Secret Warriors #15

by Jonathan Hickman (writer), Stefano Caselli (artist)

The Story: The Warriors decide to stand together against Fury and demand Druid’s reinstatement onto the team, despite the Colonel’s opposition.  It doesn’t go as planned.  Meanwhile, Fury meets with the Contessa and reveals that he’s aware of her betrayal and the HYDRA heads discover Viper’s corpse, but decide that even in death her service is needed.

What’s Good: The plot is moved along in this issue quite nicely.  Hickman’s set himself up in this title with a large, unwieldy cast that a lesser writer might fail at keeping straight.  However, the scribe expertly moves the chess pieces around the board in such a way that the reader never loses track of the match.  There are basically three plots happening concurrently here: A) the Secret Warriors want Druid back, B) HYDRA discovers and resurrects Viper and C) Fury meets with the Contessa and reveals he knows she’s working for Leviathan.  However, never once did I feel as if I were just reading a bunch of chapters of separate stories lumped together in one package.  The plots flow effortlessly into each other, such as when Fury’s conversation with the Contessa directly affects the outcome of Daisy’s plea.  That scene in particular works well as Hickman has shown you exactly where the two of them are coming from.  He makes it harder for you to take a side in the confrontation, which just serves to pull you into the story more.