Maybe this is just me, but there’s this one bad joke I or a friend sometimes tell where you hear someone with a unique and crazy voice and remark how you’d love to see that guy do a book on tape. You’d even listen to the Yellow Pages on CD, or something equally ridiculous, just because you love listening to that guy’s voice. Brad Garrett reading Moby Dick. Something like that.

That’s how I find Brian Michael Bendis’ recent Avengers work. The guy can write a story about the average day of an Amish farmer and he’d make it seem readable. There’s something just soothing about his writing. That explains the mixed feelings I have for today’s batch from Bendis, Mighty Avengers #17 and New Avengers #44. Well, the former at least.

On the surface, neither of these comics have much to do with the respective teams. Even when you remove the reality of the characters involved, New Avengers features none of the current New Avengers (Strange left the team) and Mighty Avengers doesn’t feature a single Mighty Avenger.

No, this is part of Secret Invasion. Secret Invasion is the big climax, at least for the moment, for Bendis’ various Avengers runs. More than Disassembled and House of M, every issue has been leading up to this event. So if New, Mighty and Illuminati have been leading up to Invasion, does that mean that Bendis gets a pass for using these two issues and the several before them for Invasion padding? That’s up for debate.

The last few months have existed to expand on the Skrull state of mind and their plans. How do they work and how did they happen? They also show the tragedy of the lead-up. With so many Skrull duplicates in the roles of heroes, we know that something bad is going to go down each time we open an issue. Every issue is another time to read and wait for the other shoe to drop. We knew that we’d see Hank Pym get beaten half to death. We knew that Elektra would ultimately lose. This week’s two issues bring another piece of dread that we hadn’t expected.

Mighty is the lesser of the two issues because ultimately, it doesn’t say too much. It may foreshadow a bit and maybe it’ll be more interesting to look back on after the event is complete, but it’s mostly padding. Entertaining and, at times, disturbing padding. The story, featuring the Skrull doppelganger of Hank Pym goes in a direction few anticipated. Despite the interesting turn of events, we know that things will make a negative turn before the issue is done. It’s only a matter of time.

Of all the issues of Bendis’ Skrull Saga, Mighty ranks as one of the least important. You won’t find answers to any riddles, but it does show the complicated effects of their plan. It shows that Skrulls, much like humans, are diverse in morality. You can’t judge a race by the actions of a few. Or… in this case, maybe you can? Maybe the Invasion will shed some more light on it.

Khoi Pham’s pencils work well for the story being told. There’s even a good use of a television in the background that gives a subtle pinpoint to the timeline. It’s just unfortunate that the final page is a redrawn version of a more high-profile artist’s work and comes across as a hand-me-down.

New Avengers has more to do with the Skrull plans, though nothing too earth shattering. It’s not like the recent issue that explained how the invasion came to be and then paid us off with the revelation that the Queen is Spider-Woman. The story has more to do with how part of the Skrull plan came to be. Explained with dialogue, even Bendis dialogue, it probably would have been underwhelming.

This issue isn’t underwhelming. It’s absolutely horrifying. Several pages in, there’s a part with Dr. Strange that gave me the creeps reading it. The slow realization of what was happening was a huge holy shit moment. What followed only proceeded to make it worse. Then, without the weapon of surprise, the rest of the issue continues to make your skin crawl. It’s one horror after the other.

The Skrulls claim to be going for peace and maybe they are, but the way they go about it is disgusting. It’s an act that’s grounded in fiction, meaning that you won’t see many examples of it in real life, but it’s just so cruel and heartless that it’s appalling. I’ve read this issue three times over and it gets harder to get through each time.

It’s nice to see that Billy Tan is improving as an artist. His work here is by far an improvement over his efforts in Spider-Man: The Other. There are so many panels and details that are just nasty. Considering the story I just described, I mean that in a very good way.

If you’re a completist, you’ll probably pick up Mighty Avengers. Only if you’re into Secret Invasion. If you’re looking for Sentry and Ares blowing stuff up, wait a couple months. Then again, you should already know that by now.

Definitely pick up New Avengers. That one’s a keeper.

New Avengers #44:

Mighty Avengers #17:

The most incredible thing about this book is that there really isn’t a stinker in the five stories that make up this collection, and they all provide actual insight into the goings-on of Marvel’s big summer event. I’m sure that all of the “new” concepts introduced in this are merely teases of stuff Bendis came up with, but each of these stories either spotlight a group of characters without their own book or provide additional context to the events surrounding the main series, bridging gaps and reuniting familiar creative teams. I was really surprised by how much there was to like in this comic, and I’m genuinely concerned that in the deluge of Secret Invasion tie-ins and miniseries this gem might get lost in the shuffle, because this is something we need to see more of.

I’m gonna go through these stories one by one to try to show how broad this book’s mandate is and how well it’s pulled off.

First, Brian Reed and Lee Weeks reprise their low-selling but well-received Captain Marvel miniseries by bridging the end of that comic and his appearance in Secret Invasion #1. Due to the fact that it’s done by that same creative team, it feels less like a continuity patch and more like a natural extension, as it should; Brian Reed is definitely Bendis’s #2 man on Secret Invasion. If you liked the miniseries, you’ll like this; if not, it’ll sufficiently recap what happened and provide much-needed context to his appearance anyway. A really solid story.

Second, Mike Carey and Timothy Green II follow up on Agent Brand’s predicament from the end of SI #1, as well as extending her character from the revelations in Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1. It’s well-executed, if sometimes confusing – there’s a revelation at the end that feels more inevitable than shocking – but it also does a great job of fleshing out Brand’s character and giving her life past Whedon.

The third story is a very fun Wonder Man and Beast story by Christos N. Gage and Mike Perkins, riffing off of the changes in the Marvel Universe since the flexible time period of the Ship o’ Skrullz to today. It’s a strong piece, and although it’s not especially revelatory it takes a good look at the remains of Hank and Simon’s friendship through the lens of distrust provided by the tone and events of Secret Invasion itself. Despite the ‘action’ occurring around it, the focus is largely on the dialogue between the two, and it shines whether the characters involved are real or not. Strong work.

The fourth story is an absolute gem, and gives me way more hope for Secret Invasion’s eventual use of Grant Morrison’s Marvel Boy character. It’s by Zeb Wells and new newuniversal artist Steve Kurth, and effectively bridges Morrison’s original Marvel Boy, Civil War: Young Avengers/Runaways, New Avengers: Illuminati #4 and Secret Invasion itself, but most importantly, it actually nails Noh-Varr’s idealistic cosmic punk-rock attitude. Morally ambiguous on the best of days, Noh-Varr should be one of the defining figures of this crossover, and it’s very nice to see him treated with the care he deserves.

The final story is, to my surprise, the weakest – although this is a strong overall package. Jeff Parker and Leonard Kirk reprise their low-selling but very acclaimed miniseries Agents of Atlas. While it’s fun, and does provide another neat angle on Skrull motivations, it largely feels like returning to these characters for the sake of returning, rather than because of a new story – and while it’s awesome to keep in the Agents in the public eye, this is the only story I’m iffy about since, unlike the other ones, it really kind of does feel like filler. It’s still an enjoyable read, though, and Agents fans will, I’m sure, be very happy to see the band back together for these creators and characters.

Overall, this is a stunning package, and in fact the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. If this is any indication, Marvel seems to have figured out how to put together an anthology one-shot of stories filling in narrative gaps and make it all pretty damn good, and as a result this is really just a great way to spend $3.99 if you’re waiting for the next major tie-in. I thoroughly enjoyed every story in this issue, and I hope that when (not if) Marvel does this again, it’s of similar quality.
David U.’s score:

With Secret Invasion, the issues of New Avengers and Mighty Avengers, whether good or bad, are in a class of their own. After all, Secret Invasion is Bendis’ big cumulative storyline tying together a lot of loose ends from those series. They’re more like extended scenes and extra issues to the miniseries than anything else. Discarding those, I honestly haven’t read too many of the Invasion tie-ins. Yes, Captain Marvel was completely amazing and Hercules is a blast regardless of what story it’s linked to, but I’m not a regular reader of Ms. Marvel and I haven’t picked up Captain Britain yet, so I can’t comment on them.

That brings us to Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? This one-shot, based on five different stories, gives us more details on certain characters and their roles in the series. The five writers, Brian Reed, Mike Carey, Christos N. Gage, Zeb Wells and Jeff Parker keep things extremely competent and diverse in topic, while staying true to the series.

First up is Reed’s follow-up to Captain Marvel. This gives us more of an explanation towards Marvel’s actions in the first and third Invasion issues. When people read the first issue, they initially figured that his programming was making him attack the Thunderbolts. Then Captain Marvel #5 came out and made people think that Marvel was out to kill one or two Skrulls that had infiltrated the Thunderbolts. The brief scene in Invasion #3 outright confused people and forced speculation. Finally, we have a better idea of what’s going on, while looking forward to what his dealings with Norman Osborn will bring.

It answers just enough questions and succeeds in the same way as Reed and Weeks’ miniseries. You may think you know where the story is going to lead, but it swerves you in a way that seems almost natural and a breath of fresh air. Then you have to wonder what will happen next. It cements just what a great character Khn’nr is. He’s a Skrull traitor based on the soul and appearance of a Kree traitor. Now it goes even deeper.

The second story, featuring Mike Carey’s take on Agent Brand, takes place between the end of Invasion #1 and the upcoming fourth issue. It’s low on action, but works in a way to give more background to the invasion lead-in. What really helps out this story is the timing. The last couple issues of Astonishing X-Men pushed Brand into a far more likable character than the first installment of Invasion, adding to the list of easily dropped Marvel characters that Bendis has decided to latch onto. With the latest Astonishing still fresh in our mind, fans should look forward to getting to see more of SWORD’s director. Had this come out a couple months earlier, I doubt it would have come off as exciting.

Gage writes yet another Invasion side-story taking place in the Savage Land after the random dinosaur attack. This time it’s about the Mighty Avengers version of Wonder Man and Beast from the Skrull Throwback Brigade being stuck in an underground cave. The true Beast and Wonder Man are longtime friends, so the obvious distrust burns like a torch. Simon wants to believe Hank so hard, but just won’t let himself. It’s a well-played scene and the ending fits well, but I honestly haven’t read much of the Beast/Wonder Man team-ups in old Avengers to truly appreciate it. Plus I just find Wonder Man to be a tremendous tool. But that’s just me.

Next is a story about Marvel Boy, written by Zeb Wells. Since Marvel hasn’t gotten around to reprinting Morrison’s initial miniseries about the character, I only have his one issue of Illuminati and the mediocre Runaways/Young Avengers crossover to go on. What I get is that he’s a wild card in all of this. Bendis kept it very non-descriptive for Marvel Boy’s brief appearance in the first issue of Invasion #1, where he just says, “Time to go,” and leaves. Okay, now what? Two issues later and nothing’s happened with him. What’s his angle?

This story takes place moments before that throwaway scene, where Marvel Boy’s home, the Cube, is compromised by the Skrulls. While there’s a lot of confusion in the goings on of the story, we at least understand where Noh-Varr stands on all of this. It’s interesting that while Noh-Varr and Khn’nr are each meant to replace the original Mar-Vell in their own ways, they each take a complete opposite stance in terms of the Skrull invasion. I can’t wait to see what happens when they finally cross paths.

The final story features the Agents of Atlas, a mostly-ignored secret superhero team made up of old 50’s Atlas characters. They’d fall into obscurity if it were not for writer Jeff Parker forcing them into nearly everything he writes. The story is more about the idea of a team finally going after Skrulls at their own game. Though the heroes are charismatic and easy to get behind, the story almost makes them look like the bad guys. The Skrulls are shown to not be malicious and the way one of them – the narrator – is dealt with is so harsh and gruesome that you have to feel sorry for him.

Who Do You Trust? is what tie-ins should be. Not only do we stray away from continuity headaches and characteristic discrepancies, but it gives great background to the event and makes you want to read the next issue of Secret Invasion even more than the last issue of Secret Invasion did.

Now give us an Agents of Atlas ongoing already, Marvel. And reprint Marvel Boy while you’re at it!
Gavin’s score:

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.

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.

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!

Black Panther (which won’t be written by Hudlin, at least for this crossover)

The book was quite good, and went in some surprising directions. Bendis did a great job of revealing shocking surprises (everything you thought you knew was wrong!), and introducing new, compelling mysteries for the future. What’s more, he did in a way that would be satisfying to long-term and novice readers. If you’ve been reading Marvel Comics for the last twenty years (reluctantly raises hand), the plot fits in perfectly with established continuity and character. At the same time, he doesn’t overly rely on the distant past when building this story. The Skrulls who are the villains of this piece are not the same ones who have plagued the Avengers and Fantastic Four for the last forty years, so you don’t have to really know how they lost their ability to shape change, or how they got that power back.

However, I would still argue that one would have to be familiar with Bendis’ previous work (his run on New Avengers, the Secret War and Illuminati miniseries), and I would imagine some other books as the series progresses (Silent War, Namor, etc.) to fully appreciate the story that Bendis is telling. I would actually go further than that and say that one isn’t fully reading the story he is telling without following the subplots in the titles named above. I think it’s the equivalent of watching the second half of a film and claiming to have watched the entire film. The only reason that people don’t commonly think this way is because of the nature of the comic book marketplace, which encourages consumption in periodical form rather than ‘graphic novel form’. I’m sympathetic to the needs of the marketplace, and the imperative that publishers feel to put out books in this format, but until I get a financial stake in the business, any notion of ‘accessibility’ is somewhat beside the point to me.

Getting to the theme of the story, I must admit that I’ve always been skeptical of claims that any super hero comic book resonates with modern-day events. Every time Pedro sends me a link to some mainstream interview where the interviewer or the creator claims that “this is just like Issue ‘X’”, I roll my eyes. But what impressed me the most about the issue was how deftly Bendis drew parallels to the War on Terror. The Skrulls, like our antagonists in the Middle East, have had many low-level conflicts with Marvel heroes for decades. Because we always figured that human ingenuity and pluck would always prevail, we never took them very seriously. As a part of that, we never felt any need to learn anything about their history, culture, or ethnic divisions. We caricatured their strangeness, and interpreted all of their qualities through the prism of our own experience. They were just like people, you see, but with lizard – like skin. They changed shape, sure, but we minimized their non-human qualities. What struck me most about the first issue was how foreign they seemed. This wasn’t a futuristic version of humanity, but something completely alien. This idea was really reinforced by Yu’s brilliant art and the repetition of the “He loves you” phrase. It’s amazing because it’s utterly confusing. Almost like the confusion that people have about those would massacre innocents in the name of God. Who did not accept the “end of history.”

I don’t have the time now, but someone can write an entire essay about the similarities between post-Cold War America and post-Civil War Marvel U. Or between Francis Fukuyama and Tony Stark.

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.

click for full-size

Cap’s back? And isn’t Phoenix a baby? Regardless, still looking forward to this series, though.

In 2008, the Marvel Universe will be consumed by Secret Invasion, the comic book event over five years in the making, written by Brian Bendis and penciled by Leinil Yu,

Only one question remains: Who Do You Trust?

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