6 Comics You Need To Read Before Marvel's Secret Empire

6. Avengers: Standoff!

To understand where Secret Empire starts, Avengers: Standoff! is the best place to pick up the story. Because, unbeknownst to readers at the time, this is where the change in Captain America from patriot to agent of HYDRA occurs.

This story sets numerous plot threads up that carry into Secret Empire, and most importantly, SHIELD secretly acts outside of the law to deal with supervillains. The questionable morality of SHIELD creates new allegiances and sparks a renewed hated for SHIELD and what it represents.

Crucially, this story also introduces the character of Kobik - the living embodiment of the Cosmic Cube, who has the mind of a small child and who is immensely important for the current state of the Marvel universe. Repercussions from Avengers: Standoff! will echo in the pages of Marvel comics for years to come, primarily because of her involvement.

For initial publication Avengers: Standoff! was a limited series where each chapter happened in a different ongoing comic book, and helpfully, these have collected in one graphic novel.