The Good
This issue is nuts, and that is meant in the best way possible. There is a ton revealed here about the world all of these characters live on and how everything was created, and again, nuts. What really works here is that writer Jonathan Hickman spends the first couple issues exploring this world, which helps if you read the tie-ins as well, and the third issue gives you a peek into how this all came together.
Doom was set up as the ruler and god of Battleworld, but issue three gives the reader a ton of insight is to why he is held up in this way by the other people. According to him, he created the world, and while I still don't trust that as the truth because I read Marvel comics and villains tend to lie, it's a really great concept. However, is Doom really the villain here? Sure, he's the ruler and supposed creator, but can the reader consider him to be the villain that everyone knows? I'm leaning towards yes.
This issue continues to drop shocking bombs as it's revealed what happened to Johnny Storm. I won't spoil that here, but it's pretty crazy, and the fact this issue is revealing little bits and pieces here and there about this world and its characters makes the reader want to move forward with the book. SECRET WARS is a puzzle and we only get a few pieces each week.
Considering I'm a huge Miles Morales fan, I was super-pleased with this issue, since Miles pops in and gets to come face-to-face, once again, with Peter Parker (from the 616). What's even cooler is that no one remembers the world previous to Battleworld, except for the 616 characters here and Miles Morales. Why is that?
Esad Ribic and Ive Svorcina do an amazing job on this book. This is the art team this event and issue deserves. The scene with Doom taking off his mask is haunting and will stick with the reader. The lighting and colors are perfect and there's this real sense of calm there as well. Ribic nails a lot of facial expressions throughout the issue and makes this issue very exciting, without there being and action sequences.
The Bad
Yes, it's slow and dialogue heavy, but the dialogue is solid and what this issue does is set up the world and give insight to characters. The excitement isn't always within the actions, but within the words said by the characters.
The Verdict
You don't need to have large-scale action sequences in order to have an exciting issue. Hickman, Ribic, and Svorcina open up the doors to Battleworld and let the readers know this more to all of this than previously thought. Again, we get pieces of how this all came together but not the whole picture all at once. It will make you want to continue forward with the book. SECRET WARS #3 is a solid event issue that's going to lead to bigger things.