovable objects and finding itself wanting. Some blockage in life, it seems, just can't be argued or debated with. Pile on the allegory…

While The Invaders fight their own Atlantean civil war down below, divorced from the world and Secret Empire above, dragging down the Hydra heads…

X-Men Gold #7 by Marc Guggenheim, Ken Lashley and Frank Martin is also set under the dome, and also has that Captain America rule about no killing go by the wayside as its slaughter city in Central Park. Hmm… just wondering here – were the X-Men relocated to Central Park and the rest exiled to New Tania so that they wouldn't play any significant role in the plot of Secret Empire, but just operate on the sidelines?

I wonder what the CompleX would think of that? Anyway, a couple of Hydra heads but that's all.

Champions #10 by Mark Waid, Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba and Edgar Delgado however is smack bang in the middle of Secret Empire goings on, as they team look for a compound, a fake town used to keep hundreds of Inhumans. More of a holiday camp than a concentration camp – but you can never leave. And insurrection means death. "I am not a number, I am a free Inhuman!" that kind of thing. And just like The Village, some folk are okay with that.

So plenty of Hydra heads all round…

But weirdly, Jessica Jones #10 by Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Gaydos and Matt Hollingsworth, along with all other Bendis books not crossing over with Secret Empire, yet has a Hydra logo taking up the full front page of the book and seems to predict or reflect Secret Empire scenes.

So Bendis may be trying to stay out of Secret Empire. But it seems his books still want in. So Hydra heads whether he wants them or not. His own Hydra heads.