Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Marvel's Secret Invasion (SPOILERS)

Even though I’m really dying to learn what’s going on with Skrull-Pym and real Pym, I can patiently wait some more for the next issue of M.A.

I thought #3 was still pretty good, and I’m still enjoying it much more that Civil Bore or House M. I like that the Initiative and Young Avengers are involved (and the Thunderbolts briefly) and would really like it more non-Avengers showed up here to give it a real sense of being an event.

So I picked up and read the Mighty Avengers issue with the Sentry as the focus. Can someone tell me off-hand before I have to go searching for the right answer, is the Nick Fury issue before it? I think my comic shop guys forgot to reserve that issue for me and I didn’t get it. Now I’ll have to go find it somewhere. Also, was it any good?

The New Avengers Ka-Zar/Shanna/Spidey issue was…okay. Kind of fun, kind of not a lot happening, kind of “uh, why are they showing me this when there’s so much more I could be reading”. Not exactly blowing my socks off knowing Ka-Zar and Shanna had their own secret storyline going on thus far, but hey, I’m still glad I got the story and read it. Like everyone else, I’m waiting for something juicy.

BTW, knowing Spider-Woman is the Skrull Princess suddenly makes her really likeable to me (for the first time)!. But wouldn’t it be really cool, given her whole double-agent thing from the day Bendis starting writing her, if she really *wasn’t* the Skrull Princess and we get the triple-double fake-out, and she’s actually infiltrated the skrulls? How that would work making little sense notwithstanding, I can see Bendis doing that and totally blurring the details so he doesn’t have to explain how. It would make for a good splash page though midway through #8.

I think the lead-up to SECRET INVASION was *so* long and drawn out that it makes the storyline seem to be moving very slowly, at least for me.

Totally agree that SI outclasses Civil War and House of M... by a country mile!

I liked the Ka-zar/Shanna issue once I figured out that it was very much a sidebar sort-of story. A lot of times, those are the best beats of these sprawling events. Of course, a lot of *other* times they absolutely suck.

WHO DO YOU TRUST?

The AGENTS OF ATLAS were fun-- wish they had an ongoing. Are they supposed to turn up in SI proper?

So I picked up the MA issue I missed and it was the basic run of the mill 'assembling a team' type set-up I've seen many times. Still, I like seeing what Fury was doing. If nothing else, Bendis has gone out of his way to instill a sense of 'awesomeness' in Nick Fury again that hasn't been seen since 1969 (Steranko left the series).

As for Who Do you Trust?, I'm only half-way through, but again, I'm enjoying it. I'm actually just shocked at how much I'm enjoying all the SA stories I'm buying (which isn't all of them). The fake-Captain Marvel story was cool, and knowing he's a fake Mar-Vel actually makes him much more interesting and appealing to me. Agent Brand's story was also very good, and actually made me not hate that character for once.

I think I'll probably get the Thor and Inhumans minis too, or at least test them out (Thor looks promising, Inhumans looks like it could go either way). Definately won't be getting the FF or X-Men ones. Spidey is up in the air, since I'm such a Spidey completist--on the one hand it has the annoying Jackpot, on the other it apparently has a lot of his cast, which always matters to me in all things Spidey.

I *almost* got the "Who Do You Trust" special because of the Agents of Atlas. I just couldn't justify it though cuz I already bought the Captain Marvel mini so that bit wasn't new to me and I can't imagine caring about agent Brand or the other stuff so much.

**SPOILERS FOR NEW AVENGERS #42****

I *KNEW* they were fake!! (no, I'm not talking about any Skrulls, it's revealed that Spider-Woman got breast implants! (look at the operating room scene!))

Too many AVENGERS-related SI issues came out in one batch this past week. I've forgetten what happened where, to some degree.

I *do* remember that Hank Pym comes across in a less than positive light. Surprise, surprise. The current crop of Marvel editors/writers/etc. have got such a collective mad-on for this character.

Except, possibly, for the writer of the miniseries BEYOND. I wish Hank Pym would either disappear from the MU landscape for a time (till the current regime passes) or would be written solely by that guy.

A female Skrull's been the one masquerading as Hank, after seducing and beating him up. An event which occured after the world-shaking, outside-influenced, brink of nervous-breakdown slap of The Wasp which apparently reduced Pym into the impossible-to-admire, second-rate costumed nutjob that Marvel thinks he is. Never mind the fact that in issues actually published, he faced his demons and conquered them, with the eventual aid and support of the super-victim herself.

Then again, that's pretty much the M.O. behind Scarlet Witch's breakdown. Nothing like repetition to get your theme across, eh? Wonder who's next?

Nevertheless, I continue to enjoy SI as a whole. The INTIATIVE issue, with the Skrull who doesn't want to be a Skrull (the guy with the Freedom Ring), making a fun and interesting showing. Triathalon makes his first steps to becoming the new 3-D Man, complete with 'Skrull-view Visor', which Ring-wearing Skrull reshapes into sees-everyone-as-Skrull Visor at issue's end in order to protect his cover.

Hmmm- I know there was more... Ms. Marvel fights alot.

Anyone get Runaways/Young Avengers or the FF Secret Invasion minis? If so, what do you think, worth a buy? (I'm really talking more quality in story-wise than being essential to any reveals).

R/YA:SI is the only tie-in outside any regular titles I collect that I'm getting, so I can't speak to how "essential" it might be to the overall SI story. That said, I enjoyed the story in the first issue, if not the art. Too much Manga.

The story centers around Xavin and Teddy, with their respective Skrull ties.

Too many Marvel Comics have skrulls are recurring stars these days. I hope this leads to Xavin's exit from Runaways. He's the only one of the kids I don't really like. Plus that will free up Karolina for me, er, I mean, for some young female (and me!).

BTW, I finished the 'Who Do you Trust?' one-shot and read the totally awesome Agents of Atlas short-story. Really well done, and I'm kicking myself for not getting the whole mini when it came out simply because I had forgot to look for it. I'll have to find what I'm missing next time I hit the shop up.

Could Secret Invasion be the best 'Crossover Event' of the decade? Possibly. If you don't consider 52 a crossover (which it wasn't), then really only Annhilation is its competition. The latter half of the crossover could make or break it.

Get the HC. It's got a buncha extras in it.

[And Spider-Man Family #4, guest-starring the Agents, by Parker & Kirk]

I'm confused--I thought The Sinestro Corps War was the best?

Lady Cobalt hasn't gotten that far into the bedtime story rotation yet...

The main mini needs to get the heck out of the Savage Land.

I was disappointed about the reveal of a couple of Skrulls from the ship of heroes. I was hoping at least one of them was the 'real' thing. Will any of them be?

Black Widow had a meaty turn. Always good to see. I wish the Tony Stark appearing here was a Skrull, though.

I'm not sold on the new Howling Commandos or whoever they are yet. There's potential there, though. I liked Phobos and his "I wish I knew I could do this in fifth grade" line.

MIGHTY AVENGERS 16-- I never cared for Elektra and still don't, so this was largely not to my taste. It did end with a heck of an image that *could* have deep consquences for the future of a particular set of Marvel's villainry.

SI's a pretty fun ride, but, all told, I'm ready to find out *exactly* who's been 'skrulled' and when it happened. It'd better be finite, too. I don't want to keep reading 'character Z was actually a Skrull and we didn't find out until now' stories months or years after the conclusion of SI.

SHE-HULK 31: This title's close to being dropped. If it weren't for the Lady Liberators spoiler/solicits (Thundra, Valkyrie, She-Hulk-- and I can't remember the fourth), I already would've moved on.

I kind of like the Skrull girl, but I shouldn't have a corresponding decrease in affection for the title character, should I? Here, Jennifer realizes that every time she should put down her fists and reason with whoever she's fighting, she just plows in and swings harder.

A possible identification of the 'He' in 'He loves you' that's been spouted by every other Skrull for months now is made.

Is this spiritual being that all Skrulls are aware of no matter where they are a new development?

THUNDERBOLTS 122: Unpleasant characters acting unpleasantly. I'm glad there's a new writer coming, with new characters. Songbird and Radioactive Man keep getting dragged down, while Moonstone manipulates behind the scenes (sort of), which is her modus operendi. Swordsman evidently has cloned his sister, ending whatever turn to the grayish white he was undergoing (she's more 'evil' than he). A Skrully Captain Marvel shows up and blasts everyone. Norman Osborne, the walking plot twist, arrives with champagne glasses in hand.

NEW AVENGERS 43: The Savage Land makes a good backdrop for a 'regular' storyline. It doesn't for one in which 'everything' is supposed to change in the MU. It was a fine place to begin SI, but the story needs to have moved on from there and shows no signs of doing so.

This issues trip down Skrull memory land involves the Skrully Cap. It's actually fairly moving, as the Skrull chosen to impersonate Steve Rogers ends up believing he's the real thing and wants to remain as he is.

AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE 15: In which we are told Crusader's story of life as a Skrull, infiltrating Earth and 'going native'. He's a very interesting character. I hope he survives SI and finds a home somewhere or other.

In the bigger picture, the Initiative kids are now involved in the NY Skrull fight that we saw begin in SI #1. So the entirety of SI that's taken three months of comics time has involved a few hours. I think. Best not to think about timing too closely when reading *any* comic, but especially these big event type ones.

Go read Incredible Herc. "He" is on-panel there.

Hell, go read Incredible Herc on general principle, never mind "He"...

OSBORN. No "e"

I did read INCREDIBLE HERCULES-- but I'm not so sure that that's the 'He' of He Loves You. It certainly implied that it was.

So did the She-Hulk skrull, though.

Of course, since religion is involved, they could *both* be the 'He'. As in She-Hulk guy represents Hercules guy on the Skrully plane or something.

I agree- more people should read INCREDIBLE HERCULES. It's a fun title.

Incredible Hercules rocks! He's always been one of my favorites and am glad he's getting this spotlight!

Mystery Lad, thanks for the recaps. I'm not getting all the titles.

It feels like the Super-Skrulls have landed and attacked New York for two months now! And yes it feels like the Avengers (all of them) are in the Savage Land forever.

And I can't tell the difference between Mighty or New Avengers anymore. The titles have both become Bendis obscure character theater.

MS. MARVEL 29: The attack on New York is now apparently over (or at least part of it) as Carol pretty much demolishes them. Apparently, they're all dead. They're at war, so it makes sense - but still somewhat surprising for a super-hero.

I wonder if any heroes got caught in the explosions?

I imagine it'll take another three months for INITIATIVE, etc. to get caught up.

Carol has a plan to save a busload of civilians by flying them to The Raft (a supervillain holding facility). It comes across as quite heroic, but what they find there-- wow. Visceral.

Literally and figuratively.

Apparently there's a ritualistically-killing Skrull that the others Skrulls are scared off on the loose.

UGH! Issue 5 hit, and it's exactly why I didn't want to get this series in the first place.

We've got a quick solution to the who's who dilemna courtesy of Reed, that took him all of two minutes to solve once Agent Brand freed him. And his rescue took even less time.

The Helicarrier plot was wrapped up even faster after dragging across three issues. Sure sounds like the skrull invasion wasn't well thought out.

And the Savage Land throw down? All taken care of... except the Spider-Woman issue. But that's a given. Bendis loves her.

With such a quick fix to all these crises, why did it take til the 5th issue?

SI#5-- I was glad to see Vision up and around, though he did sport an ugly hole in his head.

I liked the Captain Marvel scene, but will it reappear in THUNDERBOLTS? If not, it would've made more sense there. The Maria Hill scene was effective, too- but should've appeared in, say, #2.

Big appreciative yay for Black Widow. She's practically the only effective one in the Savage Land.

Agent Brand- just *why* did they decide to give her green hair? It was bad enough when Madame Hydra- or whatever her name is-- started sporting this shade of hair color. I keep thinking it's Polaris springing into action, only to be disappointed.

Reed does what Reed does. Should anyone be surprised?

So, *all* the heroes that landed in the Savage Land are Skrulls? So much for complexity.

SI: YOUNG AVENGERS/RUNAWAYS #2-- I'm in the minority... I've pretty much always liked Xavin. I enjoyed seeing a bit more of his history in the Skrull Empire and how he reluctantly comes to the aid of 'Dorrek'.

His 'thing-fist' scene was pretty impressive. At least it was to Tommy and Billy. As was Speed's midair catch of one of Skrullektra's (I *think* that's who that's meant to be...) blades.

I like the art... a bit cartoony, but it works for me.

I found the YA segments more compelling than the Runaways scenes, but there was a nice bit where the kids saw the YAs not with Xavin getting attacked on a TV in a shop window.

The Skrull gambit involving Karolina's bio-energy was interesting... I kind of liked the looks of some of the Compositite Skrullmen. Iceman/Angel/Beast, Thing/Nova...

SI: THOR-- This really should've been matched up with what's going on in HERCULES, IMO. But if you're a fan of Thor/Balder/Beta-Ray Bill, you'll probably like this. Oh, and Donald Blake fans will have something to enjoy, too, I think.

The art's nicely moody and evocative. Bitch-Loki is appropriately Iago-like and manipulative with the calculated utterance of just one phrase. Ya gotta admire a villain that can cause damage with just one well-timed sentence. No crime's committed, but villainy? You bet.

SI: INHUMANS-- The best of the lot, for me. Karnak gets a new role-- or perhaps he's always taught the young. Gorgon and Triton get some nice exposure- with Triton, in particular, showing more gumption than I remember the character displaying in *ages*. And it's good to see that the mutated/devolved/transformed Gorgon isn't a drooling idiot. Maximus (dreary, dreary Maximus- can there *be* an Inhumans story without him?) makes an astute political grab.

Medusa stays strong as she confronts Iron Man and as she proposes war; unfortunately that strength seems to desert her in the solitude of her chambers. Where she isn't as alone as she'd like to think she is... or is she?

Crystal-- Tom Raney can't quite seem to decide how Crys is supposed to look. Her eyes are downcast alot. Intentional? At least she's not a woodcut little Troll doll, like she appeared to be in SILENT WAR.

Tony Stark's line, "You were an Avenger once," brings home the fact that 'once an Avenger' is no longer an ethic existent in current-day bearers of the name. Pity.

Lockjaw seems to have changed breeds.

*What* is up with Luna?

Things seem dire at issue's end, but hope cuts through the darkness.

I liked the glimpses into non-royal Attilan... the class (academic or something like Sunday School?) Karnak seems to be teaching, the Star Wars cantina-like bar that Gorgon, Triton and Karnak patronize.

X-FACTOR/SHE-HULK crossover-- well, I'm glad that's over. Some fun fight scenes, but is it at all significant to SI?

No way to tell, yet. I guess Darwin's joined the cast, now-- no doubt to get closer to Monet.

I'm glad Longshot won't be joining X-Factor, wonder if someone else will?

The She-Hulk animosity didn't ring true, at all, for me. And the Detroit setting isn't particularly involving, as of yet.

AVENGERS INITIATIVE #16: Did I blink and miss where 3-D Man's Skrull-vision goggles were re-set to see Skrulls as Skrulls instead of everyone else as Skrulls?

I never read whatever series it was that the Skrull Kill Krew debuted in. Were they played for laughs there, too?

So far, they don't interest me much.

Crusader's and Komodo's handfuls of panels were much more entertaining.

THUNDERBOLTS #123: Did Moonstone kill Swordsman? Her offer to turn traitor wasn't exactly surprising.

Does Penance's 'costume' include pain-inducing nipple clamps? It looks like blood is oozing out at those spots...

Something else else is causing individual 'worst moments' fear scenarios...

MIGHTY AVENGERS #17: Besides seeing the process by which imposters are replaced by new Skrully imposters, what did we learn this issue? I guess the fact that 'wearing' a heroic identity sometimes begins to become completely real on an identity level to the wearer. (Though this is the repetition of a theme, isn't it?)

Otherwise, it seems to be both a chance to crack hard on Hank Pym once again, while simultaneously extending the slightest gestures of respect? towards Ant-man/Giant-man/Goliath/Yellowjacket.

Dan Slott sort of hinted that he'd be writing a future story that features a post-SI Hank Pym in AVENGERS: INITIATIVE. If that's more of the same, I hope it's followed by a long stay in limbo.