Panel by Panel: "thoughts" on the ridged-chin Invasion

So, last week, Marvel released a little something called Secret Invasion Saga. It's supposed to get you up-to-date on and pump you up about Skrull happenings for those who haven't been reading Mighty Avengers or New Avengers: Illuminati or New Avengers or Captain Marvel or Ms. Marvel or Young Avengers.

ie: ME!

So, did it work? Did the book manage to sway me to like Secret Invasion?



Well. . . no.

It's not that I'm jaded about comic events. I mean, I bought WWH, and am still looking for issue 2, but Secret Invasion gets a "meh." from me.

It'd be awesome if Secret Invasion made everything better though. By that I mean: the past years have been about breaking apart the Marvel Universe, and this could be about mending it back, into what we saw pre-Bendis.

But then, you have 1) Bendis himself at the helm of it, and 2) Why at the cost of the Skrulls? I actually think they're cool. I find it needless that they're so implicitly antagonized and unfairly characterized, though, you gotta admit, there's nothing that unifies two enemies together (pro-regs and anti-regs) better than a common enemy.

Also, that's a lot of threads you're pulling together. The Marvel Universe is a very big one, and any relevance it'd have in books like Amazing Spider-Man or the X-Men would seem pretty shoehorned. I mean, both books just got out of an event, and the former is still in another!

Lastly, this sounds like a huge retcon. Writing with a "skrull-reveal" in mind means that the writers can basically use "It's a skrull." to explain anything out of character. That, to me, is lazy and uninspired, unless, well, they've had this planned years ahead, in which case, why pull off an event like Civil War if you're just going to go back on it?

Sure, it was a box office hit, but you really have to wonder about the story integrity. (Here's a Spider-Man perspective:) The Other? Washed away when Tony gave Spidey his Iron Spidey costume. The Iron Spidey? Gotten rid of when Spidey changed sides of the Civil War. Aunt May getting shot? Wait, what are you talking about? Aunt May never got shot during Civil War, you silly goose!

What I want from Marvel right now is some stablility. If Secret Invasion does just that, then it's obviously a means to an end. You really have to wonder, though, if the means justifies the end. . .

. . . but then again, fan speculation is almost always pointless. SO LET'S JUST THROW THIS ALL AWAY. . .

. . . and review Secret Invasion Saga!

1) Grimace.

2) Grimace.

3) Pout =(.

4) Iron grimace.

5) DEAD SKRULL.

That was an overly talky book, with lots of inconsistent art! Still though, it's pretty fun to look at the pages and see which marvel artist is responsible for which panel. Extra credit for discerning which title! Also, this is probably bound to excite anyone who's already excited about the event (ie: NOT me!). You really have to admire the fact that it spans so much history, and that it's !FREE!, but the quality of writing is obviously meant as talky, and the art is meant as inconsistent.

In other words: I, personally had a rough time sleeping last night. THIS book solved that problem!

Okay, fine, I'm still a little more-than-biased towards Secret Invasion. Call it apathy or call it cynicism; you can count me out of this crossover event.

Or maybe Super-Skrull just hypnotized me?