Secret Empire Tie-ins (ongoing series)

In this post:

Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 #29 – 31

Occupy Avengers #8 – 9

Champions Vol 2 #10 – 11

X-Men: Blue #7 – 9

Previous Posts:

Tales from Inside Hydra

Avengers #9 – 10

U.S. Avengers #6 – 9

Deadpool Vol 4 #31 – 35

Under the Darkforce Dome

Uncanny Avengers Vol 3 #24 – 25

Doctor Strange Vol 4 #21 – 24

X-Men: Gold Vol 2 #7 – 8

Beyond the Defense Shield

Ultimates 2 Vol 2 #7

Mighty Captain Marvel #5 – 8

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1

Amazing Spider-Man #29 – 30

Background:

Tie-in Synopsis:

Issue 29

As the issue opens, Peter Parker is London preparing to do an interview about the recent involvement of his companies involvement in the liberation of Symkaria. Peter’s publicist, who knows he is Spider-Man, tells him that now is the time for Peter Parker, Spider-Man and no matter what he has to do this interview for the sake of the company.

Shortly after the interview begins, the news that the Alpha Flight Station is under attack by a wave of Chitauri and the Masters of Evil are attacking Manhattan. The newscaster tells Peter that interview is over so they can cover these two events as they unfold. Peter is understanding and returns to the Parker Industries office.

When he arrives his Spider-sense tells him something is wrong so he suits up as Spider-Man, Peter Parker’s bodyguard and goes inside.

Once inside he realizes that things are amiss and it turns out that they are all Hydra agents.

Before they can attack, a voice tells them to stand down and tells Spider-Man to come into Parker’s office…

Sitting at the desk is

who proceeds to ask Peter to peacefully transfer the control of Parker Industries to him, since as he says it basically his inventions that Peter is profiting from his inventions.

Sidenote time: Most people reading this probably know but just in case, Doc Ock at one point transferred his consciousness into Peter’s body and Peter’s into his comatose body. While Doc Ock was in Peter’s body he went by the Superior Spider-Man. ..or something along those

Of course, Peter refuses and Doc Ock shows him a news report about the Darkforce Bubble over Manhattan and Parker Industries is responsible. Of course, the two start fighting after Parker refuses to give into his demands. Spider-Man also receives Tony’s message about Hydra’s assault on Washington D.C. Peter jumps in his rocket and heads to D.C. to help as Doc Ock leaves also destroying the Parker Industries building in the process.

Issues 30 – 31

The book open with the scene of the heroes defeated and Hydra-Cap holding Thor’s Hammer. Spider-Man orders the other heroes to retreat, taking Mockingbird with him. Once they are back at his plane, Mockingbird says that need to start a resistance but Spider-Man says he has to stop Doc Ock from taking over Parker Industries as Hydra sees it as either a threat or asset to their plans.

Doc Ock is at the San Francisco Parker Industries building where he is greeted by some X-Men who are also laying claim to the building. The X-Men allow Ock in after he threatens future Hydra entanglements with the mutant nation that Hydra-Steve has allowed to exist.

Peter decides to make his stand in Shanghai and sets plans in place in case things don’t go in his favor. When Doc Ock shows up and Peter uses his Spider vehicles to try and take him down, Peter learns that Doc Ock has hacked all his vehicles and has complete control over them.

After Peter realizes he can’t beat Doc Ock, he uses the “nuclear option” and shuts down and destroy all the research the company was doing so it didn’t fall into Hydra’s and Doc Ock’s control.

In the last page, Doc Ock is back at the Hydra base

How does it tie-in to the overall Secret Empire storyline and when does it take place?

The tie-in story takes place at the beginning of the Secret Empire event. Issue #29 takes place around Secret Empire #0 and Issue# 30 and 31 take place after the events of the Secret Empire FCBD comic and before the Secret Empire #1.

Is it necessary to read to understand the read Amazing Spider-Man to understand what is happening in the larger story?

As things stand in the event at this moment, not really. At most, it explains why Peter has not been seen after the events in Washington D.C. and sets up Doc Ock up as a member of the Hydra-Avengers. It is also the way the new Superior Doc Ock is reintroduced back into continuity.

It would be nice to know why Hydra-Cap wanted Parker Industries taken off the board… was it important or was he just being a dick.

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Occupy Avengers #8 – 9

Background:

Super heroes – they’re a privileged class. Doing what they want, when they want and suffering no consequences. They have no regard for the ordinary people who are left behind to suffer in their wake. Who will stand up for the little guy? There is a man. If you can find him, and if he believes in your story, he and his friends will put things right. Some call them outlaws, rebels, Robin Hoods. To others, they are heroes. No powers to speak of – just skills, smarts and a burning drive to do the right thing. His name is Hawkeye. Occupy Avengers: It’s time to “Take Back Justice”!

Tie-in Synopsis:

After Hawkeye leaves to go lead the Resistance, the Occupy Avengers team is left to help the common folk who are being terrorized by the Hydra forces. Hydra has been forcing farmers to send their goods elsewhere and the people who depend on them are left to fend for themselves.

Hawkeye tasks the team with making sure that the people who need the food get it which means hijacking a food convoy and locating one of Nick Fury’s secret bases for supplies that the resistance needs.

The team splits up and makes their stand against the Hydra forces after they retrieve the weapons that Hawkeye knows that Nick Fury has stashed away.

How does it tie-in to the overall Secret Empire storyline and when does it take place?

The story seems to fit best after the events of Secret Empire #0 and before Secret Empire #2. One of the clues is the fact that The Champions are still at The Mound and Natasha has yet to recruit them for her Red Room.

Is it necessary to read to understand the read Occupy Avengers to understand what is happening in the larger story?

Not really, now I will admit that these two issues are the only ones I have read of the series aside from Issue #1 when it first came out so I have no real knowledge of the characters involved but at the same time it wasn’t hard to pick up, read, and understand the situation these heroes found themselves in once Hawkeye left to led the Resistance.

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The Champions #10 – 11

Background:

Following the fallout of CIVIL WAR II, Avengers Ms. Marvel, Nova and Spider-Man strike out on their own — joined by Cyclops, Viv Vision and the Totally Awesome Hulk! Six young heroes determined to change the world — and they`re only the beginning!

Tie-in Synopsis:

Issue #10

The issue begins inside one of the Hydra Camps for the Inhumans which looks like a normal neighborhood.

The scene shifts to Viv Vision, Amadeus Cho (Hulk), and Miles Miguel (Spider-Man) searching the Dark Web for information as to the where about of Ms. Marvel. They know that Cyclops is with his X-Men team, Nova is trapped in space outside the Defense Sheild, but fear Ms. Marvel is in a relocation camp.

Viv finds the location of one of the camps, which it turns out Amadeus helped design as a place where they could put Banner and keep him from changing into The Hulk.

The Champions break into the relocation center hoping to free the Inhumans but are surprised when none of them want to leave. Instead of freeing the Inhumans, Amadeus and Viv rewire the power grid using Viv’d ability to turn invisible to hide the town so that the Hydra reinforcements can’t find it.

As a way of saying ‘Thank You,’ one of the Inhumans promise that they will use their abilities to search for Ms. Marvel and will contact the Champions if they find anything.

Issue #11

The issue begins with the Champions searching thru the rubble of Las Vegas following Hydra’s attack. The Champions are joined by Falcon, Wasp, Ironheart and Rayshaun Lucas, the new Patriot.

The team has split up to search for survivors. Falcon and Hulk are searching the North part of the city. As they are searching, Hulk is trying to keep his hopes up by trying to calculate the probability that they are going to find survivors.

The rescue effort to the South is Ironheart, Spider-Man, and Patriot. The three find an airplane that has crashed, when they open it up, they find that the people inside were cooked alive from the blast of the attack.

Patriot, who is on his first outing as a superhero, is having a difficult time dealing with the carnage and hopelessness.

The rest of the team is having just as much luck. After they regroup, they begin to question what they are really doing fighting against Hydra.

Suddenly they hear a noise which turns out to be Patriot, who has found a baby that survived the attack. This raises the team’s spirits as they head back to The Mound.

How does it tie-in to the overall Secret Empire storyline and when does it take place?

Issue #10 takes place between the FCBD issue and Secret Empire #1. As covered in the last post on the Secret Empire event, Ms. Marvel’s story that takes place over in Secret Warriors and Scott “Cyclops” Summers.

Issue #11 takes place during the first few pages of Secret Empire #2 before The Champions decide to follow Natasha’s plan to kill Steve Rogers.

Is it necessary to read to understand the read The Champions tie-ins to understand what is happening in the larger story?

Again these issues are probably not important in the overall story. While I enjoy The Champions I feel that the way the characters are written in the Secret Empire issues is almost opposite of the way series writer Mark Waid handles them in the event.

In their own series, there is a sense of proactiveness and helping those affected by the Hydra takeover, whereas in the Secret Empire series they are more than willing to at least go with the plan that involves killing (yes, they do try to temper Black Widow’s responses and plan, but are still willing to be accomplices to her assassination plans).

Issue #10 does give more insight into the plight of the Inhumans’ situation under the Hydra rule, but has a more positive outcome then is displayed throughout the rest of the event for the Inhuman race. There is no mention as to if The Champions continue to look for Ms. Marvel or just assume that she is somewhere else (okay so maybe Las Vegas getting leveled puts a damper on finding Ms. Marvel) that but it would have been nice for the two issues tied together rather than being two one-and done

Another small nitpick would be that in Secret Empire #2 they find some survivors in Vegas, in The Champions they only find the baby, ending the story on an upbeat positive note rather than the doom and gloom of the main Secret Empire title. Then again who am I to tell Mark Waid how to write a comic book

Then again who am I to tell Mark Waid how to write a comic book? I guess I am just looking for a consistent tone to go along with the main story.

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X-Men: Blue #7-9

Background:

Tie-in Synopsis:

The time-displaced young X-Men, who are being helped by Magneto, find themselves at odds with the leadership of the sovereign mutant nation of New Tian, where humans and mutants are supposed to be living in harmony. However, those that dissent against the new regime is being unfairly incarcerated and punished, which the young X-Men won’t stand for.

The team has been operating in New Tian, freeing those unjustly imprisoned.

Emma Frost, the true ruler of New Tian, sends a strike force of Mutants led by Havok to capture the young X-Men and stop their rebellion. Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Iceman are captured and while Jean and Jimmy Hudson (alternate universe son of Wolverine) must rescue them.

Upon learning that some of the young X-Men have been captured Magneto, says that he plans to honor his promise to Hydra-Cap not to get involved with the mutant nation, but he has ways he can help rescue the captured X-Men.

Speaking of the captured X-Men, Emma Frost is trying to turn the young Scott Summers into the recently killed Scott Summers by mentally torturing him and trying to rewrite his brain.

Jean and Jimmy are able to rescue their teammates with the help of Polaris (Magneto’s daughter) and the mutant Danger (which turns out is also the Blackbird and Danger Room).

Emma tries to use Scott against his teammates but Jean is able to prevent her from doing so even though Emma’s powers are being boosted by the Cosmic Cube shard she possesses. Jean is also able to temporarily release Xorn from Emma’s control.

Following the events in New Tian, Captain America confronts Magneto:

How does it tie-in to the overall Secret Empire storyline and when does it take place?

The X-Men: Blue issues are the only other comics that focus on the events taking place in the mutant nation of New Tian besides those in Secret Empire: United and the main series.

Where this story takes place in the timeline is kind of tricky to place, but if I had to I would say that it happens sometime after the events of Captain America #25 but before Emma surrenders here Cosmic Cube shard.

Here is why:

Secret Empire: United

Xorn is established as the Ruler of New Tian at the beginning of the issue

At the end of the one-shot Hydra-Cap reveals that he knows Xorn is a puppet of Emma

Beast gives no indication that he is aware of Emma’s presence or manipulation of Xorn here or when he and Hydra-Cap meet in Washington DC and Cap tells Beast that if he wanted he could take Thor’s hammer and crush New Tian.

In X-Men-Blue #7, the mutant Random is one of the mutants the team liberates from the prison. Random was also part of the group that attacked the Hydra border at the beginning of Secret Empire: United.

In Captain America #25 when the members of the Hydra High Council demand to speak to the ruler of New Tian, the other mutants assume they have come for Xorn. When Emma reveals herself, there is a lot of surprise from Beast.

X-Men: Blue #7

Emma seems to be the one in control here and through out the story arc and it is even mentioned that Jean is able to break Emma’s control over Xorn temporarily.

Is it necessary to read to understand the read X-Men: Blue to understand what is happening in the larger story?

Unless you are already reading X-Men: Blue or just want to find out what is happening with the mutants in New Tian, then you really don’t need to read these issues. Like I said above, it is hard to pinpoint where these issues would fit in the overall story as the X-Men are more of a side story in this event.

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Next post will probably cover Secret Empire #9 and the Secret Empire: Brave New World