Wess Reads Comics - Free Comic Book Day 2017 Edition!

Each week, Wess grabs a few issues from his stack of comics to share his thoughts with you. If you're looking for a place for brief, initial impressions, then this is it! Have questions about books that Wess didn't review? Then leave a comment below!

In this, special edition of Wess Reads Comics, Wess shares his haul from Free Comic Book Day 2017!

Free Comic Book Day 2017: Secret Empire
Written by: Nick Spencer
Art by: Andrea Sorrentino

"What the what?!"

That was pretty much my reaction when getting to the end of Free Comic Book Day's 'Secret Empire'. The story takes place, presumedly, between Secret Empire #0 and Secret Empire #1. Steve Rogers, finally, steps out of the shadows as a HYDRA operative leader in order to reveal himself to the world; including many former teammates of his. This assault on the heroes ends with Cap and HYDRA somehow taking control over Vision (with technology) and Scarlet Witch (with magic). Oh yeah...and Cap picks up Mjolnir. This should open up a new can of worms debate over what the inscription on the side of the hammer means. Do you, in fact, have to be worthy, or do you just have to believe 100% that you're worthy? If it's the former, then what in the hell is Steve Rogers worthy of now?!?!

With this being Marvel's last big event for another 18 months or so, it's looking to be a big one. My only issues thus far with the 2.5 issues we have are that they aren't really telling a linear story here and so many details are dependent on your reading a lot of other books to really get what's going on. The summaries at the beginning of each issue do a decent job of telling you how Cap got to this point, but there is no primer for you to understand what's going on with Tony Stark, where the Hulk is, or the status quo of many other heroes. This issue does a good job of teasing you enough to get you interested, hopefully, if you aren't reading the series already. Let's see how they explain their way out of this one, though...

Grade: B

PULL LIST

Archie Comics

• Riverdale by Brian E. Paterson, James Dewille, Elliot Fernandez, Thomas Pitilli, Thomas Chu, Andre Azymanowicz, & John Workman

Dark Horse Comics

• Buffy the High School Years by Kel McDonald, Yishan Li, Rod Espinoza, Tony Galvan, Richard Starkings, & Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt

DC Comics

• Wonder Woman: Special Edition by Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, Romulo Fajardo Jr., & Jodi Wynne

IDW

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz, Cory Smith, Ronda Pattison, & Shawn Lee

Image Comics

• I Hate Image by Skottie Young, Jean-Francois Beaulieu, & Nate Piekos

Marvel

• All-New Guardians of the Galaxy by Gerry Duggan, Aaron Kuder, Ive Svorcina, & VC's Cory Petit - The Defenders by Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez, Justin Sponsor, & VC's Cory Petit
• Secret Empire by Nick Spencer, Andrea Sorrentino, & VC's Travis Lanham - Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man by Chip Zdarsky, Paulo Siqueira, Walden Wong, Cam Smith, Jay Leisten, Frank D'Armata, & VC's Travis Lanham