Storyline: Secret Invasion Part 1 ( of 8 )
Date: April 2, 2008
Price: $3.99 US
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Leinil Francis Yu

Synopsis: The shape-shifting alien race known as the Skrulls has secretly infiltrated every super-powered organization on Earth with one goal…full-scale invasion! Brian Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu leap off the pages of mega-hit New Avengers and deliver a story that will change the Marvel Universe forever. The shocking reveals, powerful action and pulse-pounding page after page will keep you on the edge of your seat as Marvel’s greatest heroes and villains must ask…Who Do You Trust?

Opinion: I think I can speak for a lot of fans out there when I say that we are all a bit tired of events. After the anticlimactic resolutions in some of the more recent big stories, the onset of Marvel’s Secret Invasion on the surface seemed to be a tired rehash of an old throwback. It had seemed like the house of ideas had simply run out and this is all we had left. Read my take on Secret Invasion #1 after the jump.

After House of ‘M’, I resolved to never buy crossover books again. So, when World War Hulk came and went, I simply bought the core limited series and bypassed all the tie-ins, and boy was I glad I did! What a rip-off that was. In fact, Civil War actually got me to stop buying She-Hulk, which actually had a great humor to it. The tie-in to #8 made the book’s price shoot up and sell out, so I lost track of the story and didn’t feel like tracking it down and paying extra for it. By the time the reprint came around #9 was already out and I just decided to drop it.

My point is, the tie-ins are very lame attempts to rope in the kids who are either completists or feel they might be missing something. Either way, I have to point out that in House of ‘M’, World War Hulk, Civil War and from the looks of it, Secret Invasion, all you should really have to buy to understand the story is the limited series. So kudos to Marvel there.

Now, about the comic. Yu’s artwork is as always top-notch. I absolutely love his style as it maintains enough detail while still keeping clean and I never get lost in the panels. My favorite part is Johnny Storm turning into the Human Torch about midway through the book. Great work Yu!

As for Bendis’s writing, I want to make a point that makes me ashamed to call myself a Marvel kid. In the back of the book, it’s revealed that for the last 2 years, Bendis has been laying clues all over the Marvel Universe about this coming ‘invasion’. That part right there, the fact that it was all planned out and wasn’t just done as a whim to sell over the summer; well, that right there hit the spot for me. I have been halfway paying attention to the happenings of the Marvel U, catching up on the Avengers situation, the Initiative, the death of Captain America etc.., but by and large I’m not a fan of the Avengers. Bendis makes me care, and that’s a big deal for me.

This book is awesome. At 48 pages it’s worth the $3.99 cover price and the story delivers. This book so far is not hype, and it is the real deal. I will be buying the whole series. Still not gonna do the tie-ins, though, Sorry Marvel!

Oh yeah, and if this thing turns out to be one of those “oh by the way all of these characters you’ve been reading about and all of the things that have happened are the skrulls’ doing, and the Captain America that got killed was a Skrull” etc. etc. mark my words: I will tape myself burning the entire Secret Invasion series and post that sucker to YouTube.

Marvel has a great start going here, let’s hope they don’t screw the pooch on this one.

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