It was less than 24 hours ago that Marvel asked fans to give Secret Empire a chance, but the first issue of the series has once again generated a stir online. As those who’ve read the comic already will know, Captain America orders the execution of Rick Jones and the annihilation of Las Vegas. How can he ever come back from that, you ask? Well, it’s hard to say right now, but the star-spangled Avenger pretty much just went from being a villain to a complete monster.
For those of you unfamiliar with Rick, he’s the kid who Bruce Banner saved moments before a blast transformed him into the Incredible Hulk. He later became a sidekick to both Captain America and Captain Marvel, and even took on the role of A-Bomb, a gamma-irradiated superhero, for a while.
Steve ordering his death is vile, and while Marvel continues to try and tell fans that Captain America isn’t a Nazi right now, Secret Empire #1 was littered with parallels to that regime, as Steve exerts his newfound power over the United States. Even writing this off as mind control, redeeming the hero will be near impossible.
Of course, it’s still very early days for Secret Empire, but that hasn’t made any of this easier to swallow. Who’ll next be in the firing line – literally, as you can see below – remains to be seen, but Captain America fans are pretty unhappy right about now.
