Decided to just make a new thread; I'd rather talk about other shit in the other thread anyway and since this will be the last big Marvel event for eighteen months if Marvel is to be believed (hahaha), I'm gonna post my thoughts this way. This is pretty much the only neutral zone I have to talk about it anyway, as half the internet is Tumblr-style "this is so problematic and not adhering to coffee shop AU standards" and the other half is Reddit-style "Hydra isn't Nazis ... but if they were, I'd still be okay with it, white power." There's a middle ground of discourse in some places, but it's overwhelmed by the other stuff and just isn't worth trying to make a conversation out of anymore, unlike a year ago when Trump wasn't president and this could be looked at as nothing to do with our reality.
Because I just want to read a fucking story. And despite that Nick Spencer is a douche, and the political climate makes this really wrongheaded, and that it goes against the creators' intent of the character, and that it's too optimistic to expect that, when faced with either being introspective about the prejudice in America vs siding with America's enemies, the Nazis, too many people would be getting swastika tattoos ... FFS that's a lot to disclaim, gods, this was poorly-timed, Marvel ...
Despite all that, this has been a solid story, well-written and interesting. I can only hope the conclusion will follow suit despite my apprehension to otherwise, but in any case, we're not there yet. This is only the beginning of the end of it.
Secret Empire #0
So the big controversy crasher was, unsurprisingly, the very beginning of the issue, events that anyone who's been reading saw coming over a month ago, and ... well, I can't say for certain are being misinterpreted, but are probably being misinterpreted.
Flashback to 1945: the Allies use the Cosmic Cube to rewrite reality so they win, and everything we know of Captain America happens as before up until he's made young again during Standoff, at which point he becomes Hydra Cap.
How I see this: yet another false memory created for Cap by Kobik, "I'm the only one who remembers the real world" aka Cap thinks he's Marvel's Psycho Pirate when really he's been manipulated and gaslighted, only to become the chief manipulator and gaslighter.
How it's being interpreted elsewhere: Cap's flashbacks are the truth of the Marvel universe.
That seems really out there to me, as if saying any of the Marvel universes in its multiverse could be the real one over 616 (or Prime). That would cause a logic loop of each Cosmic Cube rewriting reality back and forth, from the end of WWII to Standoff ... it'd be nonsense and contrary to what else has gone on with all this, so I don't think that interpretation is accurate. But internet's gonna internet.
As for the issue itself, that also is bifurcated:
A. if you haven't caught up with Hydra Cap, it's just a bunch of stuff happening. Yeah, Sharon Carter lays out the situation to Steve at one point, but none of it really holds weight. Kinda like when I read Secret Wars #1 without having read any of Hickman's Avengers. I had no clue what was going on. It's not quite as dense as that, but still, if you haven't read up, the issue is pretty worthless aside from setting up the current crisis.
B. if you have caught up with Hydra Cap, then this is probably the scariest the Marvel universe has been since Annihilation* (and consider that a BIG asterik). The chessmaster stuff here is the kind of thing I'd have loved to see Doctor Doom pull off, except no one would ever trust him. Over the course of Hydra Cap issues, with Cap being given emergency war powers and the faith and trust of everyone that he's the only person who could ever have full support to have it ... and it goes as you'd expect. This feels like Order 66 scene would've felt had Revenge of the Sith been a better movie.
So if you have been reading, I think it's actually worth it. If not, don't bother. It won't be of any value. I still predict the Cosmic Cube is going to "reset to previous save file" by the end of this, but maybe I'll be wrong and this goes into interesting places. I'm fine with levels of that in a more cosmic story, like Secret Wars, but in a story of betrayal, politics, intrigue, more grounded stuff, I don't think such a clean-up would feel satisfying. We'll see.
*I like that the Annihilation Wave is mentioned more than once in the Hydra Cap series. I don't like that it's being compared to a Chitauri swarm (because movies!) that is even bigger, and yet feels like it has none of the weight that did. That wasn't even my favorite cosmic event of back then, but right from the first issue, you feel just how terrible the Annihilation Wave is. Here it's just an outside threat, another of Cap's chess pieces, so saying it's bigger than the Annihilation Wave feels like hollow dickwaving.
Because I just want to read a fucking story. And despite that Nick Spencer is a douche, and the political climate makes this really wrongheaded, and that it goes against the creators' intent of the character, and that it's too optimistic to expect that, when faced with either being introspective about the prejudice in America vs siding with America's enemies, the Nazis, too many people would be getting swastika tattoos ... FFS that's a lot to disclaim, gods, this was poorly-timed, Marvel ...
Despite all that, this has been a solid story, well-written and interesting. I can only hope the conclusion will follow suit despite my apprehension to otherwise, but in any case, we're not there yet. This is only the beginning of the end of it.
Secret Empire #0
So the big controversy crasher was, unsurprisingly, the very beginning of the issue, events that anyone who's been reading saw coming over a month ago, and ... well, I can't say for certain are being misinterpreted, but are probably being misinterpreted.
Flashback to 1945: the Allies use the Cosmic Cube to rewrite reality so they win, and everything we know of Captain America happens as before up until he's made young again during Standoff, at which point he becomes Hydra Cap.
How I see this: yet another false memory created for Cap by Kobik, "I'm the only one who remembers the real world" aka Cap thinks he's Marvel's Psycho Pirate when really he's been manipulated and gaslighted, only to become the chief manipulator and gaslighter.
How it's being interpreted elsewhere: Cap's flashbacks are the truth of the Marvel universe.
That seems really out there to me, as if saying any of the Marvel universes in its multiverse could be the real one over 616 (or Prime). That would cause a logic loop of each Cosmic Cube rewriting reality back and forth, from the end of WWII to Standoff ... it'd be nonsense and contrary to what else has gone on with all this, so I don't think that interpretation is accurate. But internet's gonna internet.
As for the issue itself, that also is bifurcated:
A. if you haven't caught up with Hydra Cap, it's just a bunch of stuff happening. Yeah, Sharon Carter lays out the situation to Steve at one point, but none of it really holds weight. Kinda like when I read Secret Wars #1 without having read any of Hickman's Avengers. I had no clue what was going on. It's not quite as dense as that, but still, if you haven't read up, the issue is pretty worthless aside from setting up the current crisis.
B. if you have caught up with Hydra Cap, then this is probably the scariest the Marvel universe has been since Annihilation* (and consider that a BIG asterik). The chessmaster stuff here is the kind of thing I'd have loved to see Doctor Doom pull off, except no one would ever trust him. Over the course of Hydra Cap issues, with Cap being given emergency war powers and the faith and trust of everyone that he's the only person who could ever have full support to have it ... and it goes as you'd expect. This feels like Order 66 scene would've felt had Revenge of the Sith been a better movie.
One of my favorite moments is as Steve essentially locks Captain Marvel away from Earth. He tells her that Earth needs to be protected from its biggest threats, "and now that you're not on it, Carol, it is." (Paraphrasing.) I'm sure she'll be fine, she could blast away from the solar system if need be, but I'd love if someone's words would finally get through her thick head.
So if you have been reading, I think it's actually worth it. If not, don't bother. It won't be of any value. I still predict the Cosmic Cube is going to "reset to previous save file" by the end of this, but maybe I'll be wrong and this goes into interesting places. I'm fine with levels of that in a more cosmic story, like Secret Wars, but in a story of betrayal, politics, intrigue, more grounded stuff, I don't think such a clean-up would feel satisfying. We'll see.
*I like that the Annihilation Wave is mentioned more than once in the Hydra Cap series. I don't like that it's being compared to a Chitauri swarm (because movies!) that is even bigger, and yet feels like it has none of the weight that did. That wasn't even my favorite cosmic event of back then, but right from the first issue, you feel just how terrible the Annihilation Wave is. Here it's just an outside threat, another of Cap's chess pieces, so saying it's bigger than the Annihilation Wave feels like hollow dickwaving.
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But I'm wondering if I'll make it through the whole thing.
FCBD Secret Empire spoiler!
