SECRET EMPIRE #3 Continues With Twists and Turns Including New Hero Gone Hydra
I am officially saying this is my favorite story arc from Marvel Comics. Captain America turning Hydra has led to so many more interesting things than I could ever expect, and it looks like he isn't the only one turning to Hydra for guidance.
In the story arc, many things remain the same. A fight with Lovecraftian horrors in a completely trapped New York City and Swarms of an alien invasion being held back by heroes outside of Earth who can not get back into Earth. For them, the story isn't so much about progressing, as much as it is enduring. They have to survive until the other heroes can fix everything. Which is proving to be much more difficult in a Hydra-run America.
Spoilers from here on out. So quit now if you don't want anything spoiled. I would recommend reading this series if you haven't been. The art is great, and character limits are stretched. We see them in a dire situation, not years in a future apocalypse, but rather right after they all lose. We always see the heroes win, but rarely get to watch them after they lose.
As for who has gone full Hydra after Cap's turn, I'll get straight to it. Punisher. Punisher is fully embracing this new society where the strong rule. He has a Hydra skull logo and everything! He's looking to take care of things that even the top men of Hydra don't want to get their hands dirty with.
It's really amazing to see how a different societal perspective changes people. While some embrace it, others choose to fight it. The real battle has to do with collecting the Cosmic Cube Shards which are scattered around the world. Of the shards we know of, there's one held by Namor, one by Wakanda, and another held by Hank Pym. And if you think that Hank Pym is a good guy, you have another thing coming. A couple years back, the original Ant-Man fused himself with Ultron, or Ultron fused himself with Pym. Either way, they are the same now. The Avengers did battle with him and threw him into the sun, but apparently that didn't take. So now we've got this mess. It's unrevealed what sides Pymtron will be taking. It all depends on who's in charge.
This series really is amazing. Every little bit leads to interesting storylines. Kingpin is acting mighty heroic in New York, while every other alien race is more than happy to see Earth destroy itself from the inside out. It's how a big comic event should be. Looking back, there have been some pretty good ones and also some pretty silly ones. While many of them deal with heavy issues, it's all outward. This shows how characters are internally affected by social change and beliefs being tested. I can't believe Punisher has gone Hydra. Who's next?