Review of Secret Invasion 1 (4.5 stars)

WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD

Overall rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Wait, was that just the first issue? Way too much happened, I thought first issues were always supposed to be set ups for the rest of the series? Oh well, I’m not complaining. 😉 Let’s start at the beginning; the issue opens with a flashback on a Skrull world, where some Skrulls discuss a prophecy (I’m assuming this will be important later). It then jumps to the present when Stark is showing Skrullectra’s corpse to Reed and Hank and they begin the autopsy. (Call me crazy, but didn’t Reed already know about Skrullectra from New Avengers: Illuminati 5? Why was he acting so surprised here?)

Meanwhile in space, at the headquarters of S.W.O.R.D., Dugan arrives on the station, just as they get info that a Skrull ship has entered Earth’s atmosphere and is going to crash land in the Savage Land. This info is given to Tony, who leaves the autopsy and assembles the Avengers. Jessica gives a quick call to Luke, who is able to assemble the Secret Avengers first, and steal a Quinjet from Stark (nice). With the Mighty Avengers on their trail, they both soon land in the Savage Land and find the crashed Skrull ship. The two teams have a confrontation before Luke breaks away and decides to open up the Skrull ship, regardless of what anyone says. Then all chaos breaks loose.

Said opening triggers some kind of message to the current undercover Skrulls, and calls them into action. Dugan (Skrugan?) pulls a suicide bombing and destroys the S.W.O.R.D. space station. Jarvis (Skrarvis?) unleashes a worldwide computer virus which sends Tony into a seizure, sends the helicarrier spiraling downwards, and unleashes all supervillains in every worldwide maximum security prison (or so it appears). An incognito Skrull walks into the Baxter Building, then changes to look like Susan (Skrusan?) and opens a portal to the Negative Zone which causes the upper levels of the building to implode (with Johnny, Franklin, and Valeria present as well!) And last but not least, Hank reveals himself to be a Skrull (Skan- I mean, um, Skrym?) and blasts Reed into a bunch of stringy goo (at least he still appears to be alive though). Not only that, but a bunch of 80s incarnation looking Marvel heroes walk out of the Skrull ship wondering who the heck their doppelgangers are in front of them, and an entire Skrull armada arrives into Earth orbit.

Like I said, an insanely large amount of stuff for a first issue (but no complaints!) 😉 Alright so my reactions: Dugan, know almost nothing about his character, except that he used to be partners with Fury, so this doesn’t really affect me. Pym, I’ve been suspecting him for a while now, though I am certainly shocked that I was right about something for a change! Jarvis, wait, Jarvis?! What the heck?! This certainly surprised me the most! What with his recent feelings for Aunt May, I would have never suspected him. Then again, what with One More Day, did those feelings ever happen? In fact, was Jarvis replaced with a Skrull as a result of One More Day? (See how confusing OMD has made everything Joe Q? Garg!) As for the eighties heroes, I really don’t have any good explanations. I suppose they could be Skrull recreations brainwashed to believe they were the originals, but if so, why make them old school, why not modern? The other answer is that there could be time travel involved, but why would the Skrulls pull heroes from the past and jet them into the future? Surely these 80s heroes aren’t the “real” ones, because if several of Marvel’s main characters have really been Skrulls for the past twenty years, then we would have the “Clone Saga” on a massive level (and likely an even more massive mass exodus). (Then again, I really wouldn’t mind if Spider-Man was a Skrull, it’d be an easy and cheap fix for One More Day.)

So, all in all, a jam packed, action filled issue. If you haven’t already bought it, how can you call yourself a comics fan? (Oh, and as an end note, Yu’s art still sucks, but it is getting slightly better.)

Oh, one more side note, while I do think this story is being executed very well, and I am definitely looking forward to the rest of the story, the following line from the Secret Invasion checklist at the end made me laugh inside: “They could be your most trusted allies. Your closest friends. Your family.” Am I the only one who wanted to add “Yeah. Even You.” at the end, and was instantly reminded of Yeerks? Well, I as soon as I see a bunch of teenagers turning into animals, I’ll know something is up. 😉 (Still waiting for the day when that gets its own comic adaptation too. 😉 )

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-LOTRKing