Reviewed: Secret Invasion

In recent years, Marvel Comics have gone off the edge with its share of events. Large scale massive character battles which span four to twelve central issues and trickle into every current publication in the Mainstream Marvel Universe or Imprint. Secret Invasion is a continuation of these Event books.

The next 'big' event after the Civil War storyline, Secret Invasion takes place during a time of seeming peace. Heroes are registered government agents and the world is under the control of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D. However, When it is discovered that Elektra has been a Skrull, an alien race of shape-shifters, turmoil breaks loose. Unknown who is friend or foe, The heroes begin to question themselves and who to trust.

The plot itself is simple. The Skrull Empire is back and looking for revenge because of the outcome of Marvel's real first big event, The Kree-Skrull War. Instead of a direct confrontation, They have chosen to find a way to infiltrate mankind and the ranks of Marvel's Heroes. Using cunning, they pit hero against hero and let them destroy themselves from the inside.

As exciting as that may seem, This plot is predictable, long, and not well thought out. The characters are well written, but the story itself lacks in every way. While Civil War kept you on the edge of your seat, Secret Invasion seems dull and without depth. It feels like a rushed, incomplete story. I guess I'll have to buy all twenty respective tie-in trades to get the whole story, but until then I feel this event book was lacking.

As I read the book, it lead me though a story that was boring and into an ending that was uneventful. It wasn't a hard read as Brian Michael Bendis proves that he cannot write narrative or direct a story and gives the entire weight of that task to Leinil Yu. Yu does his best with the script, but I find the art does not balance the lack of substance in the story.


I would not recommend this to anyone and would suggest you rather read the summary for the story at Marvel.com and save yourself the long and boring torment of this sad crossover event.