‘Get ready to discover one of the Marvel Universe’s greatest secrets!’ What, another greatest secret? The Invisible Woman dying her hair? Jean Grey popping up and saying ‘fooled you all these years because I was so freaking bored of the four colour magic wrestling stuff?’ The Hulk having penned the treatises of Wittgenstein?

If this is regarded as one of the best Marvel series, one of the ‘ultimate’ stories then frankly the state of superhero comics is worse than I thought. This series is essentially an exercise in corporate synergy, a way to conveniently shift the Marvel comics universe to match the Marvel films one. As such, the main point of interest is that this is the main Marvel line shifting to something first proposed in an Ultimate universe story. And with that you realise that you’ve been asked to fork over cash for a series which simply exists to resolve a continuity point for the tiny intersection of those who care passionately about movie and comic fandoms meet. The art’s fine, the violence is as pointlessly decorative and savage as in most modern books and the storytelling devices used to get the two characters who need to from point A to point B…. well, one’s reasonably well done but the other is hackneyed and comes with a gear-grindingly convenient plot point to tie everything up nearly. It doesn’t exist because it’s a story that needs to be told, that a writer has poured their heart and soul into (Marvel and DC really are the wrong places to look for that sort of thing), it’s there as an exercise in corporate synergy. In that it proves that comics kowtow at the altar of the almighty Hollywood dollar it may actually earn its place as a perfect representative of that, because there’s nothing more representative of modern Marvel than that. An act of subservience from a largely moribund publisher. ( )

Have you ever wondered why Nick Fury is played by Samuel L Jackson and not Harrison Ford in the recent spate of Marvel superhero movies? Have you ever wondered why the original Nick Fury in the comics never seemed to age despite having fought in WWII? Then this book is for you! True Beliver. All the continuity issues surrounding Nick Fury in Marvel comic universe and Marvel movie are put to rest in a completely entertaining and Marvel Universe way. This is a must read. ( )

This is one of those books that Marvel comic fans will either love or hate, I think. It will depend on how you feel about retconning. Since I started as a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe before coming to the comics (after The Avengers was released), I’m less bothered by retconning. At least, when it is done well. And Battle Scars does it very, very well.

I went looking for this book after stumbling across a review somewhere that said it’s a great bridge between the original Marvel continuity and Marvel Now. The story is set after the crossover event Fear Itself and is self-contained. You don’t have to have read the event, or any other comic really, to follow it. And the writing is brilliant. The story opens with Sergeant Marcus Johnson coming back from Afghanistan to attend the funeral of his mother. He was told she was killed during a home invasion brought on by Fear Itself. Only, he discovers that she was murdered and now “they” are after him. The story is literally boiling over with suspense and tension. Who’s after him? Why? What does Captain America know? Marcus may be the biggest secret SHIELD has ever held and when he learns the truth - I nearly fell out of my chair in shock. I LOVED IT!

Overall, I can’t recommend this book enough. I've only been reading comics since 2012 and in that time I have worked my way from Avengers Disassembled through AvX and aside from Secret Warriors, this might be the best book I've come across. Fantastic. ( )