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Secret Empire (Single Issues)

FCBD 2017: Secret Empire #1

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As Hydra puts their plans into action, Nick Spencer and Andrea Sorrentino bring you the opening salvo in a story that will rock the Marvel Universe and leave fans' jaws on the floor!

23 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 7, 2017

46 people are currently reading
81 people want to read

About the author

Nick Spencer

998 books345 followers
Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.


Nick Spencer is a comic book writer known for his creator-owned titles at Image Comics (Existence 2.0/3.0, Forgetless, Shuddertown, Morning Glories), his work at DC Comics (Action Comics, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents), and for his current work at Marvel Comics (Iron Man 2.0, Ultimate Comics: X-Men).

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5 stars
104 (36%)
4 stars
79 (27%)
3 stars
67 (23%)
2 stars
22 (7%)
1 star
15 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Alejandro.
1,310 reviews3,777 followers
June 1, 2017
The Secret Empire begins here!


This single comic book is part of the Free Comic Book Day event in 2017.


Creative Team:

Writer: Nick Spencer

Illustrators: Andrea Sorrentino


SWIMMING AGAINST THE CURRENT… SELLS

Even if you haven’t read this comic book event, even if you’re not fan of Marvel, even if you’re not into comics in general, only of being active in social networks and digital newsfeed, it’s very likely that you have heard the “bomb”…

…Captain America was a Nazi.

Yes, I know. Yes, I understand. Believe me, taking in account that Captain America was created by two men, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, who happened to be Jews; turning his most famous joint creation into a Nazi sympathizer should revolt the stomach of any person with common sense and respect about the Holocaust.

Captain America debuted in 1941 and the first thing that he did in the very cover of his first comic book issue was punching Adolf Hitler in the face! And now Steve Rogers, was he a Nazi even before becoming Captain America?

With similar controversial comic book events by Marvel in the past like Spider-Man’s Clone Saga, one would think that the House of Ideas, already should learn its lesson and not touching certain angles, but one can’t deny that controversy sells, and controversy involving real life events like WWII is quite efective to sell, since while I’m pretty sure only comic book fans (hey! I am one!) are talking about the involvement of The Watchmen in the Rebirth timeline of DC Comics, I have noticed that turning Captain America a Nazi has been trending in many different type of social groups. And certainly the morbid curiosity sells.

So, as Oscar Wilde said once: The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

In this FCBD issue, you’re introduced to the shocking invasion by Hydra forces to Washington DC, where the Marvel heroes are defeated and Captain America (aka Steve Rogers) is leading the invasion and...

...he is able to do something that due his “new status” shouldn’t be worthy of doing.

The Secret Empire began!

This comic book issue is just the starting point for this Marvel event, so I think we all should wait to find out how it will be resolved, for beginning to complain, but trust me, anybody with common sense should be ofended for the very premise of this event, but again, I can understand the cunning movement by Marvel, since I’m sure that not matter if it’d for morbid curiousity or blunt hate, this comic book event will sell, and at the end, Marvel Comics is a business company whose goal is selling as many comic books as possible, and with this event, they’re doing its job.

I only hope (and that’s Captain America, a symbol of hope) that the creative team would have a secret card on their sleeves for resolving in a satisfactory way this event.


P.S.

The FCBD issue includes too an excerpt from Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #1 where Spidey battles a Vulture, wearing a new type of flying suit (all indicates as a stolen SHIELD design), and where a new character got in the middle of the fight.


Profile Image for Lör K..
Author 3 books94 followers
December 16, 2017
This was great until I realised this was the comic series that turned Captain America, the hero created by Jews as a source of empowerment during/after WWII and the horrendous things that happened to them, into a HYDRA member, mostly commonly known as Neo-Nazis in the movies! Whether they're NNs in these comics is unknown but shitty move man. Shitty. Move.

The artwork is good, the story is REALLY well written but for the first paragraph of this review, enjoy a 1.5/5 star review.
Profile Image for Kim.
381 reviews70 followers
June 21, 2017
This was entertaining but only really because of the spidey prelude at the end... which I'll be picking up this week ;)

As for secret empire- bit hard to follow since I'm not up to date on marvel bits so have no clue what's really happening. Except for that little while ago when there was an outcry of death threats towards the writer who made Captain part of hydra or something... is that still a thing?!? Apparently so...
Profile Image for Grace Arango.
1,350 reviews674 followers
June 22, 2017
CURRENTLY FREAKING OUT!

OH MY GOSH THE SECRET EMPIRE IS SCARING THE CRAP OUT OF ME!

It's official, this is my favourite free comic book day issue!

The art style in this was so strikingly different and it set the tone of it being so dank! I am scared about what is going to happen next in this alternate universe. I honestly can't.
Profile Image for Mert.
Author 13 books82 followers
September 26, 2020
3/5 Stars (%64/100)

I hated Captain America from the beginning. Chris Evans is a really good actor so he made me like the characters a bit but I continued to hate the comic version. This free version of Secret Empire deals with Captain America's supposed enemy Hydra. Though I don't really remember it vividly, I quite enjoyed this one mainly because of its length. Also, it was free so it's a win-win.
Profile Image for James DeSantis.
Author 17 books1,203 followers
May 7, 2017
Man I loved the shit out of this. So it's broken into two parts. Secret Empire prelude basically and Spectacular Spider-man (written by someone other than Dan Slott, YAY!)

What I liked: The SE storyline is really shaping up to be special. I've been really getting sucked into the world of Hydra Captain America. It's both intriguing and crucial to our time and shows how fakeness and lies can spread like venom. I also really loved the surprise twist (even tho it was spoiled) that leaves me wanting to really dive into Secret Empires. I loved the shit out of the Spectacular Spider-man storyline too. One big bonus is Spider-man is FUNNY again. I was actually laughing while he was fighting the vulture. Also artwork was top notch for both.

What I didn't like: With him fighting the vulture it came off as a movie stunt. Put the bad guy from the movie into the comic. Seemed lame.

This is a really fun little free comic to get you hyped about two comics. It does that 100%. Can't wait for both of these.
2,081 reviews18 followers
May 24, 2017
I am not a fan of the idea of Captain America as a Hydra agent, but since I primarily read Marvel comics, and there were only two available, I picked this up. Not only is that story not one I enjoy, it isn't executed terribly well, either. The art is so obtuse that it is difficult to figure out who some of the characters are, or why they are engaged in a fight in the first place (a bit more time spent establishing that would have been good for a comic that is meant to introduce an event to new readers). The surprise ending is not very well thought out. I'm ready for this event to be over already, so I can start wearing my Captain America shirts again.

The second half is a Spider-Man story with a bunch of jokes in it that are really forced, and which really didn't interest me in reading his book.

Overall, there were significant issues in art and writing with both of the stories in this book, even apart from the controversy about the Secret Empire event.
Profile Image for Nancy.
1,708 reviews51 followers
May 7, 2017
I was leery of this title, as Marvel has had uneven success with their events, and I’m of very mixed feelings if I want to invest time in the Secret Empire, after being so dissatisfied with Civil War II. Captain America comes out as a secret agent of Hydra, and his former friends and heroes fall in battle against him. This very short introduction to the upcoming series has me torn. I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t sucked in either. Time will tell if I want to continue. The last half of the comic was a fun Spiderman vs The Vulture story. It had some snappy dialogue between the two about “you’re so old that…” and had a tease for future story lines.
Profile Image for Lillian Francis.
Author 15 books101 followers
April 11, 2019
Four stars for the Spiderman, sorry, Spider-man story. Great artwork, amusing story. I'll definitely be follow this one on.

Hate the artwork in the Secret Empire starter, if the rest of the series is like this I won't be reading any further. I think I can see what they were going for but I could barely recognise characters I've been following (however loosely) for decades. I'll pick up what happened in the wiki pages. 2 stars, and that's being generous.
10 reviews
August 15, 2017
The short teaser for Marvel's Secret Empire honestly stunned me, especially the last page. The events presented in this Free Comic Book Day comic are an exaggerated, encapsulated version of what happens in the actual series (somewhat like watching a movie preview that contains alternate scenes, and just as effective), but the final page is a true stunner.
Profile Image for Arsnoctis.
842 reviews150 followers
January 11, 2018
Le tavole di Sorrentino sono godibili e sembrano fare da controaltare alla bandiera americana, la sceneggiatura di Spencer non colpisce per originalità.
Letto nell'edizione italiana pubblicata da Panini Comics.
[2.5 arrotondato per eccesso]
139 reviews
May 9, 2017
Loved both, the Secret Empire one, and the Spider-Man one.
1 review
July 29, 2017
Excelente

Muy buen inicio para un nuevo evento marvel 😍 así hay que esperar como se sigue desarrollando. Muy buen Comic
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

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