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[Eli Katz]

Find a week when something you really want to pick is coming out and bargain with the person who has that week to trade with you.

I will consider doing that next time if John Snow and Squid don't run me off the board first with their cruel, relentless ridicule.

[Victorian Squid]

I will consider doing that next time if John Snow and Squid don't run me off the board first with their cruel, relentless ridicule.

Oh no Eli, I love a good Bendis prologue issue, although it means you're like 7 issues from anything actually happening..

I hope your nephew is very happy with his prologue.

[******]

Find a week when something you really want to pick is coming out and bargain with the person who has that week to trade with you.

I would like to again take this opportunity to point out that any offer Jude makes to trade for your pick I will gladly double. Any offer Hawk makes, I'll quadruple.

[Eli Katz]

Oh no Eli, I love a good Bendis prologue issue, although it means you're like 7 issues from anything actually happening..

I hope your nephew is very happy with his prologue.

Just think of the prologue as the exciting courtship to a very dull marriage.

[******]

Just think of the prologue as the exciting courtship to a very dull marriage.

I think of the prologue as an issue with Chris Samnee art and immediately become erect.

[fieldy snuts]

I'm about ready to quit the RG because, every time it's my turn to choose, there isn't anything but shit and turds.

Venom. Remender. Moore.

[******]

Venom. Remender. Moore.

You do realize that the Venom and Remender portions of your post cancel out the Moore part, right?

[fieldy snuts]

You do realize that the Venom and Remender portions of your post cancel out the Moore part, right?

Uncanny X-Force disagrees. And despite FrankenCastle being one of the most outlandish mashups I've ever seen, I enjoyed it. Sure as hell not as a Punisher story....but definitely as a work of fiction.

The guy has a talent for oddball concepts like this and producing gold.

[Punchy]

Secret Warriors #25 - 'Wheels Within Wheels' - Hickman, Vitti & IFS

Story - Everybody knows about the Hicklash that is sweeping the comics community, the sudden realisation that "Indie Sensation" Jonathan Hickman isn't actually the greatest comic book mind since Alan Moore, and that SHIELD is a confusing mess and that his Fantastic Four hasn't even been about the actual Fantastic Four. It's sweeping the nation. The Hicklash. HICKLASH! TALK ABOUT IT!

But strangely, Secret Warriors has largely escaped the Hicklash, mainly because it's really good, but also because it hasn't fallen into the holes of Hickman's other work. Until now. In this 25th issue of Secret Warriors, Hickman makes the odd decision to step away from his main story, which is rapidly ramping up towards an epic conclusion. Most of the Secret Warriors are dead, Nick Fury's son is dead, and Nick himself has given himself up to Hydra. Do we get more of that in this issue? Nope, we jump back into the 1950s for an issue of back-story that whilst attempting to answer questions, really ends up posing more. It reminds me, if anything of the episode of LOST from the show's last season, "Across The Sea" which went back and gave us the story of Jacob and the Man In Black. Which was fine, except at that point, the tension involved in the ongoing narrative of Jack, Kate, Locke etc was so high that it wasn't what I wanted. Info-dump chapters like that episode and this issue never really work, the revelations in this issue would be best served parcelled out gradually throughout the series' run, rather than all at once. These mega-reveal issues serve only to overwhelm the reader, and rob each individual surprise of their own space in which to be surprising.

But what exactly are the surprises in this issue? In this issue Hickman expands on the shocking revelation way back in issue 1, that SHIELD had been a subsidiary of Hydra all along. This issue ties all that together and more, as Leonardo Da Vinci (yes, Leonardo Da Vinci) calls all the top Spymasters in the world together to further his purpose on 'The Great Wheel', whatever that is. Nick Fury's there, Dum Dum Dugan's there, Baron Von Strucker is there, a bunch of random Russians are there. What follows is some of the usual Hickman speak about 'architecture of human morality' and all that stuff, and then weird scene after weird scene, all in order for The Great Wheel to get some weird tubes, which some how mutate people. The Russians betray everyone else and form Leviathan, and then a Russian Soldier turns into a Gremlin. There's a joke about Kremlins/Gremlins there, go crazy. Oh yeah, and Nick Fury gets shot in the head, but doesn't die, or something. As I said, it's over-whelming. I thought at one point that the identity of Kraken had been revealed, but then I remembered that the original Kraken was dead. So yeah... Hydra, SHIELD and Leviathan all came out of this Great Wheel, and so did ZODIAC. Who knows what that all means, as we've only got about two issues left.

This issue was probably the first chapter of Secret Warriors that didn't satisfy me, the decision to tie the book to SHIELD in this way alienated me, and the way Hickman decided to reveal all his big secrets in one go had little impact. I've often complained that Hickman could write amazing plots but not characters, and he let his plots overwhelm his characters. The exception was Secret Warriors, where Daisy, Alex, JT, Sebastian and especially Nick Fury were all strong characters. But now this issue drops all these characters (except Nick) at a crucial juncture and got too wrapped up in his conspiracy plots. It's disappointing, hopefully when the story jumps back to the present, things will improve, and the ensuing events will be strengthened by the context of this issue, but until then... this issue was a bust.

Art - At least Alessandro Vitti was on his A-game here. I was disappointed when Caselli left this book in order to do Spider-Man, but Vitti has been an able replacement, and does provide the art in this issue a similarity to Dustin Weaver's on SHIELD. It was strange how his Flashback Nick Fury looked older than the present Nick. Maybe that's a clue! This is the problem with Hickman, if there's a mistake, you tend not to notice it and think instead that's a piece of a massive jigsaw, but in all probability it's just an error.

Best Line - 'Some advice: It's time you stopped playin' games. It's over'

5/10

[Punchy]

I'm about ready to quit the RG because, every time it's my turn to choose, there isn't anything but shit and turds.

Don't let Statler and Waldorf run you out of the group, there's no shame in picking Ultimate Spider-Man, it's a great book.

[Eli Katz]

Don't let Statler and Waldorf run you out of the group, there's no shame in picking Ultimate Spider-Man, it's a great book.

I haven't read USM in a while. So I hope it's a fun read.

The only thing that could drive me from the RG is more Hickman books. I really don't enjoy his writing at all.

[Victorian Squid]

Don't let Statler and Waldorf run you out of the group, there's no shame in picking Ultimate Spider-Man, it's a great book.

Hey Elmo, since everything in SW #25 took place in 1961 onward, you might want to change "Nope, we jump back into the 1950s..." in your review. 1950s is S.H.I.E.L.D. the comic, I guess the most obvious assumption is that Newton and Da Vinci wrecked the city and Leonardo was the last man standing.

[Punchy]

Hey Elmo, since everything in SW #25 took place in 1961 onward, you might want to change "Nope, we jump back into the 1950s..." in your review. 1950s is S.H.I.E.L.D. the comic, I guess the most obvious assumption is that Newton and Da Vinci wrecked the city and Leonardo was the last man standing.

50s, 60s, it's all the same!

And I'm no Elmo, I'm the Grover of the Review Group.

[S.F. Jude Terror]

Abby Cadabby, IMO:

[Punchy]

Abby Cadabby, IMO:

Shut it Mr Snuffleupagus.