10 Comics You Must Read Before Avengers: Infinity War

9. Secret Empire (The Good One)

Although the words 'Secret' and 'Empire' are more than enough to send even the steeliest of True Believers fleeing into the nearest corner, there was a time where the phrase wouldn't conjure the same connotations.

In 1974, when Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal was in full effect and the United States - on the whole - was experiencing quite the crisis, Steve Englehart wrote a story that saw Steve Rogers leave the red, white and blue of his iconic costume behind. Together with artist Sal Buscema, Englehart made Steve uncover a conspiracy of Pakula proportions (where the key conspirator is Tricky Dick himself), and promptly set about discussing the profound sense of alienation many Americans felt during the Watergate milieu.

Rogers is the analogue through which Englehart enforces this dialogue and, not long after, the Cap we all know and love adopts another identity altogether, that of Nomad. A fitting name, then, for a man without a country. And while the costume change would only last four or so issues, it's clear that Infinity War is looking to Englehart's work in chronicling Rogers' departure from the US and his current status as a fugitive of the law.

Civil War may be optioned as an appropriate read for a story about Cap against the world, but it's nowhere near the level of Englehart's storyline, which is sure to influence Rogers' command of the Secret Avengers come next year.