Secret Invasion #7 ( of 8 )
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Art: Leinil Yu with Mark Morales and Laura Martin
Marvel Comics

Secret Invasion has been an interesting ride thus far. The obligatory 2008 Marvel summer crossover has amassed dozens of tie-in issues and spin-off miniseries, and has brought in respectable sales. Critical response, however, has been mixed.

Brian Bendis has been steering the Avengers ship ever since 2004’s Avengers: Disassembled, and the seeds for this event have been sown as far back as Secret War. It wasn’t until Elektra, the leader of The Hand, was outed as a Skrull agent (way back in the now-famous New Avengers #31) that fans got wind of the far-reaching implications of this conspiracy story.

Therein lies both Secret Invasion’s greatest achievement, and its greatest flaw. The concept of an alien invasion has been done to death over the years, but Secret Invasion promised a fresh spin on the genre convention; most noticeably the fact that it was happening in a super hero comic book rather than a science fiction suspense novel. Bendis’ realistic dialogue is his definite strong point, and it was on full display in the nearly year-long buildup to this event. The Skrulls couldn’t be detected this time around for some unknown reason, and the paranoia and distrust that the Avengers felt was palpable — after all, if the Skrulls had the resources to infiltrate The Hand, what was stopping them from infiltrating Hydra? Or S.H.I.E.L.D.? Or the Avengers teams themselves?

While the New Avengers floundered, knowing their outlaw unregistered status rendered them helpless, Tony Stark of the Mighty Avengers couldn’t help but feel that the Skrulls’ presence was HIS fault.

Some great character work was done here. Spider-Woman defecting to the Mighty Avengers. Luke Cage and Jessica Jones breaking up over fears for their baby’s safety. The fans knew some bombshells were about to be dropped, and, as Marvel always promises, “nothing would ever be the same again.”

Wow, were they right. Secret Invasion #1 lived up to the hype, and then some.

Both Avengers teams are trapped in the Savage Land as a spaceship carrying 70’s versions of themselves turns the situation into a blind melee. StarkTech is disabled. Iron Man’s systems are fried. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier crashes. Jarvis is a Skrull. Reed Richards discovers how the Skrulls remained hidden, but is shot in the head by Hank Pym (himself a Skrull). The Skrulls present themselves as an unstoppable force, and the $#@! hits the fan in nearly every way imaginable. Leinil Yu’s art is the best work of his career. This is going to be the best event ever, right?

Then issues 2, 3, 4, and 5 came out.

I admire the way Bendis jumped around to different locales at a breakneck pace. He was determined to show the wide-reaching effects of the Skrull’s invasion, and he succeeded. The problem, however, is that the fans had been waiting a year for some answers. The slow-burn nature of the buildup to Secret Invasion was great at building anticipation….but without any payoff, it becomes moot.

And that’s not to say nothing happens in issues two through five. A cadre of Super Skrulls attacks New York. Nick Fury and his Secret Warriors enter the fray. We discover that Spider-Woman is actually the Skrull Queen, Veranke. But the end result is that our heroes are wandering around aimlessly in the Savage Land, while our villains’ motivations and methods remain cloudy. This doesn’t work as a monthly serialized story. We need big answers EVERY ISSUE. Especially when more than half of Marvel’s monthly books are tying in. The only thing that gets resolved in the span of the first 5 issues is the Avengers realize that all the 70’s copies are in fact Skrull Sleeper Agents that believe themselves to be the real deal. Even Mockingbird, who was teased to have returned, was a fake.

Really? Come on. That’s a unique plot thread if you resolve it in in the span of ONE ISSUE, but 5? That’s too long.

So, the aforementioned flaw in the series is this: the buildup to the event was so good that if they payoff was anything short of monumental, the individual Secret Invasion issues would feel decompressed. That’s exactly what happened.

No issue exemplifies this better than Secret Invasion #7. Issue 6 ends with the combined might of the Avengers, the Thunderbolts, the Initiative, the Secret Warriors, and The Hood’s gang of criminals against the Skrull Armada. We know a fight is coming….and that’s what issue 7 is. An unadulterated, extended fight scene. An extremely well-done fight scene, but a fight scene nonetheless.

For a series that billed itself as a psychological thriller, isn’t this outcome a bit too stock? I mean, hell, fight scenes are the bread and butter of super hero comics, but we’re at the next to last issue here! It’s cool and all, but it doesn’t justify seven months at 3.99 an issue!

Where are the big reveals? Where are the big changes? What happened to all the characters who were replaced? Why didn’t the Skrulls kill Mr. Fantastic when they had the chance? We’re staring numerous motivation questions in the face here, but we get a big fight.

The Skrulls showed their hand in issues 1 through 3, and ever since Reed Richards escaped from the Skrull Prison Ship alive, the heroes have had an obvious advantage. It’s pretty obvious that the heroes are going to win. There may be some casualties, but when all is said and done, the Skrulls will likely be defeated.

Because of this, Secret Invasion #7 is incredibly hard to review. I can tell you right now that Secret Invasion will read much better as a trade paperback than as a monthly. These seven issues have literally transpired over the course of little more than a single DAY in Marvel time.

So, is this issue satisfying in and of itself? No.

Is it one of the most well-done and well-drawn battle scenes in recent memory? Undeniably. The sheer magnitude of the battle is staggering — I can’t believe Yu was able to clearly render all these characters and still get the book out on time. We get Nick Fury and Norman Osborn fighting side-by-side, Captain America / Thor / Iron Man reuniting, Wasp vs. Criti Nol (also known as “Skrull-o-Jacket”), Wolverine vs. Veranke (Spider-Woman), a BADASS Clint Barton moment, and even an appearance from The Watcher! Plus, an ending that is an awesome payoff for those who read Mighty Avengers closely! What more could you want?

Answers, Bendis. That’s what I want.

Bendis promises Secret Invasion #8 will be a “doozy,” and I don’t doubt it. After all, it wasn’t until the end of House of M that we were given Wanda’s “no more mutants” mandate. But, for me, my enjoyment of issue #7 is directly tied to how well #8 concludes the story. If it isn’t a satisfying lead-in to the upcoming Dark Reign, the series as a whole will remain ambitious and fun, but an underachiever.

B-