After almost a whole year of buildup and slow paced Captain America issues, seeing Captain Americas plan come together as he successfully takes out all the major heroes who could oppose him in a matter of seconds is strangely gratifying. One thing is for sure, SECRET EMPIRE #0 is not your typical prologue or zero issue, and is a fantastic start to the event with great pencils and coloring done with the artwork and phenomenal writing from Nick Spencer, with themes surrounding humanity and decisions they tend to make when they are in fear or doubtful of themselves, and one mans betrayal and use of that fear. These are absolutely fantastic elements that I cant wait to see continue to unfold in future issues of Secret Empire. Read Full Review

A fantastic opening issue to a summer event that'll get you extra motivated to read as you'll hate Cap and want him to be defeated! Read Full Review

Secret Empire #0 is the beginning of something big. It is the beginning of an important moment for Marvel. After struggling for the last year to please audiences, Marvel really needs this event to attract readers rather than repel them. I have been on board Nick Spencer’s Cap epic since day one so they had a guaranteed reader in me but I truly think this issue will be able to draw the interest of most comic readers. Nick Spencer is about to drop a massive bomb on the fabric of the Marvel Universe and has promised in this prologue issue that it will be epic, emotional, and most importantly memorable. If this streak continues, we will have a great event on our hands. I can’t wait to get a hold of the next issue. Read Full Review

Whatever happens, this is a powerful story with shocks and surprises aplenty. So far, I'm sticking around. Read Full Review

Outside of a few scenes that felt very soap opera-y(Cap and Sharon), this was a really fun issue. Probably the most interesting start to a Marvel event that I've read in a long while. The anger toward Captain America being a Hydra agent all along is understandable, but I actually look forward to seeing how this creative team makes it right. Marvel has my attention again, here's hoping they don't lose me halfway through like so many events have done in the past. Read Full Review

Secret Empire probably isn't going to be for all readers. If you haven't been won over by Captain America: Steve Rogers over the past year, Secret Empire #0 likely won't change your mind. But for those who can roll with the concept of Marvel's brightest hero becoming its greatest betrayer, this issue serves as a strong start to what promises to be a very epic and emotionally charged conflict. Read Full Review

As a whole, this is an incredible first issue to an event. It just remains to be seen if it will be enough to change the minds of those angered by the content in the story leading up to this. Read Full Review

SECRET EMPIRE #0 sets the tone for Marvel's latest crossover event by displaying the scope of Captain America's master plan. Writer Nick Spencer does an excellent job portraying Captain America's plan. Meanwhile, Daniel Acua's artwork is at times confusing but overall beautiful with its brushstrokes. Read Full Review

Daniel Acunas art further helps the story. His paint like style is so unique and makes for such an atypical visual presentation. Hopefully Acuna will be one of the recurring artists in Secret Empire going forward. Read Full Review

The dominoes start falling in this meticulously planned issue! Read Full Review

Secret Empire #0 isn't your typical #0 issue and rewards the faithful who have stuck by this character despite what their personal feelings might be towards him at the moment. It's hard to root against an icon, but don't be surprised when you almost enjoy watching him break apart what he's worked so hard to build his entire career. You'll be conflicted, outraged, even sad, but you won't be able to put the book down. Read Full Review

While the jury's still out based on this first issue, the first installment of Secret Empire is solid enough to bear further watching. Read Full Review

Usually zero issues are very uneventful, but thats not the case with Secret Empire. Nick Spencer builds off of his Captain America run with ease and the story progression feels legitimate and not forced. The art couldnt have been better by Acua and Reis. Secret Empire will wipe away your event fatigue with its intriguing story and excellent art! Read Full Review

With all the talk of this being the start of a whole new Marvel Universe coming (or a return to the old one), it's easy to see why. Secret Empire #0 is a great issue, and exactly what was needed from the House of Ideas. Now the real question is whether there will even be a Marvel Universe after this. Only one thing's for sure: It's going to be a hell of a ride finding out. Read Full Review

Secret Empire is off to a good start, with strong art and a story that feels like a real payoff to a year of story. Issue #0 feels like essential reading for the plot, and even then it may be a little impenetrable to new readers. Even so, I definitely recommend Secret Empire #0, which you can pick up at your local comic shop or digitally now! Read Full Review

SECRET EMPIRE #0 is written by Nick Spencer, who, despite my nitpicks with the plot restraints, has a mastery of dialogue over all the characters, and has built up tremendous suspense for the storyline to come. Daniel Acua and Rod Reis have their hands full with portraying the bulk of the Marvel Universe characters and its settings, and have done so without missing a beat. It's a good piece of comics. I'm just hoping it's a good piece of comics that serves as a stepping stone to something even better. Read Full Review

Daniel Acua's artwork has a cinematic quality in terms of composition, though his rendering has a scratchiness that actually lends itself to the story's brisk pacing. Acuna's artwork seems like it was meant to convey the speed of the story and not force readers to stew over the sequentials. Everything is geared for maximum impact so leave your magnifying glass in its case. Read Full Review

Secret Empire #0 is what is another Marvel Comics event. However, the story reads better than both Civil War II and IvX. Marvel really missed a chance to capitalize on this event having the ability to trim down the already muddled universe. The art is the biggest attraction as Acuna and Reis team up to create visually pleasing panels in a comic void of much entertainment. Read Full Review

So, Secret Empire #0 is devastating, but if the idea of this whole storyline involving Steve Rogers is devastating to you, and that feeling is only amplified when this story tries to say something about the world, while simultaneously shying away from those implicit real-world implications, then this tale about one of the darkest days in the Marvel Universe likely won't land as intended. Regardless, we have to hope that it's always darkest before the dawn, right? Read Full Review

While this is nothing more than another one of Marvel's overpriced andoverhyped event comics it does manage to avoid total disaster with a premisethat has the potential to be very interesting. While the release schedule and sheeramount of tie-ins scare me away from engaging fully into the narrative I willpay attention to the main title to keeps tabs on how our heroes bring their onetime greatest ally to justice.   Read Full Review

Spencer, Acua, and Reis, pack in a lot into this issue attempting to catch up new readers while giving everything a go after the dominoes have been set up for so long. But, in packing a lot, there's a complete lack of emotional punch or justification for Rogers' actions. For that, you'll need to have read over a year's worth of comics. This debut isn't fatal, but for all the build up as far as controversy or defense of Rogers' philosophy, what's presented is another mile wide inch deep summer event. Read Full Review

Secret Empire #0 has it's moments where you can see that Nick Spencer will possibly deliver a good big event. The event starts off on a high note when it comes to big action sequences that will be hard to top. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you see it, for those who have not been onboard with Spencer's Captain America work Secret Empire #0 does not go out of it's way to try and win you over. Some of the problems with continuity will definitely leave a lot of people scratching their heads along with some very questionable dialogue choices. Read Full Review

The real story here is Spencer and a story that is now stale. It is going to take some real serious swerves to surprise fans. We all know that this is going to be a return to the pre-Hail Hydra status quo. I just wish it wasn't going to take all this needless effort to get there. The shock and awe of this story was spent in the first issue, now we are all just waiting for the end credits so we can move on with our lives. Read Full Review

I'm not sure I'm ready to dump any more of myown hard-earned cash into this series, though. Especially given that any minor and entirely cosmetic "changes" that come out of it will be making their presence felt in other titles before this thing is even over with, as was the case withCivil War II,Secret Wars, etc. When it comes to these "summer blockbuster"-type comics, you see, the books themselves reallydon't matter " andSecret Empire #0 is no exception. Read Full Review

The tone is definitely a dark one, and not in a particularly great way for this book. If you like what Marvel has done to Captain America, you'll like this, but if not, you should probably stay away from it. Read Full Review

This issue is a Must-See

What a start to secret empire. I was blown away by how good this issue was and how fast they went into the story on a #0 issue. There is tons of action and suspense and who can't love the fact that captain is coming out of the shadows with his plan.

In Nick We Trust.... This is a lay up for him.... Too easy..Haters gonna Hate..Real Writers gonna Write

I read everything twice and sometimes adjust my score upon a second reading... so that may very well happen here once I get over the initial excitement of the story... but for now all I can say is how much I loved SECRET EMPIRE #0 (amended on 04/25: upon a second read-through my opinion remains unchanged). I could not have asked for a better culmination of everything that has been happening in CAPTAIN AMERICA for the last year. Outstanding story...Great art...Great writing. It's been a loooong time since I felt tension reading a comic book.
Great, great stuff! If you've been enjoying Nick Spencer's excellent run on CAPTAIN AMERICA: STEVE ROGERS (and CA: SAM WILSON, for that matter) you will NOT be disappointed.
SCORE: 9.7

Great, Excellent start.

A 0 issue with some weight to it. Artwork could not be any better, this is a Master at work here. Acuna is a perfect match for Dark Cap. Caps plan actually makes sense and is a fun read. This issue helps peek interest in whats about to unfold as well as catch readers up who may not be sure whats entirely going on here. Wonderfully crafted and a great way to pitch this tale.

To be able to truly appreciate the 'Secret Empire' crossover you have to be vested in the idea that Captain America: Steve Rogers series' is built upon, that Steve Rogers thinks himself to be a secret Hydra agent. This event is the ultimate culmination of that fact as Steve Rogers uses his brilliant strategic mind to achieve his goal of one nation under Hydra rule. And this 0th issue of Secret Empire does more than enough to launch this new event based on all the build up from the last year.

Despite Marvel's recent bad performance with most of its crossover events (IvX, Civil War II, Clone Cospiracy etc.), I do have high hopes from the 'Secret Empire' as I am one of those readers who liked the of Steve Rogers as a villain. This issue also does my hope justice, as it is not just a prequel issue like the numbering suggests, but rather kicks the event into a solid and action pack start as Rogers attempts at dividing and incapacitating most of the heroes of the Marvel Universe using his recent promotion as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The issue also has a prologue delving further into the secret past of Steve adding an interesting twist into the Hydra's background. The action sequences are nicely done and the plot progression is as fast and aggressive as befitting the overall concept. Reading this issue made me much more vested in the total idea of this crossover as a reader and that is an achievement in its own in my opinion.

This issue is jam-packed with big name characters of Marvel Universe, and while it is quite impossible to give everyone their due screen-time, Nick Spencer does a fine job of establishing the main characters in this unique struggle. Hopefully author will establish the whereabouts some of the other teams and characters missing so far from this struggle pretty soon.

The art is quite extraordinary and completes the plot of such a huge event while adding depth to the mood of the characters. The action seems to flow and is quite enhanced b more

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supercoolyeah - Apr 26, 2017

I got to agree with you in the fact that Rogers makes an awesome villain. To have someone with such a long history betray their trust is truly a dastardly concept.

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This event is good. I admit I haven't been keeping up completely with Hydra Cap and all the stories leading up to this but make no mistake, this event is going to be good. There is already an established direction and the story has been building for awhile, this is the payoff. This is more Jonathan Hickman leading up to Secret Wars than Bendis's usual BS. For once I'm actually scared for our heroes. Cap is not only convincing as a double agent for Hydra but he is a competent leader for Hydra. In fact he makes Red Skull seem like a joke. You read this truly believing Cap can destroy the entire roster of heroes from the most powerful Avenger to your grassroots soldiers of SHIELD. In essence Cap could be the most deadly villain in the Marvel Universe. Also for those people comparing Ardian Syaf's art to Nick Spencer's writing, please stop. Syaf included hidden messages in his work not relevant to the story at all and is only his thinly veiled beliefs that antagonizes other people based on religion. Spencer has planned out a story that happens to have Cap turn to the dark side and I suspect there will be eventual redemption and the story was approved by Marvel's editors knowing full well what was going. Syaf snuck in his art without the approval of the front office. There is a big difference. Stop attacking Spencer and let the man tell his story, this could be the best Cap story we've had in a decade. Have faith true believers, Cap will be back on our side soon enough but for now, he's gone rogue... more

I was just starting to get bored of Steve Rogers: Captain America then Secret Empire #0 came out. I was skeptical because I have been wishy-washy about Spencer's run so far but the payoff in this issue was totally worth it. Hydra Cap is the most interesting Steve Rogers has been ever, in my opinion. Acuna on art was perfect, so happy to see only the A-list artists on this book. Looking forward to the rest of the event, could be similar in greatness to Secret Wars.

Excellent work by Spencer and Co. This has been building for quite some time, and it was certainly impressive to see how the all the seeds so meticulously planted are beginning to be fleshed out.

Looking forward to reading some of the tie-ins and issues 1-8!

Great start but the bar is set so high I wonder if Spencer can keep the paste going.

Note I have read all Nick Spencer's entire run on Captain america and standoff, so I think i get a deeper appreciation for the story becuase I know how we got here. I have also heard several people that are going in blind without reading anything else still enjoying the story.

Let's get this out of the way. For anyone tired of or warned down by bad marvel events, I want to make it clear that this is not Bendis' Civil War II! This story has a plot and so far seems very well planned out. Civil war II is all fluff and the only plot to civil war II is found in one of the Captain America books where steve is building his secret empire. This even has been building up for over 1.5 years. It started with standoff and has been building up ever since to this conclusion. This is not a fabricated event by the marketing department to go along with a movie release. Now onto the review of this book.

I really liked this issue I give it a 8.5/10. This could have been a pick of the week in a different week. That's how good it is. I didn't much care for the artwork, but the material is just so dense and the story is so complex that the art is really secondary. To be honest if the art was better it wouldn't affect my score much maybe maybe increase it by 0.5. If you like Captain America or Marvel comics you should definitely get this book.

Also I don't know why this was a #0 issue this is definitely needed for the story. more

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supercoolyeah - Apr 20, 2017

I agree it should have been the first issue. But knowing marvel they want to put their statement issue a #1. And I also agree with the art with so much story you tend to not pay attention to the art.

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Ok I don't follow cap in my usual reads, I'm mostly an X-Men/Avengers junky, but damn that was a well thought out story. He effectively neutralizes all the big players from the game and gives the lesser knowns a moment to shine. I'm interested to see how this puppy turns out. Spencer's story telling is way above par on this issue and hopes it continues to stay up there and the art of Acuna is pretty good. I can't wait to see what the new cannon is going to be after this event!

Fantastic start. Lots going on. Exciting stuff.

Hydrated Steve springs a three-pronged trap on the world. Two huge batches of heroes are taken off the table; how will the remainder react? I was mostly thrilled with Nick Spencer's script here. It's an incredibly satisfying payoff to all the groundwork he's laid. If Secret Empire gets even better from here, we're really in for a treat. I do dislike the over-large role played by the Tony Stark AI. It cheapens his supposed incapacitation and undercuts Ironheart to have him zipping around Iron Man-ing as though nothing's happened. My other quibble would be with Daniel Acuña's art. It's brilliant in parts, but his muddy palette and occasional shortages of detail do a serious disservice to this incredibly epic script.

This book is good. it may let on to be another cliche character tie in that marvel tends to grind out nowadays like Civil War 2 or Inhumans vs X Men but once in a wile they hit gold as an example 2015's Jonathan Hickman run of Secret Wars or (in my opinion) January 2015's Black Vortex event and this title hits gold as well. For long running captain america fans it's understandable to feel a little uncomfortable going into this title but believe me its worth the ride, after huge backlash from fans in December over a quote in Steve rogers captain america #1 "hail hydra" nick Spencer holds his ground and proves his worth as a clear creative genius with this addition to the Marvel brand. Therefore I am exited to see what Marvel dose with this book, for a first issue this issue deserves a solid 8/10. more

Good but not a fan of the art

I haven't been reading Captain America or anything else that's been setting the stage for this so I was lost in places and not sure what was happening. However, it has a great opening story, good action and really nice art. So overall I enjoyed it and I'm looking forwarding to reading the next one. There are some interesting ideas and storylines that could play out well.

It starts out like an average Marvel mashup, but then takes a sinister turn that is very compelling. The art is pretty average, I was expecting better in a major Marvel event book.

This is an event that has an intriguing premise. I find myself truly curious as to how this will be resolved, and if we will ever get Captain America restored to the great hero he used to be.

The art was quite good. This artwork is much better than what has been seen in Cap's regular book for the last few issues.

This issue had almost too many moving parts, with too many characters without any characterization. Most of the heroes in the story were interchangeable. And if a reader hasn't been following Cap's book, they may have trouble understanding the plot and the character motivations.

Goddammit. I want to like this...I'm not Marvel hater, I collect more than three times as many Marvel titles than DC, because I just like their characters more...I disagree with all those who say there is nothing of quality coming from the company any more. But this was frustrating. It was cold, sterile. Hydra-like I guess. It just seemed unexciting, despite the high stakes. I suppose that's not all Spencer's fault. I'm just not moved by scenes where the entirety of the Marvel universe engages in battle all at once, because these are essentially boring scenes. And, for whatthefuck moments: either Tony Stark is back from the coma or his AI has eyes and vengeful looks...and, when the Avengers assemble, is that the original Hulk jumping with the team?! It's not Amadeus Cho, because he's pictured with the Champions in the following panel. He's not red hulk. Fuck, man, these are continuity basics. And the Defenders are a team, as of now I guess? It looked good. And I'm going to buy the rest of it, because I need to know (or am a twisted masochist)...It'll pick up. It'll have awesome art by Yu and Sorrentino and McNiven. It can't be as bad as "Civil War II," right? Right? more

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supercoolyeah - Apr 26, 2017

OMFG I never noticed all these mistakes until you pointed it out LOLOL! But it's still a solid read.

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not-so-great art, and I'm sick of Marvel's latest giant event already. the only good thing that I can see coming from this is that maybe once this is over we can get Captain America back.