Secret Empire #4 (of 10)

   Just when I think the Secret Empire series can't do anything to make me more disgusted, it finds a lower level to sink to.

   And boy, does this one push my buttons (and not in a good way).

   The issue is something of an Avengers reunion, but half the team members represented are fighting on the side of Tony Stark (or at least an artificial intelligence version of him), and the other half - quite inexplicably - are fighting for the evil Hydra version of Captain America.

   The only original Avengers missing are the Wasp (who was too smart to get involved in this story, presumably) and the Hulk, who is inconveniently dead at the moment. Yep, we'll never see him again.

   The guest list includes the original Thor (now hammerless and called Odinson - and working for Hydra, I have no idea why), and one of my favorite heroes, Hank Pym (Giant-Man), who is merged with Ultron (again, I have no idea why, and this issue isn't going to explain it to me).

   And we have here the worst Hank Pym that Marvel can generate - the one who is crazy, who has an inferiority complex, and who all the other Avengers hate (and happily tell you how much they hate him).

   I get that Pym is a "minor" hero who never had a big following - but guess what? There are thousands of fans out there, like me, who like the character and only ask that Marvel's writers STOP CRAPPING ALL OVER THE CHARACTER (you know, like DC did to Hal Jordan for years until they realized he had more potential as a hero).

   It doesn't seem like too much to ask.

   Even setting this aside, Secret Empire continues to be a train wreck that careens into an orphanage and catches fire.

   Hopefully at some point Marvel can sort this out and make fans happy to read the adventures of their favorite heroes again - but I'm not encouraged.

Grade: D

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Posted in: Reviews