Sally Floyd lands the biggest exclusive of her career.
It used to be tradition for Marvel to accompany their major event comics with a book like Civil War: Frontline - something tasked with exploring how these massive conflicts impact the ordinary man on the street in the Marvel Universe. There's no Secret Empire: Frontline, but apparently this event doesn't need one. Captain America: Steve Rogers #17 does the trick on its own.
This issue is actually framed as a very direct continuation of Civil War: Frontline, with hotheaded reporter Sally Floyd returning to the forefront to interview Captain America for the third time in her career. Needless to say, things have changed quite a bit since that time Sally infamously harangued Cap for not knowing about MySpace (writer Nick Spencer wisely updates that exchange to involve twitter instead). Essentially, this issue presents a televised interview where Supreme Hydra Steve Rogers attempts to win over the highly skeptical Sally as he extols the virtues of Hydra's America.
This approach serves two useful purposes. For one thing, it sheds more light on how the ordinary citizens of the Marvel U are reacting to Hydra's rise (pretty well, as it turns out) and what exactly they know about Cap's involvement and the "Hydra won WWII" twist from Secret Empire #0. The other plus is that readers get a better understanding of how humans and mutants factor into Hydra's new world order, including an enthralling encounter between Cap and Magneto.
But apart from fleshing out the new Secret Empire status quo, this issue succeeds as a very topical examination of the relationship between journalists and authoritarian leaders. The parallels between Secret Empire and contemporary politics are undeniable, and Spencer uses this issue to highlight the importance of a free, independent and assertive press while also exploring the ways regimes use fear and economic desperation to seize power. This issue doesn't attempt to really get into Cap's head the way Secret Empire #2 did, but that's not really the goal here. We need Sally's outside perspective in this case.
It's been too rare that the art in Captain America: Steve Rogers has lived up to the ambitious scripts, and that trend doesn't appear to be changing for Secret Empire. That's all the more disappointing considering that Frontline veteran/Sally Floyd co-creator Ramon Bachs illustrates portions of this issue. Bachs' trademark style is barely recognizable here, and the issue has a generally rushed, loose quality that's become all-too familiar by now. Andres Guinaldo's line-work is comparatively light and feathery, but his pages have that same rushed quality to them as well.
The Verdict
In terms of its contribution to the larger Secret Empire narrative, Captain America: Steve Rogers #17 is a winner. It offers crucial context for the story and how Hydra's rise impacts both the superhuman community and ordinary Americans. But as with so many issues of this series, the art is disappointingly rushed and haphazard.
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