Bryan's Score: 6.6 Read Full Review

This issue also contains brief previews of some upcoming comics, like "Secret Warriors," "Agents of Atlas," and "War Machine," but the previews are too short to give you more than just a hint at what's to come. And that's what this comic is all about, teasing its way toward the future, but what it sets up isn't half bad, and now that I've seen Osborn's board of evil in all of its dysfunction, I'm curious to see where "Dark Reign" is headed next. Read Full Review

As for the previews, they really don't add a whole lot to the overall package. And since it's tough to establish an opinion about three pages worth of work, I will leave my impressions on hold until I get a full issue in my hands. However, out of all the books launching from Dark Reign, I find myself looking forward to Secret Warriors the most. Jonathan Hickman and Stefano Caselli definitely have the potential to make one hell of a team. Read Full Review

The purpose of Secret Invasion Dark Reign #1 was to generate excitement and reader anticipation concerning the new direction of the Marvel Universe that spins out of the conclusion of Secret Invasion. This issue is supposed to be a special issue that hooks readers into purchasing all of the various new Dark Reign related titles. Read Full Review

One of the dangers of making sweeping changes to a shared comics universe is that if the changes arent executed well, publishers can risk turning readers away from a whole line of books. After the letdown of Secret Invasion encouraged me to drop the Avengers titles, what weve seen of Dark Reign has prompted me to go even further, and to cut my Marvel reading list down to a few choice titles (most of which either avoid the wider continuity of the Marvel Universe as far as possible or are published as completely separate stories from the main Marvel Universe continuity). There comes a point at which even the most forgiving readers decide that their investment in continuity-based stories just isnt rewarded by the quality of the comics that are being produced in that framework, and I think that Dark Reign is going to mark that point for me. Read Full Review

The villains teamed up. Emma Frost tagged along for no real reason. Norman is keeping them in line with a mystery character, whom we only see in shadow. This just sort of went through the motions and it lacks any of the impact or entertainment value that the Illuminati specials had. Nothing happens here that needs to be seen. These characters are teamed up and that's about all you need to know in my opinion, making this issue redundant. Read Full Review