By Matt Fraction & Doug Braithwaite (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3426-8
The Skrulls are shape-shifting aliens who’ve bedeviled Earth since Fantastic Four #2, and they have long been a cornerstone of the Marvel Universe. After decades of use and misuse the insidious invaders were made the stars of a colossal braided mega-crossover event beginning in April 2008 and running through all the company’s titles until Christmas.
The premise of Secret Invasion is simple: the would-be conquerors have undergone a mass religious conversion and upped their game. They are now utterly resolved and dedicated to make Earth their new homeworld. To this end they have gradually replaced a number of key Earth denizens – including superheroes. When the lid is lifted no defender of the Earth truly knows who is on their side…
Along with that the Skrulls have also unraveled the secrets of magic and superpowers, creating amped-up counterparts to Earth’s mightiest and set them loose to destroy the world’s heroic champions.
Broxton, Oklahoma, is a small simple community with some intriguing neighbours. Local doctor Don Blake is dealing with a problem pregnancy in town when a colossal fireball strikes and he discovers that an old friend has returned. Blake is the mortal host for the God of Thunder and the fiery impact signals the agonized return of his old comrade Beta Ray Bill, an alien hero who possesses power the equal of his own.
The alien is severely wounded: tortured and traumatized near to death, he was thrown to Earth as a warning. The Asgardians must leave the world immediately. If they fight for humanity or oppose the Skrulls they will be destroyed by the same power that shattered Beta Ray Bill…
And so begins another glorious classic of noble combat as the unstoppable invaders are resisted by the epitome of supernatural nobility in a tale of heroism, tragedy, sacrifice and redemption that is any fan’s wildest dream.
But…
This is an oh-so-nearly perfect superhero fun-fest that just misses because of – as is too often the case – editorial sloppiness or lazy thinking.
I was dubious when J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel revamped Thor but their thoughtful and fun reiteration which established the return of the Norse gods and the rebuilding of the hallowed city of Asgard in – or rather slightly above – the Oklahoma badlands proved an intriguing delight and a solid springboard for fresh wonderment.
Moreover the three-issue miniseries which comprises the Asgardly niche of the company-wide event is compellingly written and superbly illustrated – if only it were longer… I even adore the fact that to pad out the book the editors have included a pertinent 1967 Lee/Kirby Thor classic ‘The Scourge of the Super Skrull!’, from Thor #142, wherein the Son of Odin delivered a sound and spectacular trouncing to a shape-changing marauder with all the powers of the Fantastic Four, but Why on Earth would any editor also include that issue’s back-up strip as well?
Don’t get me wrong: ‘We who are about to Die…!’ is Kirby at his most creative and mythic. He’s revisiting the legends of the Arabian knights with a young Thor and the Warriors Three fighting Djinni, wizards, giants and a host of fantastic horrors.
But this is part 6 of a nine-chapter Tales of Asgard epic that is just plain bewildering seen in isolation. It is five pages of pictorial candy that needs to be in a whole collection of these brilliant fantasy back-ups, not sitting here uncomfortably out of place and generally unappreciated because someone couldn’t search the archives for something more appropriate and new-reader accessible. As there was still room for two text pages on Beta ray Bill why not just add similar pages on Skrulls and Super Skrull? An old Asgard adventure from Marvel Comics Presents? Even a pin-up or two?
Ranting aside: There’s too much competition for the leisure dollar – and £ – to risk alienating new readers even slightly and dedicated fans surely deserve a little regard for their years of service. With the incredible wealth of material sitting unseen and unused in those capacious comics vaults surely a little industry and creativity isn’t too much to ask?
© 2009 Marvel Publishing, Inc., a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.