Can Namor resist the Secret Empire?
There are a number of parallels to be drawn between Secret Wars and Secret Empire, one of which being that neither event comic seems to have any truly necessary tie-ins. Sure, there are some gems with Secret Empire just as there were for Secret Wars, but even those books written by Nick Spencer himself aren't contributing a huge amount to the larger picture. Case in point - Captain America: Steve Rogers #18. This issue adds some extra context to the strained interaction between Namor and Steve in Secret Empire #4, but there's a nagging sense that more could have been accomplished here.
Perhaps the real problem with this issue is that it never seems entirely sure which side of the story it wants to tell. We see Namor lamenting the fall of his kingdom, but his perspective is only shown through two brief scenes that bookend the issue. Much of the remainder focuses on Steve paying a visit to the UN (such as it is after the fall of New York) and delivering a speech full of bluster and intimidation. But again, the script doesn't really attempt to delve into his mind or explore how Steve is reacting to these events on a personal level. That, more than anything else, should be the goal with this series, but it instead seems content to fill a few gaps and leave it at that.
The one area this issue does succeed in enhancing the larger Secret Empire narrative involves Black Panther. Secret Empire #3 revealed that T'Challa and his soldiers repelled Hydra's attempt to claim their Cosmic Cube fragment. This issue offers more insight into that conflict, as well as T'Challa's method of retaliation. Needless to say, he steals the show in this issue, and it's a shame Marvel didn't commission some sort of dedicated Black Panther tie-in to Secret Empire.
If nothing else, the series' ongoing visual woes improve somewhat. Series mainstays Javier Pina and Andres Guinaldo share this issue. Pina seems to have stopped attempting to echo Jesus Saiz's distinctive style, opting instead for a more traditional approach with more defined line-work. That helps his pages blend much better with Guinaldo's resulting in a consistency that's all too rare with this book. Guinaldo's pages still have their issues, particularly with the oddly haggard and distorted depiction of Steve himself, but in general this issue is a welcome improvement on the art front.
The Verdict
This series hasn't turned out to be the critical companion to Secret empire readers might have expected. This issue in particular suffers from a seeming inability to fixate on any one plot point, instead bouncing around the landscape of Secret Empire. But there are at least some memorable moments along the way, not to mention that the art is far more cohesive than is usually the case with this book.
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