“Secret Empire” #4

We’re nearly halfway through Marvel’s big Event, which must mean it’s time for all the characters to sit down across the dinner table and discuss their problems like a real family. Wait, what? This review contains spoilers

Written by Nick Spencer
Illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, Rod Reis, Joshua Cassara and Rachelle Rosenberg
Inked by Gerry Alanguilan
Colored by Sunny Gho
Lettered by VC’s Travis Lanham

There is a power that can either save the world or doom it! Both Steve Rogers and the heroes arrayed against him need this power! But unfortunately for all of them, the key to possessing this power lies in the hands of the unstoppable Ultron! LIVE IN X-CITING TIMES! SECRET EMPIRE!

While it’s still uncertain where the conclusion of “Secret Empire” will leave the Marvel Universe and it’s heroes, it seems like the character of Pym-Ultron (the creator/creation hybrid left over from the 2015 “Rage of Ultron” graphic novel) has taken on the unlikely role of Oracle, able to step outside the bounds of the fictional construct to provide an almost omniscient narrative on not only the future of the universe, but its present and its past.

Taking a step back for a moment, “Secret Empire” #4 posits the reader at close to the halfway point of this capital-E-Event (counting the zero issue and the shocking-not-shocking additional tenth issue, we’re five deep into an eleven issue series.) Lines have been drawn, the mission – to retrieve more fragments of the cosmic MacGuffin than the other team – is clear, and all that was left was for the inevitable clash between both sides. Spencer cleverly sets the pieces up so that each team member has an equal, narratively relevant mirror image on the opposing squad. Not only does this lead to a fairly even brawl when they both break into Pym-Ultron’s Alaskan fortress at the same time, it helps to accentuate the ‘we’re not so different, you and I’ message that their once friend (and also an enemy) attempts to convey. In one fell swoop, Pym knocks out humans, demi-gods and artificial intelligence alike (an impressive feat,) and forces them to sit around a construct of the dinner table at Avengers Mansion.What follows throughout the rest of the issue is one of the most bizarre occurrences of lampshading in Marvel comics history.

Hank Pym/Ultron, in an attempt to reconcile their differences and, in his words, “Save the Avengers,” returns them to a place of nostalgia for us as much as them – the mansion – and proceeds to comment on just how far they, and consequently the Marvel Universe, has fallen. “This constant bickering and battling,” he berates “always at each other’s throats – it’s all you ever DO anymore! What’s happened to you?! Where did it all go so wrong?” Where indeed. Nick Spencer is too smart of a writer for this to be unintentional, yet it still feels like a strange time to be commenting on just how far this superhero universe has strayed from what both long term fans of the comics and new fans of the recent movies fell in love with. After all, this is right in the middle of an Event that takes the heroes further from that core ideal than ever before. Certainly this issue – in which the Avengers bicker like children, bringing up old conflicts and squabbles (more lampshading) – generally introduces a further level of realism that feels as far removed from the ‘ideal’ of Marvel comics as “Identity Crisis” was from DC’s.

There are moments of levity amongst the drama. Scott Lang is a clear stand-out in this issue and manages to bring everything back from the brink with a couple of comical asides and a genuinely heartening speech. Yu’s art is solid if at times it seems like he doesn’t quite know how to illustrate the divide between Pym and Ultron (entirely forgivable.) The action scenes are excellently paced and his panel structuring manages to make juggling so many moving pieces look effortless. Similarly, the tone of Gho’s colors make the world they are drawn into – literally and figuratively – imposing and almost claustrophobic, and the use of shade – always utilized well in Yu’s art – conveys emotional pathos that goes beyond the words.

As the conflict in “Secret Empire” #4 is resolved and – miraculously – Pym-Ultron sends them on their way, he has one final moment of clarity that elevates him above the fiction. In words of advice/warning to Tony Stark, he states “You’ve all been carrying around this baggage. These regrets…a conflict like this one…can have a cleansing effect…help you face your demons.” All of which leads you to believe that maybe this is the right time to air all of this ‘dirty laundry.’ The central conversation in “Secret Empire” #4, reflected through these final words, feels more and more like an intentional effort to expose all of this emotional baggage in an attempt to exorcise the ghosts that have weighed heavy on the shoulders of these once superheroic characters. What was intended to leave you with a feeling of relief, however, leaves you with a similar feeling that you get when someone rubs some dirt off a patch of your hallway carpet: you knew it was getting unclean, but it’s only when someone highlights it do you realise just how bad it’s gotten.

Is that the point? “Secret Empire” #4 has added a large dose of self-awareness to the proceedings, one that has perhaps been there all along, but further adds fuel to the speculation that this story, rather than being an important and culturally timely commentary on the subtle evil of rising fascism in our society, is instead a knowing attempt to drag the Marvel Universe down a dark path – one that has been signposted for years with books like the original ‘Ultimates’ and ‘Civil War’ – to its extreme and perhaps logical conclusion. Is this in order to make the glowing optimistic light of ‘Generations’ and ‘Legacy’ seem that much brighter? Again, time will tell.

This issue, however, feels like one that is borne of a self-aware cynicism that feels out of place, even in the middle of a series about a fascist Captain America. It’s a stark and unexpected drop in pacing, sure, but more than that; “Secret Empire” #4 is a vehicle for a meta-commentary that feels like an attempt to say “look, guys, we know how bad it’s gotten” and that alone feels a tad self-indulgent. Perhaps instead of forcing your out of characters to just comment on how grim and terrible it’s all gotten, you actually do something about it?

Final Verdict: 6.0 – A strange artifact rather than a competent issue, one that lampshades the problems of the current Marvel Universe while simultaneously adding to them.