Marvel made some lofty promises with "Secret Invasion". They said it would be unlike anything we'd seen before, and they were right to an extent. Coming off the aftermath of Civil War, the "death" of Captain America, and the dissolution of the Avengers into two separate (and distinctly individual) teams, the Marvel universe was ripe for another catastrophe. The fact that the Skrulls had been infiltrating the Marvels for years was a brilliant play. Having beloved heroes turning out to be Skrulls was another good point. And here we are, roughly in the mid-point of the storyline, with the return of Nick Fury with a bang.
Yes, there are a few Skrull reveals in here, but most of them you already figured out. They occur during the Savage Land sequence, and with their reveal it confirms what we'd already suspected about the folks from space in issue #2. It's a shame too, because Marvel had really opened the door to clear up a number of their messes over the years...but this isn't how Marvel does things anymore. "No more apologies. We just screw up the heroes and say 'That's how it is now!'. If you don't like it, go read DC."
If you've read the synopsis of this story on Marvel's website, you'll know the last pages hold the introduction of two major players into the storyline. Thor is one, and it's about time. Now, is this the real Thor or that clone again? We'll have to find out next month. But the final reveal...well, I won't spoil that for you. Let's just say I'm hoping they're not pulling our legs here. Please!
Plenty of fight scenes, including the obligatory shot of Sentry crying like a baby in outer space (just to make sure we haven't forgotten what a wimp he really is instead of the super-powerful hero he started out being...thanks, Marvel!). I have to say Marvel is doing a good job of sticking to the six separate storylines in each issue, and will no doubt bring them all together before it's finished. At least it's coherent storytelling, and not that "every page is a different plot" writing we're getting in Final Crisis.
Thanks for the good review. I had high hopes for the series (and related tie-in with the Avengers, etc.) but have found the storytelling needlessly exhaustive (though still much better than DC's sheepish Countdown). You're right, though. Like other megaseries, Secret Invasion would have been a great way to clean up a lot of unsung plotlines and character inconsistencies over the years. I keep thinking of the Scourge subplot in Captain America from years ago; an eerily effective way to get rid of dead weight while still mxing things up a little.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Scourge storyline! Marvel really pulled one over on everyone with that one because he turned out to be someone we'd never even heard of before. The theories were out that it was this hero or that, but it turned out to be completely different. And I didn't feel robbed by the revelation. But I really liked where Marvel took Scourge in "Thunderbolts" with him being Jack Munroe. It didn't last, but his power set was cool.
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