Of all the Dark Reign titles, I was looking forward to this one the most.  What could be better than the return of Nick Fury, now agent of his own band of bad asses?  This was the top of my stack this week and once finished, I wept.  They were tears of sorrow; the same tears I shed when I watched Star Wars : Episode One.  

Here’s why:  Writer Jonathan Hickman hurt my head.  Bendis is listed on the title as well, but he was a passenger for this train wreck.  I had to read this comic twice to make sure I knew what was going on (last few pages I read three times).  I had to keep checking who was who on the team and what their powers were.  Right now, the team members remind me of a leftover dinner my mom would serve, throwing on the plate whatever was left in the fridge.   Hopefully, they will take on flesh and personality in issues to come.     

Someone needs to open the box of Crayolas on this book.  None of the colors popped and the characters were hard to tell apart at times.  Daisy, the leader of the group,  looks like Maria Hill and the other girl on the team.  I call her the other girl because she’s not memorable.  All I remember is she had longer hair and held a big stick.  Daisy is a dull character, not a good sign since she’s the leader of Fury’s covert bunch-o-misfits.

I always thought of Nick Fury as a man of few words.  Well, I have been proven wrong.  He never shut up and what he said was confusing.  He spoke to Obama, he talked to Daisy, and lectured him team (yelling at them for doing stuff, which was the only action in the entire book).  That’s a summary of the entire book!  I waited months for a lecture!  The last few pages of this book was a text book, literally.  We get to see the documents Nick Fury downloaded.  I’m not on his pay roll.  Shouldn’t Nick Fury be reading this and just giving me the Cliff  Notes?      

The big reveal at the end, Hydra controlling S.H.E.I.L.D, didn’t do much for me.  Hydra’s in charge S.H.E.I.L.D, Osborn is the world’s savior, villains hijack the Avengers – life is tough in the Marvel Universe.  Deal with it Fury.  Stop lecturing and start kicking ass.  The only saving grace is that this is issue one.  I hope this is just necessary set up for better things to come.  If not, class dismissed Professor Fury.

2 out of 5

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