Secret #1 – Review

By: Jonathan Hickman (writer), Ryan Bodenheim (artist), Michael Garland (colors) & Rus Wooton (letters)

The Story: Conspiracies, secrets, duplicity and some good, old-fashioned torture.

Review: [SPOILER WARNING] This issue does precisely what a #1 issue needs to do: Compel you to buy the second issue!  That’s no small challenge in this comic market where despite pathetic sales (Avengers is selling under 60K issues/month), there is still a lot of product being produced.  Comics are expensive and you don’t find any of the hardcore fans (with large pull lists) that aren’t looking to reduce the number of comics they read.  That makes it a tall order for a new #1. It has to either demand that a fan adds marginal money/time to their monthly comics budget OR drop some other title.  It’s Darwinian out there and I think Hickman has a potential winner!

The thing that pushes this comic into the “compelling” category is its hard edge.  There’s nothing niftier about the conspiracies, motives and basic subject matter of this issue than a comic like Thief of Thieves #1.  Both comic stories deal with theft and double crosses and both feature quality art, yet Secret should remain on more pull lists that ToT because of this hard edge.  ToT is soft; Secret is hard.

Hickman wisely starts the action with a big hook: man held captive in his own home by mystery assailant.  Who is this guy?  What does he want?  And most importantly, what is he going to do with the pliers?  BOOM!  Right there, the hook is set because the assailant is compelling.  The reader wants to know what could this poor man could know that requires the use of pliers!

The assailant looms over the entire first issue.  Later, when we learn that the tortured man has only kinda complied with his orders, you kinda flip out.  You want to shake the dude and say, “Do you want THAT MAN to come back?  Or come visit your daughter at college?  My god man!  Just do what he says!”  It’s hard to get that gut-level, emotional reaction in a comic book, but Hickman nailed it here.  He has us hooked for the period of time required to tell the first bit of the story in a way that he wouldn’t if he hadn’t used the pliers.  Take away the pliers as a figurative representation of the limits the comic will go to and this comic goes into the “waiting for the trade” or (in this digital age) the “I’ll come back if people say it’s awesome” pile.

WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Wolverine and the X-Men #88 – I do love Chris Bachalo and even though he had a few story-telling stumbles in this issue where I thought, “Huh?  What’s going on?” the combination of Bachalo’s energetic art and Jason Aaron’s fast-paced and fun script are just dynamite.  I really hope that Avengers vs. X-Men doesn’t screw up this title….

Most Anticipated: Northlanders #50 – What a STACKED week!  I’m actually a little giddy at this week’s prospects because I doubt these titles will let us down.  But, even with some of the potentially cool #1s or second issues of series that got off to very strong beginnings last month, I’m most excited to see how Brian Wood ends Northlanders.  Let’s think about how amazing this is: Wood and Vertigo gave us 50 issue of a series about Vikings!  50 issues!  Not some measly 6 issue miniseries, but 4+ years of really good comics.  This most recent arc about the history of Iceland has been wonderful, featuring art by the uber-talented Danijel Zezelj, and I have a feeling that the end will be bloody and touching.

Other Picks: Saucer Country #2, The Unwritten #36, Haunt #23, Saga #2, America’s Got Powers #1, Secret #1, Fantastic Four #605, Secret Service #1

Alex’s Top Picks

Best From The Past Week: Fatale #4 – A creepy read that manages to feel both different and comfortably familiar from Brubaker/Phillips’ previous offerings, Fatale remains as engrossing as ever.  It’s claustrophobic, unsettling, and mysterious in a way that tantalizes more than it befuddles.

Most Anticipated: Saga #2 – Golly, I have a MASSIVE stack of comics to pick up this week.  You know it’s a good week when the first issue of a new Jonathan Hickman book doesn’t even get a “Most Anticipated” merit.  But I can’t resist Saga #2 and seeing how Vaughan and Staples can follow up their landmark first issue.  I have no doubt that they’ll keep up the quality, and that only makes me want this issue all the more.

Other Picks: Secret #1, Batwoman #8, Demon Knights #8, Frankenstein #8, Green Lantern #8, Saucer Country #2, Avenging Spider-Man #6, Fantastic Four #605, Journey into Mystery #636, New Avengers #24, Secret Avengers #25, Uncanny X-Men #10, Winter Soldier #4, Wolverine #304