Secret Warriors #14
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Stefano Caselli
Letterer: Dave Lanphear
Cover Artist: Jim Cheung

Flashbacks show the backstory to Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and how she lost her parents and came to work at S.H.I.E.L.D. as a double agent for Leviathan. In the present day Daisy gets upset with Fury for dismissing Druid and the Countessa takes her place with Leviathan, betraying Hydra.

• Continuity Notes
• Appearance by Dum Dum Dugan and the Countessa
• Reprinted in:
  • Secret Warriors: Wake the Beast TPB and hardcover
  • Secret Warriors: The Complete Collection Volume 1.

Review:
Maybe I'm a romantic, but I have never been a fan of pitting Fury against Val, and with the scenario here it is no different for me. Hickman finally fleshes out one of the most enigmatic member of the S.H.I.E.L.D. cast, taking cues from her first appearence (losing her parents, but back in Strange Tales they were French resisitance) and an artisitc homage by Caselli to to Steranko's iconic rendering of her in Strange Tales #168.Also it's a nice touch that Hickman shows Dugan recruiting Val, since its clear that Val and Fury first met after she'd joined S.H.I.E.L.D; it's little touches of continuity that make reading comics so rewarding and I appreciate them when they are used like this. These small apreciations aside, I reject the basic premise that Val is a double (triple?) agent in light of her history with Fury; its just a little too much. Laura Brown (does anyone remember her?) would have been plausible, but not Val.

The diner scene between JT and Daisy is finally the moment we've waiting to happen with these two. If the series had run longer this is the relationship that would have been one of the highlights.
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Rating: