Secret Warriors #12 - Marvel

I like this book . . a lot! I think Jonathan Hickman is doing a great job with the stories. Especially considering all the various factions that he's trying to keep track of. And Stefano Caselli's art just gives this book a great feel. I first saw his stuff on the early Avengers: Initiative book. I liked it then, and I think he's just gotten better. On top of that, we have a whole series of beautiful Jim Cheung covers. Anyways, Jonathan has recently added a new faction to this war that's brewing in the Marvel Universe. We already have HYDRA and HAMMER. Then Nick seems to being putting together teams to fight on various fronts. First there was his Secret Warriors. And now with Dum Dum's help, they're re-establishing the Howling Commandos. And that's not even mentioning that I'm sure he has a black-ops team running around out there that we don't even know about yet. Anyways, to top all this off . . we've been recently introduced to what may be the baddest-ass team of all . . Leviathan. This issue we get a little bit about their history. They seem to have originated in Russia during the Cold-War. But now . . it seems like they've become something else entirely . . almost alien . . or something. Anyways, they attack HYDRA at their Nemesis base this issue. They fight Gorgon to a stand-still, and then take off with Viper. Apparently they're looking for some 'box'. We don't know all the details, yet . . just that they seem hell-bent on finding it. We also see Jerry and Yo-Yo go to Lacoochee Supermax Prison to visit his father . . Crusher Creel. I'm not sure what that was all about, but . . I think that story-line is just getting started. We also see the origin of that octopus looking guy on the HYDRA high-council. He seems to have come from the mating of a human with some type of alien spore . . or something. And when Nick calls a command meeting, we get a little more info on what his various teams are up to. And finally, back to Leviathan . . we see that what HYDRA has been dealing with so far appears to be only foot-soldiers. Their real 'beast' is lying asleep in cold-storage and they're about to wake it up. I love all this spy and espionage stuff. It makes me miss the old Alias series off of TV. You know, with all the 'schemes within schemes, and wheels within wheels' thing. But after 12 issues we still don't have the full picture of what's really going on. This whole series so far has been a build-up to 'things to come'. There's been fights and skirmishes here and there, but . . I think the real battle has yet to occur. And now that Leviathan has entered the picture . . it may turn out differently than Nick had originally anticipated. But he's nothing if not a man who thinks on his feet. He already appears to be adapting to this new threat, but . . like I said . . we still don't know everything that's going on. I think this is a great series. Although it's all been anticipation so far . . I still feel like the intensity rises with every issue. If you haven't read it yet, though . . this may be one of those series where you want to collect them and then knock 'em off all in one sitting. I actually may do that again also. I think it'll help with my appreciation of the complexities written into this title.