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madelinerossell's review against another edition
4.0
"It never feels like it but then you turn around and all of a sudden it's tomorrow... and yesterday was the glory days," might be one of my favourite lines ever written.
crookedtreehouse's review against another edition
3.0
I asked some friends to recommend a series to reread during the month of September, and my former cohost from The VeXed Men (rest in reruns), suggested revisiting The Secret Invasion.
If you want the full, full, full experience, you just have to read about a billionty Marvel books stretching all the way back to Fantastic Four #2 (that's right, not the 1998 #2 or the 200whatever #2, the 1961 flagship Marvel title). Luckily, Marvel stitched together a Most Important Pre-Secret Invasion Collection, and it's ... adequate.
The book opens with Fantastic Four #2 by Stan Cameo King Lee and Jack I Will Punch A Nazi To Death Kirby. It's absolute silver age silliness. The characters are waaaaaaaaaaaay Over The Top, they speak their every woeful thought, and almost every non-hero character's dialogue makes them sound like a complete idiot. It's the template of Silver Age comics, and it focuses on The Fantastic Four being mimiced by a group of shape-shifting aliens called The Skrulls. An aboslutely silly 3/5*
Next up is the opening issue of Brian Michael Bendis's "Illuminati". This is his retcon that there has been a secret cabal of six of the most important superheroes who meet in secret and help control the fate of the Marvel Universe. It was a fun series, and this issue made me want to go back and read the whole Bendis Avengers era starting with [a:Mark Millar|12736|Mark Millar|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1266561940p2/12736.jpg]'s [b:Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event|91714|Civil War A Marvel Comics Event|Mark Millar|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1345813608l/91714._SY75_.jpg|577888]. This issue shows them attacking the Skrulls on their homeworld. It's fun to see that the Secret Invasion was definitely being planned even as Civil War unfolded. It's why this era of Marvel was so tightly plotted (not necessarily tightly written). And this was the issue that really started to pull everything together. 4/5*
New Avengers #31 & #32 are the actual first shot in the Secret Invasion, as the New Avengers team battles the hand, only to discover that one of their enemies is a Skrull, and has probably been a Skrull for a long time, meaning theMarvel Universe has been manipulated by The Skrulls since even before the Civil War. These issues were so good, that I thought When I'm done with this, I'm going back to read Civil War, and I'm going to read every Avengers and Ms Marvel book that feed into this event. God, I love Bendis, why don't I read him all the time? 5/5*
Oh, Mighty Avengers #7 is why. His writing is uneven, especially during this period where he was writing five million books a week or so. If you're spread out among so many stories, they're probably not all going to be great, and this one is a clunker. I don't remember Ultron making Tony Stark a woman, and then manipulating the weather like some 1940s Batman villain. I don't want to read that. And every character in this book had thought balloons in nearly every panel. It felt like Bendis thought this book was somehow So Smart that he had to explain every character's motivation in thought balloons, and it totally doesn't work. It kills any momentum threatened to be built up, and it makes every character sound like a whiny middle-schooler with wet pants. This was definitely skippable. But it does lead into the Venom Bomb storyline, which I'd totally forgotten about. 2/5*
The final issue of the Illuminati issue reveals that one of the six members of The Illuminati has been a Skrull, possibly since their very first adventure. So the Secret Invasion threat is very real. There are Skrulls Everywhere. Stakes are set, consequences occur, and the Secret Invasion is ready to roll out in full force. 4/5*
The story from Avengers The Initiative Annual #1 was a dud. The idea, at the time, was that Tony Stark had started The Initiative. Basically, every state in the USA gets a superhero team, which means a ton of inexperienced and unqualified heroes are suddenly given access to loads of credibility and power. Oh, and also, it means There's A Skrull In Every State! This whole story could have been a page long and been just as powerful. None of the characters in the issue are memorable, and I'm pretty sure none of them were ever used again once The Initiative book was shut down. 1/5*
I know I'm not being overly positive about this book, but it is a nice collection of stories to lead into The Secret Invasion if you're not going to just start with Civil War and plow through The Age Of Crossover Events (Civil War 2005-7, Secret Invasion 2008, Dark Reign 2009, Seige 2010, Fear Itself 2011). I do recommend it as a jumping on point for people interested in reading The Secret Invasion books before the TV series starts.
I did not include the last two issues of this book (New Avengers #38 and #39), as they are also the first two issues of [b:Secret Invasion, Book 1|3948764|Secret Invasion, Book 1 (The New Avengers, #8)|Brian Michael Bendis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1483050259l/3948764._SY75_.jpg|3994407], which is the next book I'm reading.
If you want the full, full, full experience, you just have to read about a billionty Marvel books stretching all the way back to Fantastic Four #2 (that's right, not the 1998 #2 or the 200whatever #2, the 1961 flagship Marvel title). Luckily, Marvel stitched together a Most Important Pre-Secret Invasion Collection, and it's ... adequate.
The book opens with Fantastic Four #2 by Stan Cameo King Lee and Jack I Will Punch A Nazi To Death Kirby. It's absolute silver age silliness. The characters are waaaaaaaaaaaay Over The Top, they speak their every woeful thought, and almost every non-hero character's dialogue makes them sound like a complete idiot. It's the template of Silver Age comics, and it focuses on The Fantastic Four being mimiced by a group of shape-shifting aliens called The Skrulls. An aboslutely silly 3/5*
Next up is the opening issue of Brian Michael Bendis's "Illuminati". This is his retcon that there has been a secret cabal of six of the most important superheroes who meet in secret and help control the fate of the Marvel Universe. It was a fun series, and this issue made me want to go back and read the whole Bendis Avengers era starting with [a:Mark Millar|12736|Mark Millar|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1266561940p2/12736.jpg]'s [b:Civil War: A Marvel Comics Event|91714|Civil War A Marvel Comics Event|Mark Millar|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1345813608l/91714._SY75_.jpg|577888]. This issue shows them attacking the Skrulls on their homeworld. It's fun to see that the Secret Invasion was definitely being planned even as Civil War unfolded. It's why this era of Marvel was so tightly plotted (not necessarily tightly written). And this was the issue that really started to pull everything together. 4/5*
New Avengers #31 & #32 are the actual first shot in the Secret Invasion, as the New Avengers team battles the hand, only to discover that one of their enemies is a Skrull, and has probably been a Skrull for a long time, meaning theMarvel Universe has been manipulated by The Skrulls since even before the Civil War. These issues were so good, that I thought When I'm done with this, I'm going back to read Civil War, and I'm going to read every Avengers and Ms Marvel book that feed into this event. God, I love Bendis, why don't I read him all the time? 5/5*
Oh, Mighty Avengers #7 is why. His writing is uneven, especially during this period where he was writing five million books a week or so. If you're spread out among so many stories, they're probably not all going to be great, and this one is a clunker. I don't remember Ultron making Tony Stark a woman, and then manipulating the weather like some 1940s Batman villain. I don't want to read that. And every character in this book had thought balloons in nearly every panel. It felt like Bendis thought this book was somehow So Smart that he had to explain every character's motivation in thought balloons, and it totally doesn't work. It kills any momentum threatened to be built up, and it makes every character sound like a whiny middle-schooler with wet pants. This was definitely skippable. But it does lead into the Venom Bomb storyline, which I'd totally forgotten about. 2/5*
The final issue of the Illuminati issue reveals that one of the six members of The Illuminati has been a Skrull, possibly since their very first adventure. So the Secret Invasion threat is very real. There are Skrulls Everywhere. Stakes are set, consequences occur, and the Secret Invasion is ready to roll out in full force. 4/5*
The story from Avengers The Initiative Annual #1 was a dud. The idea, at the time, was that Tony Stark had started The Initiative. Basically, every state in the USA gets a superhero team, which means a ton of inexperienced and unqualified heroes are suddenly given access to loads of credibility and power. Oh, and also, it means There's A Skrull In Every State! This whole story could have been a page long and been just as powerful. None of the characters in the issue are memorable, and I'm pretty sure none of them were ever used again once The Initiative book was shut down. 1/5*
I know I'm not being overly positive about this book, but it is a nice collection of stories to lead into The Secret Invasion if you're not going to just start with Civil War and plow through The Age Of Crossover Events (Civil War 2005-7, Secret Invasion 2008, Dark Reign 2009, Seige 2010, Fear Itself 2011). I do recommend it as a jumping on point for people interested in reading The Secret Invasion books before the TV series starts.
I did not include the last two issues of this book (New Avengers #38 and #39), as they are also the first two issues of [b:Secret Invasion, Book 1|3948764|Secret Invasion, Book 1 (The New Avengers, #8)|Brian Michael Bendis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1483050259l/3948764._SY75_.jpg|3994407], which is the next book I'm reading.
bowienerd_82's review against another edition
3.0
There were a lot of issues that were already included in other collections, so it seemed a bit redundant at times.
reanne's review
1.0
Ugh, superhero comics have gotten so bleak and cynical, with everyone dying or splitting up or turning on each other. And so much political stuff that's way too close to reality. I hated the whole Civil War thing and this is just more of the same. When will comics be fun again?
katytron's review
4.0
So there was a lady Ultron, and the New Avengers killed the leader of the Hand, Elektra. When she died, her body turned into a Skrull, signalling the beginning of an invasion from the shape-shifting aliens. Infiltration apparently sets up Secret Invasion? Which is the next big arc after Civil War, which I finished just before the Avengers movie came out this May.
The last issue of this (Secret Invasion Saga) is SUPER helpful at setting up the backstory to the Skrull invasion. All my Skrull knowledge comes from the couple of Young Avengers stories about Hulking, so it was great to get the bigger picture and a quick recap. I also liked getting the back story on Ms Marvel, because I'm TOTALLY picking up her new title when it comes out.
So, to recap: after Elektra's corpse goes all Skrully, everyone loses their shit realising that the Skrull could be impersonating anyone. The Illuminati break up, realising theydon't want to be in a super secret boy band together can't trust each other.
The last issue of this (Secret Invasion Saga) is SUPER helpful at setting up the backstory to the Skrull invasion. All my Skrull knowledge comes from the couple of Young Avengers stories about Hulking, so it was great to get the bigger picture and a quick recap. I also liked getting the back story on Ms Marvel, because I'm TOTALLY picking up her new title when it comes out.
So, to recap: after Elektra's corpse goes all Skrully, everyone loses their shit realising that the Skrull could be impersonating anyone. The Illuminati break up, realising they
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