I have to be honest: the only parts of Secret Invasion I really liked were the small scope, side issues -- pretty much all written by Bendis. I really dug the personal characterization in the face of such wide-screen events.
After the end of SI, though, I thought I'd be taking a "no thanks" approach to Dark Reign. Marvel had gotten quite enough of my money, I thought.
Was it because of the lovely Jim Cheung cover on Secret Warriors #1 that I picked it up? Was it because it had Bedis' name on it? Was it because I think Nick Fury is totally hot? Maybe, probably, and definitely.
I was not expecting to care much for this book... but as it turns out, it ROCKED MY EVENING. This was a totally bad-ass issue... and if it's any indication what we have in store for the rest of the series, consider me on board. Even the art, which looked good, but which I also noticed was not Cheung (one of my favorites from SI) took me by surprise with how amazing it looked. Pencils, inks and colors REALLY seemed to gel here into a cohesive, atmospheric unit. Plus Nick Fury looked... woof!
If you were pissed about the non-ending of SI, do yourself a favor and pick up Secret Warriors #1. It has done for the Avengers universe what Astonishing X-Men did for the mutants: restored my interest in another corner of the Marvel universe!
