House of M. Civil War. World War Hulk. These are the past three major Marvel Comics events and they have all come roaring out of the gate and all have had horribly disappointing endings. Booming into view, here comes the biggest event to date, the Skrull Secret Invasion. Several storylines have been devoted to showing how the Skrulls took over and who they took over as the Marvel Universe has been turned on its head and no one knows exactly who to trust.The mini-series that is pushing the storyline forward is, aptly titled, Secret Invasion, an eight part series. The plot started off rather slowly, but things really kicked up a notch in the last issue as the humans began to finally mount a comeback (very necessary since there are only 3 issues left after this). The super-humans that have not been replaced have at least been incapacitated, including Mr. Fantastic, Iron Man, and Black Bolt. Mr. Fantastic is trapped aboard a Skrull warship when he is released by the head of SWORD and he immediately begins working on a device to show the Skrull’s true forms.
He can do this because it is revealed that the reason why he and select others have been left alive was they were considered useful. Mr. Fantastic was left alive for his brain to be put to Skrull use, which also allowed him to see their secrets and, therefore, now allows him to build a device to counteract the Skrull cloaking technology. Black Bolt is alive because he would be used as a weapon to shatter any resistance against the Skrulls when the time is right. Iron Man was left alive because everyone hates him and the Skrulls could never produce that kind of negative propaganda no matter how hard they tried.
Two specific parts of the book were really outstanding and brought a smile to my face. The last page, where Clint Barton (a.k.a. Hawkeye, a.k.a. Ronin) finds out that the woman he thought was his deceased wife come back to him was just another Skrull. After disposing of her, he exclaims that it is his mission now to kill every last Skrull. That was powerful.
The other one was with Maria Hill aboard the downed SHIELD Helicarrier with a Skrull taskforce. Supposedly she is trapped with the taskforce, but then she reveals to the Skrull impersonating Jarvis, Iron Man’s butler, that Nick Fury told her to invest in LMDs (Life Model Decoys), very realistic looking robots that can be controlled from afar. Then as the taskforce is about to kill her, she says “Nick Fury was right” and you find out she was only a robot! She flies off in a jetpack from another part of the ship, blasting Skrulls with a laser cannon as she escapes! That was awesome because it shows that Nick Fury is still one of the most badass characters Marvel has and that it’s about time they are working him back into the fold.
There was so much revealed in this issue that you should really just go pick it up because it is the basis for the end of the Invasion. It laid the groundwork for the resolution to this crisis and it was done in a way that would please every Marvel fan. The only reason why I wrote about this is because it begs the question: Can Marvel actually finish something just as strong as they start it? Can we finally have a major event that we can put our hearts and minds into and not end up disappointed in the end? I said it with Civil War. I said it with World War Hulk. I am going to say it again though and hope I’m right this time. This is what we have been waiting for. The blockbuster event that will sweep us off our feet and truly change the Marvel Universe forever and in a way we will talk about for years to come. And if it isn’t, I might have to begin a Marvel boycott.
-Ray Carsillo
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