Following Secret Empire over the past several months was a memorable experience, if not an altogether enjoyable one. Marvel's big summer 2017 crossover started off on a very promising note, building on one of the most significant plot twists in the company's recent history and exploring what happens when the Marvel Universe's greatest hero becomes its worst enemy. But over time, it became apparent that Secret Empire wasn't able to do that prime justice, culminating in a very underwhelming, formulaic finale. And if anything, having the entire story collected in one book only heightens Secret Empire's flaws.

For those who somehow managed to remain unexposed to Secret Empire over the past year, this miniseries serves as the culmination of Nick Spencer's Captain America saga. Thanks to a little quantum tomfoolery courtesy of living Cosmic Cube Kobik, Steve Rogers' life has been rewritten so that he's now been a Hydra sleeper agent from a young age. Secret Empire marks the point where Captain America and the resurgent Hydra rise up and take control of the world, leaving the Avengers to wonder how they ever could have put so much faith in their former ally.As far as crossover premises go, Secret Empire ranks among the best. Like Civil War, Secret Empire tells a very timely, politically charged story that has a clear, immediate impact across Marvel's publishing line. The early chapters of Secret Empire carry a real weight and sense of significance that's found too rarely in superhero event comics. But again, the series proves unable to sustain that momentum over the long haul. The plot begins to drag after a few issues as the emphasis shifts to the manhunt for the scattered remnants of the Cosmic Cube. And the climax is utterly incapable of realizing the promise of the story. Rather than offering a deep examination of Captain America's downfall and potential redemption, Secret Empire culminates in yet another generic battle between good and evil. Rather than profoundly altering Cap's place in the Marvel U., it settles for making a few waves.The series' wildly inconsistent art quality also does it no favors, especially when collected together. The core miniseries is largely divided among Steve McNiven, Andrea Sorrentino and Leinil Yu - three great artists, but not artists whose styles necessarily blend well together. That's to say nothing of the increasing reliance on fill-in art over the course of the book, with Rod Reis handling a series of interlude scenes and others like Joshua Cassara stepping in as needed. Secret Empire is marked by some strong visual moments but a complete lack of cohesion. Sure, it's nice that Marvel delivered every issue on time (more or less), but that's irrelevant to readers now that the story is finished. Now this crossover will always suffer from Marvell's decision to emphasize timely shipping over a consistent visual style.The good news is that the hardcover collection offers a pretty comprehensive package. In addition to the 10-issue Secret Empire miniseries, it collects the prologue chapter Secret Empire #0, the epilogue chapter Secret Empire Omega, the Free Comic Book Day tie-in and Captain America #25 (which served as a collective series finale for both of Spencer's Captain America books). That omits some of the better tie-in issues (such as the excellent Deadpool storyline), but as far as the most directly relevant material, this hardcover covers most of its bases. The one real omission is Generations: Captain America, which I consider to be crucial in terms of providing the necessary closure that Secret Empire #10 and Secret Empire Omega fail to offer.Unfortunately, though not unsurprisingly, this book doesn't have much to offer beyond the comics themselves. There's a gallery section spotlighting the numerous variant covers for each issue, and that's basically it. I would have really loved to get a closer peek into the development of Secret Empire, especially given the massive reaction to the original Hydra Cap twist. The lack of supplemental material is also disappointing given the fairly steep $60 cover price. Granted, it's still cheaper to buy this hardcover than to pay full price for the single issues, but those weren't exactly a bargain either.