Secret Invasion #1 is out and PCS has got you covered. Wondering if it’s worth picking up? Check out the reviews from Gavin and David U. We’re looking at a dual A grade here, which is a good start for Marvel’s new event book. See below for the spoiler-free details!

Secret Invasion #1
Brian Michael Bendis, story
Leinil Francis Yu, pencils
Mark Morales, inks
Laura Martin, colors
Leinil Francis Yu, Steve McNiven, Gabrielle Dell’otto, covers
Marvel Comics

David U.: It’s really, really, really, really promising. Despite growing organically out of years-long ongoing storylines in the Avengers titles, Secret Invasion #1 manages to please both devotees who’ve been waiting for this and the new reader looking for a succinct hook, a la Civil War. With deftness and economy that I honestly wasn’t sure Bendis was capable of - as much as I love his writing - the scope of the situation and threat are clearly laid out and the characters introduced in a manner that seems harmonic with Bendis’s trademark polarizing dialogue. (I love it.)

Leinil Yu does an extraordinary job on the art, and softened by Mark Morales’s inks and Laura Martin’s colors, it looks like an appropriate middle ground between the styles of both Avengers books. Additionally, Yu’s punctuality is a huge sigh of relief for an event like this, as it’s highly unlikely for major delays to hit this title - and the quality won’t suffer.

A lot of intriguing mysteries are set up, and Bendis’s decision to have a double-sized first issue (a lesson he claims to have learned from negative fan response to House of M #1) pays off in spades by giving him the space to set a mood as well as substantially move the plot. Highly recommended.

Gavin: Brian Michaels Bendis has had a habit of writing events that miss, yet somehow hit at the same time. The issues for Secret War came out so sparingly that it had completely lost its luster by the time the last issue arrived, but it reads really well in trade form. House of M is also an excellent full story, but it was split into eight uneven parts and felt pointless for a time. Now we have Secret Invasion, which may just be Bendis learning from his flaws and making what has potential to be an amazing event finale.

It took until the end of the first issue of House of M for the shit to hit the fan. Here, it’s barely halfway through the first issue. I think what makes this issue work so well is that we go into it knowing that we aren’t going in it looking for any real answers, but looking for what questions we are supposed to ask. And believe me, there are plenty of questions. One of which, coming from a cliffhanger, reminds me of Kitty Pryde’s recrent, “Yeahbutwhat?” reaction from Astonishing X-Men, only multiplied by seventeen.

The other cliffhanger, while not totally surprising, is still shocking just due to the grotesqueness of the scene. Cliffhangers and mysteries aside, there’s plenty of things to love about Secret Invasion #1. Not just the beautiful Leinil Yu art, but the characterization Bendis always brings to the table. Avengers vs. Avengers has been done a lot over the past few months, but this is the first time it feels real. Maybe it’s because this time we see leader vs. leader and the New Avengers don’t have Strange to hide behind. Here’s hoping Bendis can keep up the momentum.