Secret Empire #9

In my review of Secret Empire #8, I suggested that “Secret Empire won’t be the sort of conflict that falls apart in the final stretch.” Now I’m wondering if I was too optimistic in that assessment. As much as the penultimate chapter attempts to offer a rousing look at Marvel’s heroes rallying against a common enemy, it ultimately falls pretty flat. This is the sort of bland, action and banter-heavy issue that’s all too common in Marvel’s event comics.

To be sure, there’s a certain amount of appeal in seeing Marvel’s heroes triumph and unite for a change. The tone of the series has definitely taken a lighter turn in the last couple installments. But too often, this issue plays out as a jumbled mess of characters jockeying for space as the battle between the Avengers grows increasingly chaotic. Key moments for characters like Thor and Vision are essentially drowned out in all the white noise.

It certainly doesn’t help that this is probably the weakest chapter of the series in terms of visual quality. Leinil Yu and Joe Bennett’s respective styles clash repeatedly, showing vastly difference approaches to character designs, texture and depicting the general tone of the script. Some of Yu’s pages are detailed and powerful, but too often there’s a loose, rushed quality to his work. Many of Yu’s background figures lack coherent facial details. Rod Reis remains the one dependable force on the series, as his scenes capture the ethereal quality of the interaction between Steve Rogers and Kobik well.

This issue only succeeds when it downplays the general spectacle of the battle and focuses on a few key sets of characters. The Black Ant/Taskmaster material is hilarious, proving once again that Spencer is at his best working with the quirky B-List villains of the Marvel U. The rivalry between Black Panther and Baron Zemo is also a treat. And finally, the resurgence of the X-Men makes for another great moment here, suggesting that maybe these characters should have played a bigger role in the crossover from the start. But in the end, these are isolated moments in a conflict that’s rapidly losing its focus as it nears the finish line.

 

Secret Empire #9

In my review of Secret Empire #8, I suggested that Secret Empire wont be the sort of conflict that falls apart in the final stretch. Now Im wondering if I was too optimistic in that assessment. As much as the penultimate chapter attempts to offer a rousing look at Marvels heroes rallying against a common enemy, it ultimately falls pretty flat. This is the sort of bland, action and banter-heavy issue thats all too common in Marvels event comics. To be sure, theres a certain amount of appeal in seeing Marvels heroes triumph and unite for a change. The tone of the series has definitely taken a lighter turn in the last couple installments. But too often, this issue plays out as a jumbled mess of characters jockeying for space as the battle between the Avengers grows increasingly chaotic. Key moments for characters like Thor and Vision are essentially drowned out in all the white noise. It certainly doesnt help that this is probably the weakest chapter of the series in terms of visual quality. Leinil Yu and Joe Bennetts respective styles clash repeatedly, showing vastly difference approaches to character designs, texture and depicting the general tone of the script. Some of Yus pages are detailed and powerful, but too often theres a loose, rushed quality to his work. Many of Yus background figures lack coherent facial details. Rod Reis remains the one dependable force on the series, as his scenes capture the ethereal quality of the interaction between Steve Rogers and Kobik well. This issue only succeeds when it downplays the general spectacle of the battle and focuses on a few key sets of characters. The Black Ant/Taskmaster material is hilarious, proving once again that Spencer is at his best working with the quirky B-List villains of the Marvel U. The rivalry between Black Panther and Baron Zemo is also a treat. And finally, the resurgence of the X-Men makes for another great moment here, suggesting that maybe these characters should have played a bigger role in the crossover from the start. But in the end, these are isolated moments in a conflict thats rapidly losing its focus as it nears the finish line.