A few big Secret Invasion-related books have hit in the past week or so. We’re looking at Mighty Avengers #12 and Captain Marvel #5 this week. Joining the gang this week is Paul van Haaren, while Pedro, Joe, Jamaal, David U, and Chris of Funnybook Babylon make a return. Next week? We’re going to discuss New Avengers #40.

Pedro: I’ll start.

Mighty Avengers was good but it’s really un-mighty like. I know this isn’t in the scope of the general discussion but it feels like the book got hijacked hardcore for Secret Invasion. I don’t know who are the Bendis fans who only want his “superhero” fare but it’s a weird shift in narrative that just annoys me.

In regards to Captain Marvel, that book took a sweet awesome curve and I really care about the character. I ran into Lee Weeks at the con and he described how happy he was to get a cosmic book like this and even enjoyed the downtime moments in it that were great for his street level style. I don’t imagine that I’m the only one who wants to see what happens to that character.

Jamaal: One of the things that are great about the multiple-author model of producing comic books is the ever-present possibility of redemption. Although I can easily identify specific issues of Mighty Avengers that I found enjoyable, but the run as a whole left me a little bit cold. Maybe it’s the apparent lack of an overall theme, or the delays. I had similar problems with the Captain Marvel special released before the miniseries, which was okay, but didn’t do much to inspire any interest in a miniseries. The conclusion of the Captain Marvel miniseries and the new issue of Mighty Avengers have restored my interest in the Captain Marvel character and the Mighty Avengers title.

As Pedro said, the Captain Marvel series went a long way towards transforming a character that had only been remembered as a martyr. What really impressed me was how effectively Brian Reed humanized a character who was fundamentally alien. The most obvious way this was done was through the focus on mortality, a theme that was obvious, but expressed in a remarkably subtle way. It informed all of his actions, even his final act of the mini-series, but Reed didn’t hammer us over the head with it. Speaking of nuance, I also loved the messiah subplot, which paid off in a big way. Two asides: (1) I think that this is the way those ’should superheroes intervene in humanitarian crises’ narratives should be handled - even though we shouldn’t ignore the unforeseen consequences, that’s hardly an excuse for inaction, and (2) Isn’t Reed’s Captain Marvel closer to a Marvel version of Superman than the Sentry is? I think that the ’superhumans trying to do their best in a complicated world’ theme is more interesting than the ‘heroes with feet of clay’ one, and that this series melds the former with the Superman character’s humanist trait.

As far as Mighty goes, I loved the issue, but I still reserve judgment about the series as a whole. Is it just me, or are the best issues of Mighty the ones focusing on a single character (or two)? It’s great to see the story of what Nick Fury’s been doing since the Secret War. In the old days, this would’ve been a few captions filled with exposition, but it works a lot better as a stand alone story. Bendis seems to have really figured out the voices of all the characters spotlighted in this issue. And the art is magnificent. One minor quibble - This story makes a lot less sense if you don’t know some really specific elements of the Marvel Universe, none of which are explained, namely (1)the relationships between Fury and his cronies before the New Marvel era, and (2) exactly when the scene with Fury and the interim director of SHIELD took place. Other than that, it was a great issue.

I didn’t even get a chance to get into the identity themes in Captain Marvel, but I’m sure one of you guys will delve into that one.

David U.: I guess I never weighed in on last week’s Captain Marvel, so let me do that first.

I think what I found really cool about this series is the whole dark-mirror aspect. Despite the fact that Khn’nr is from a species fundamentally opposed to Mar-Vell and the Kree, his origin and mission are almost identical (”Fuck you guys, I’m going native!”). The entire series really comes together well at the end, and not only serves as a nice lead-in to Secret Invasion but also the origin of what could be a really interesting character for years to come. I don’t know if he’ll keep this role, or become Captain Conner or something like that, but I’m really intrigued to see where his story leads and what kind of role he’ll be playing in the overall Marvel context during and especially after Secret Invasion. Brian Reed’s really raised his game with this series, far beyond his work on the early issues of Ms. Marvel, and putting Lee Weeks on a cosmic book was an inspired stroke on Marvel’s part, since it feels at once spacey and weighty, getting across a sense of the fantastic with a gritty edge, much like Yu’s art on Secret Invasion proper. It’s a smart book and a fun mystery that wisely doesn’t pull back on its cliffhangers or talk down to its reader - if you figure it out halfway through, you figured it out, but the remaining issues, and the how, and the why, are all still very intriguing. I’m hoping the Front Line and Spider-Man SI tie-ins follow this standard of quality.

Jumping to this week, Reed also contributes Ms. Marvel #26, a story that loses dramatic impact largely because it’s set right *before* Secret Invasion, so we basically know that Carol gets out of this alive and intact and not a Skrull. As a result, it serves largely to tie up a bunch of ongoing plotlines from Reed’s run, including the alien background of her ex-boyfriend. While a perfectly fine comic, it doesn’t really contribute much to the overall picture of Secret Invasion (although I may very well retract that statement when this arc wraps up next issue).

And then there’s Mighty Avengers #12, the first part of the return of Nick Fury and a story clearly meant to go in New Avengers (where it was originally announced). As a result, this book goes from day-glo superhero funhouse to gritty, street-level depiction of the early stages of the Invasion, a change that, for people only following Mighty, will be extremely jarring. However, it’s difficult to think of a way to really distinguish these books based on their previous themes at this point; Secret Invasion has united the two plotlines so thoroughly that it’s difficult to see how the two books could, in the context of Secret Invasion, be distinguished. So, what we really have here is part one of two of Secret Invasion: The Return of Nick Fury, and on that level it’s pretty damn good.

Bendis’s promises of rewinding the clock were no claim; this literally rewinds the clock to the end of Secret War and takes us to two weeks before the Breakout in New Avengers #1, for a total period of five and a half months. This timeline is laid out very plainly. Bendis’s Fury is a character we haven’t seen in years, and it’s great to rediscover him; his patented blend of world-weary pessimism and an unyielding drive to protect always make him an interesting character to watch, and Bendis gives him a tough-love attitude that really resonates with me, especially in the scene he shares with Maria Hill, which I thought was exceptional.

As a matter of fact, Bendis is going so far to show where Fury’s been, and what a likeable character he can be, that I have a bad feeling this is his last hurrah, his final off-the-grid master-manipulation-that-saves-the-world, and that he’s the guy Bendis is talking about here (http://twitter.com/brianbendis/statuses/700907492). That’s neither here nor there at the moment, though, and the book accomplishes more than simply reestablishing Fury’s character for newer readers; it establishes necessary background on the Invasion proper and provides a tantalizing mystery on the final page (which we should totally work out a key for or something).

What I’m wondering about the final spread is this: Are these A) Potential Skrulls? Maybe red for thinks they are, blue for no? or B) Potential Avengers recruits? I’ve long thought that Nick Fury engineered the Breakout and the heroes who helped there, and with this issue ending two weeks prior it certainly gives him enough time to form the first iteration of the New Avengers (a group remarkably similar to the posse Fury put together for Secret War).

Joe: As someone who has a bare inkling of what a kree even is, or no idea what the hell nega-bands are, the story felt very solidly held together by the simple thread of someone deciding who they are. Which is somewhat of a feat, because on my second read through, I realized that this was basically an exposition issue. However, Reed managed to dress the story in religious imagery, add meaning, and explain everything I feel that I need to know about Captain Marvel. I also want to add that Lee Weeks’ layouts were really solid, and he the inks, colors and overall production of the book were done in such a way that the various pieces of art didn’t clash in an overt way.

Possibly the most interesting thing that Brian Reed does in the book is the way dramatizes the memory implant scene. We discover a side of the Skrulls that isn’t the sneering, cackling evil shapeshifter, but the Skrull who just has a job, and wants to get home as quickly as possible to his wife. Reed and Weeks manage to create a bright comic that touches interesting themes without bogging it down with didactics by filling it with a few every-day moments.

Mighty avengers, is also mainly an exposition book. I felt that it wasn’t as successful. Spy action was to be had, but as someone who has been following those books, this was 22 pages that may have been better left unsaid in the full scope of the story. It was everything I had assumed Nick Fury was up to. While a solid book with great art, the felt pretty empty. It doesn’t say much other than ‘Fury’s on the job’ or that ‘Fury’s been on the job’. But we knew that, or rather we imagined it. It doesn’t really say anything. It’s also an issue of timing. This would have been a great precursor to Secret Invasion, right now we’re in the opening arc, it strikes me a bad move in terms of pacing. It might have even worked in the middle/end right before a ‘Fury Returns’. Right now? The flashback takes all the energy in the room that he’s been bringing with the big book that it was. Ending with the big-board of who Fury thinks is a skrull would have been a great element to have right before this all started.

I also agree with pedro that going from a book with a “KRAZZRAKKKA”, a “FRAKABOOM” AND a “CRASSH” on the same page, to a slow-ish burn spy story told in a style that harkens to the Bendis/Maleev Daredevil run, is jarring. I’m not against such a style change, but it seems to me, that there aren’t clear thematic reasons for doing this, at least none that are clear to me at the moment.

Looking at this in context with what’s currently going on in New Avengers, Powers, USM, and SI, it’s making me think that Bendis may need a break and hit something new. While still solid, a lot of his work feels lacking in the danger, audacity, and energy that crackled in his previous work. I think he may be too comfortable in his chair as king of the Marvel’s writer’s room, as this should have been shot down by his editors. He’s such a great writer that I feel loathe to push praise on an otherwise decent book. This is the man that wrote Alias & Daredevil in a way that will forever live on shelves.

He’s so comfortable in his abilities to stage a solid spy drama, he relies on Maleev to bring drama, intesity, and incredible art to the story, that he’ll manage to wow some of us for now. I don’t want to say he’s phoning it in, because I don’t think that’s what’s going on, I just think he isn’t on his A game. His B game is still good but… a year from now, no one will remember Mighty Avengers #12.

And as Jamaal often says, we shouldn’t lower our expectations just because we’re in love with the medium. ‘Okay’ doesn’t cut it.

Paul: I don’t have much to say about the writing in the Captain Marvel mini that hasn’t already been said. Reed managed to make me interested in a character that, upon his initial return, I saw absolutely no purpose for. This is an actually meaningful event tie-in; Captain Marvel’s return has been validated by the existence of Secret Invasion.

One interesting aspect of the art of the comic is how it shows how much influence an inker has on the art of a book. Weeks had a grand total of five different inkers over the course of the mini, each with a distinctive style of inking, and no issue really looks the same. Gaudiano’s soft inking style and Butch Guice’s heavy use of blacks are nothing alike, and both are in turn entirely distinguishable from Klaus Janson’s looser, bolder lines. Honestly, this was a little jarring to me, although it’s still preferable to (unintentional) artist switches in the middle of a mini or storyline. Also, while I don’t mean to put down Lee Weeks’ otherwise excellent pencilwork, the comic did bring up an issue I have with not just this comic, but with the visual look of Secret Invasion and how it’s in stark contrast with its themes and writing style; Skrulls inherently look really, really silly. While Captain Marvel himself looks iconic and understated enough to work in an attempt at a mature superhero story, Weeks unfortunately opted to go with the aliens’ traditional look of little big-eared green men in purple bodysuits, and it feels very out of place considering the tone of the comic. It made the scene with the Skrulls in issue 5 that Joe was referring to more comical than Reed probably intended for it to be. It was still a good scene, but it was visually awkward.

That’s not to say it’s impossible to draw Skrulls with a more appropriate look for the story. Alex Maleev did an amazingly effective rendition of one of the aliens in Mighty Avengers #12; It looked genuinely alien and unsettling while still maintaining its distinguishing Skrully characteristics. I swear that man manages to up his game with everything he draws.

As for the issue itself, I’m a little torn. It was a very good issue in itself, but I agree with the sentiment that this simply didn’t feel like an issue of Mighty Avengers. Like David U said, this was originally billed as a story in New Avengers, and it would fit in a lot better there, but Bendis is already doing another Secret Invasion storyline in that comic. On the other hand, I prefer Bendis writing this sort of thing to what he was doing in the first eleven issues of Mighty, since he’s a lot better at it, and I think he himself would agree. You could make the case that Mighty Avengers is him trying to move out of his comfort zone and write a big, bright, whiz-bang superhero comic for once, but despite amusing individual scenes the book overall feels a little hollow to me.

I do disagree with Joe that this issue was unnecessary or poorly timed. For one, I think it’s important to remind people who Nick Fury is and what he does after he’s been absent from the comics for so long. He’s going to be returning in the pages of Secret Invasion and will probably be a major player, so building up to that return is a smart move. It also adds new layers to the two characters he informs about the threat, particularly the second one, since it’s revealed they knew more than we were actually let on to believe. As for the timing, I’m not sure what difference it would have made to show Fury contemplating things before Secret Invasion started instead of after the first issue came out. The event isn’t over yet, and there are still plenty of unresolved mysteries and hidden Skrulls; Having this storyline in Mighty Avengers run concurrently with Secret Invasion feels like an intentional decision to build up the character in time for Secret Invasion #4.

Chris: In addition to being a fun read, I think the Captain Marvel mini gives us a good look into how the Skrulls might be prosecuting the “hearts and minds” side of the “Invasion”. It will be interesting to see how much of the events surrounding Mar-Vell/Khn’rr were orchestrated by the Skrulls, because if only the sleeper agent properly “awoke”, this would have been a brilliant propaganda plan.

Whether or not they planned his escape and “return” in the midst of Civil War “Captain Marvel” returned, messiah-like, right as all of the other (human) heroes were fighting like rowdy schoolchildren. Throughout CW and World War Hulk, Marvel stayed above the fray, and he garnered more good will as he stopped Skrulls posing as Cyclone/Cobalt Man from killing lots of civilians. The Church of Hala serves as “his” propaganda arm, and in general Marvel becomes a more trusted and beloved hero than anyone in the Initiative.

Now imagine that same hero turning around and telling people to trust the new Skrull “visitors”. It almost makes me wonder if we shouldn’t be suspecting a second wave of infiltrated Skrulls, based not on their “ability to do the most damage” a la Duggan and Jarvis, but based on who could garner the most good will for the colonization. Of course, most of the people who fit the bill (Thor, Captain America, Reed Richards) seem kind of off the table. Still, a nice wrinkle and a mini-series that far exceeded everyone’s probably minimal expectations for it.

As for the discussion of whether the Fury story belongs in New or Mighty Avengers: I get the impression the difference between the two books will be largely academic for the bulk of the crossover. I think it’s really smart to relegate plot points like this over to the Avengers books, where people reading them are likely relatively steeped and interested in the backstory and greater ‘universe’ instead of trying to integrate it into the main event mini-series, where it’d likely bog things down or be explained too briefly for anyone’s satisfaction. I enjoyed it as a background story, and look forward to adding “Nick Fury’s Glamour Shots” to the ever-increasing Bendis OCD Listmaking required to try to guess future plot points. Seriously, why would Fury be looking at Hydro-Man or Gargoyle? Is that like when you buy a pack of baseball cards looking for Don Mattingly or Kirby Puckett, but you end up with a bunch of Odibie McDowell and Rick Rhoden cards instead? Is it a private joke? Viral marketing? Damn you, Bendis!