I’ve seen a lot of mixed opinions on Marvel’s Secret Invasion event.  Some love it. Some hate it.  Some are just glad that Phoenix turned out to be a skrull.

But whatever your feelings are about SI and the Dark Reign fallout; if there’s one good thing to come out of it all, it’s Secret Warriors.

Don’t let the hokey name fool you.  This is one of the best series Marvel is putting out.  And it’s all about two words:  Nick Badmutha Fury.   Okay, that’s three words.  I added the “badmutha” for fun.

But I digress.

Yessir, Nick Fury is back!!!  And in a big way.  The crux of this book is that everything you thought you knew about Nick Fury’s place in the 616 is wrong.  I won’t tell you why.  And in truth, the answer doesn’t really make sense, but if you skip how illogical it is, you arrive at two undeniable conclusions.

1. ol’ Nicky is about to bust loose.
2. this is A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

Over the last couple of decades people have just looked at Fury as a sort of grouchy spy-master.  Which he is.  But hidden inside that Nick Nolte-esque appearance is a beast.  Fury is just as dangerous as Wolverine and he doesn’t need claws to do his killin’.  This is a man who could out-fight, out-spy and out-womanize (none of those were actual words) James Bond any day of the week.   And writer Jonathan Hickman is here to remind us all of that.

You may notice that I haven’t mentionedthe Secret Warriors so far.  Well, honestly that’s because they’re not all that great.  And there is the sense that many of them won’t be around very long.  Don’t get me wrong, they’re still entertaining, but I would be that much happier if the book focused on Fury, Agent Daisy Johnson and Phobos (God of War Ares’ tween-aged son, who is now under Fury’s delicate care).  When these characters are on screen, the book seems to shine it’s brightest.  But as I said, this may be on purpose if the other characters are just cannon fodder in Nick Fury’s war.

Perhaps the biggest draw for me is the art.  Stefano Casselli is quickly becoming my favorite artist in Marvel’s roster.  He transforms what many could write off as another manga influenced art-style into something much more cinematic, the likes of which we haven’t seen since Hitch finished Ultimates 2.    The first scene in issue one feels like it was taken directly from the Bourne Identity or The Dark Knight, as Nick Fury storms a former SHIELD datahub.

And with The Initiative having lost much of it’s luster with Casselli’s departure from the title, it’s clear that is a man to watch.

But that’s not to ignore Jonathan Hickman.  Bendis may be helping with the plots, but it is clear that this is Hickman’s book.  Unlike Bendis’ decompressed storytelling which often feels unnecessarily bloated, Hickman’s is much more methodical.  You know that he is deliberatly taking you somewhere, even if you don’t know where it is.  And there is a foreboding sense that the payoff will be HUGE.

So if you haven’t already, go down to BSI (Jason typed this) and pick up the first four issues of Secret Warriors. If you don’t like it, I will personally send you — an e-mail apology.  (What did you think, I’d pay for it?  PSSHT. Get real. I’m broke.)

(And while you’re at it, check out my blog at http://geist0.wordpress.com – now full of chewychocolateysexy-goodness!)