By Brian Michael Bendis, Billy Tan, Jim Cheung, Michael Gaydos & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2949-3
The Skrulls are shape-shifting aliens who’ve bedevilled Earth since Fantastic Four #2, and they have long been a pernicious cornerstone of the Marvel Universe. After decades of use, abuse and misuse the insidious invaders were made the sinister stars of a colossal braided mega-crossover event beginning in April 2008 and running through all titles until Christmas.
The premise of Secret Invasion is simple: the would-be alien conquerors have only just survived a devastating catastrophe which destroyed much of their empire; subsequently leading to a mass religious conversion. They are now utterly resolved and dedicated to make Earth their new holy homeworld.
To this end they have gradually replaced a number of key Earth denizens – most notably superheroes and other metahumans. When their plot is discovered no defender of the Earth truly knows who is on their side…
Moreover the cosmic charlatans have also unravelled the secrets of Earth magic and genetic superpowers, creating amped-up counterparts to Earth’s mightiest. They are now primed and able to destroy the world’s heroic champions in face to face confrontations.
Rather than give too much away, let me just say that if you like this sort of thing you’ll love it, and a detailed familiarity is not crucial to your understanding. However, for a complete experience, you will want to see the other 22 “Secret Invasion†volumes that accompany this one, although at a pinch you could get by with only the key collection Secret Invasion – which contains the 8-issue core miniseries, one-shot spin-off “Who Do You Trust?†and illustrated textbook “Skrulls†which claims to provide a listing and biography for every shape-shifter yet encountered in the Marvel Universe (but if they left any out, who could tell?).
The New Avengers segment of the saga concludes in the book, collecting issues #43-47 (September 2008 to January 2009) and offering more supplementary and sidebar insights to the main event as the Invasion progresses, focussing again on individual character pieces to propel the narrative rather than vast battles.
Scripted throughout by Brian Michael Bendis, the first tale (illustrated by Billy Tan & Danny Miki) returns to the moment which turned a cold war of suspicion and attrition into a hot shooting match after a spaceship full of what appeared to be Earth heroes crashed into the dinosaur preserve known as the Savage Land.
These returnees all claimed to be the originals, taken at various times and upon landing accused those who had been on Earth prior to their crash of being alien impostors. The most shocking example was Captain America, whom everybody saw assassinated weeks previously on prime time TV…
Whilst the Star Spangled Avenger is exposed as a Skrull a flashback reveals how potent the new Skrull strategy is, not only copying the body and powers but programming the infiltrator with false memories so that it actually believes itself to be the human hero it mimics…
These unwitting Trojan Horses have been mixed in with genuine shanghaied Terrans and eventually allowed to escape back to Earth…
With art by Tan & Matt Banning, the next sneak peek harks back to the time when Earth’s “Illuminati†– Reed Richards, Tony (Iron Man) Stark, Black Bolt, Stephen Strange, Charles Xavier and Namor, the Sub-Mariner – confronted and were consequently captured by the Skrulls.
Although the heroes eventually escaped they left behind far too many genetic secrets, and this shocking history lesson proceeds to reveal how neophyte scientist Dro’ge Fenu Edu used the mind and personality of Richards to forge the final link in the aliens’ infallible invasion plan…
Jim Cheung, Matt Dell & Jay Leisten illustrated the next chapter which intersected with publishing event House of M as deep-cover agent and invasion commander Queen Veranke found herself caught up in the reality-warping spell of the Scarlet Witch.
As that deeply troubled woman remade the world in a crazed attempt to create a mutant paradise, Veranke was forced to see things that would sharpen her resolve to eradicate humanity once the previous reality was (mostly) restored…
Tan & Banning were back for #46 as mystic gangster The Hood and his syndicate of super-criminals rescue murderous menace Madame Masque from SHIELD agents, only to discover that the high-tech lawmen are shapeshifting aliens…
As the villains struggle to decide what their role will be in the coming struggle, The Hood at last learns where his own incredible abilities come from…
The catalogue of changeling tales concludes with a Tan, Michael Gaydos & Banning art collaboration as new parents Luke Cage and Jessica Jones review how they first met when the former “Hero for Hire†commissioned actual private detective Jones to track down his estranged father.
Some heartbreaks lead to new loves but as the woman known as “Alias†gradually moved into Cage’s life, neither knew that one day it would all lead to a Skrull impersonating the Avengers’ butler, stealing their baby…
Quirky, moving, and winningly low-key, the stories gathered here are supplemented with a cover gallery from by Aleksi Briclot and a selection of landmark original covers his homages are based on, including Avengers Annual #2 by John Buscema, New Avengers: Illuminati #1 by Cheung, House of M #1 by Esad Ribic, Bring on the Bad Guys by John Romita Sr. and West Coast Avengers #1 by Bob Hall.
Although impressive and entertaining, this great Fights ‘n’ Tights tome doesn’t really stand alone, but you will also certainly benefit from checking out the collections Secret Invasion: the Infiltration, Avengers Disassembled, and Annihilation volumes 1-3, as well as the rather pivotal New Avengers: Illuminati graphic novel.
Despite the copious homework list I’ve provided, this book is still a solid action-adventure read, with plenty of human drama to balance the paranoia and power-plays: a pure guilty pleasure.
© 2008, 2009, 2011 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.