“Agents of Nothing Pt.1″
“Secret Invasion” has passed and Norman Osborn has ascended and now wields absolute power in the Marvel Universe. In these dark times trust is scarce. With this in mind Nick Fury assembles a unit accountable to no one but him. They are the Secret Warriors.
Well, here it is. After a breathtaking debut with The Nightly News, and a handful of great sophomore efforts such as Transhuman and Pax Romana, comes Jonathan Hickman’s debut in the Marvel Universe.
Recently, Marvel have made a habit of teaming experienced writers with up and comers, fresh from the indie scene: Brubaker and Fraction on Immortal Iron Fist, Remender and Fraction on Punisher: War Journaland so on. It seems they’ve done the same here, teaming up Bendis with Hickman. Bendis has been highly vocal about his love for Hickman’s work (and rightly so, go and seek out The Nightly News) and one gets the impression he played a large part in getting Hickman over to Marvel in the first place. Ever sinceCheckmate debuted over at DC, I’ve had a yearning for a similar espionage style book set in the Marvel Universe. Secret Warriors is that book, and then some.
A lot of people are going to be coming to this book on the back of Hickman’s buzz and may not have prior knowledge of Secret Invasion and the fallout from that event. Hickman starts the story wisely with a character moment between Quake and Hellfire, which subtly reveals both of the characters’ thoughts and feelings about being recruited by Fury into this new unit. Then before we know it, we’re whisked off into an action packed fight between the Secret Warriors, Hydra and the brand new S.H.I.E.L.D replacement, H.A.M.M.E.R.
I was a big fan of Stefano Caselli’s work on Avengers: The Initiative, and I’m pleased to see him getting even more work at Marvel. The aforementioned three-way battle is beautifully rendered (combining well with Daniele Rudoni’s colours). It’s like a vibrant, hyper kinetic version of the Steranko Fury comics of old.
After the action comes another great character moment as we get our first real glimpse at the dynamic between the team and their mentor, Nick Fury himself. The impression that Fury has been schooling these kids for months really comes across. Some respect him, others have a rebellious streak, and then there’s Phobos (I won’t spoil that scene). Again, Hickman alternates the scenes nicely following all this with another great action set piece (one which shows that Fury hasn’t lost his touch) before culminating it all in a great twist worthy of a certain espionage show (you’ll get what I mean when you read it).
Once you’ve read the story though, the book is far from finished. One of the great things about Hickman’s work is the fact that he incorporates so many elements of his graphic design background into the narrative. Here it’s displayed as back matter. I’m such a sucker for this kind of stuff so I was in heaven. Your mileage may vary though. What we get in the back of the issue are some great looking diagrams detailing Hydra hierarchy, details of some of their front organisations, geographical locations of secret bases, details of the “Caterpillar files” used to find the various members of the “Secret Warriors” (and maybe some hints at future team members?), characters journals, etc. As I stated, I have such a nerd-on for things of this nature, Marvel Handbooks and the like, so I adored this back matter.
If you’re a fan of Hickman’s previous work, you’ll feel right at home here, with the added bonus of seeing his impressive design work being used within the Marvel Universe. You can clearly see why Bendis thought Hickman would feel right at home in the Marvel U., and more specifically on this book. Hickman clearly has thought A LOT about the background and the world these characters inhabit and it really does shine through here, as does a real enthusiasm.
All in all, this is a great start for Hickman in the mainstream with a great hint of what’s to come and what he’s capable of, given the opportunity.
A great Marvel debut for one of the best writers to come out of comics in recent years which marries Hickman’s design sensibilities with a rip roaring spy tale.
