Secret Invasion #3 - A Review

Secret Invasion #3 (of 8) - A Review
Publisher Marvel Comics
Writer Brian Bendis
Pencils Lenil Francis Yu
Inks Mark Morales
Colors Laura Martin

Before I even begin to dissect what has officially became a train wreck of a series, let me first off ask Marvel to please send me a kiss as they continue to **** me. I mean come on people $4 for the same 22 page comic book and this is your biggest selling book. Nice way to reward your fans.

Another thing I discovered is that Marvel is ramming certain characters down our throats whether we want them or not. Young Avengers is being pushed as are the Initiative brats. Seriously I rather see new people under the masks then these groups.

That will have to serve as my segue of sorts into the review of this comic. Lenil Yu’s art is solid art and he does a nice job, but his style does not fit this type of book. There is no way that I’m thinking I want to buy this book as a hard cover to be able to read and look at over the years. Not every artist has the type of style that works for these mega crowd scenes and for this type of story using Yu is a mistake.

The story itself is barely a story as opposed to being a series of huge panels and a few moments, somehow tying together I guess in the future to make a story.

I have quite a few issues with the this issue and the series to date:

1) What happen to it being a secret? If everyone and their kid brothers does not know about it now then they need to look out their windows. I mean seriously wouldn’t it have been more exciting to see the that the world was being taken over by skrulls in a more subtle manner. Like how our leaders have been taken over by corporate interest and sold this country down the river. Political commentary aside, this is a secret as hitting someone in the face with a two by four.

2) How can the FF, where the Skrulls were introduced, be relegated to sideline duty in a separate mini-series? I mean this is the group that started the whole skrull thing and they should be front and center.

3) Why does Captain Marvel act like a bad guy when he was suppose to have decided that regardless of his origins he will be the new Captain Marvel? I could be wrong on this one, but I thought his mini-series established he was okay with being Captain Marvel even though he knows he is a skrull.

4) If the skrulls now have the ability to make everyone this powerful why is it only a select few, just turn their entire army into super powered beings? What was the point of all the subterfuge in the beginning if they are just going to invade and smash everything? I mean at this point is their going to be anything left of the world? If they can duplicate all of these powers what is really going to stop them outside of the "War of the Worlds" solution with a virus that targets just skrulls.

5) Are we really supposed to believe that Echo is dead now after all the build up around her? Didn’t the Avengers just track her to Japan, save her after she was dead and then find out about Electra being a skrull? We even had a special solo issue leading up to Secret Invasion featuring her and we are now going to buy she is dead? Even worse if she is not dead are we are supposed to believe the skrull queen would leave her alive?

6) The skrull queen is going to try and convince Tony that he is really a skrull, but just does not remember? Why wouldn’t she just kill him right there on the spot? Also this just allows writers from here to eternity to screw anything they want. Why yes the Thing was doing Invisible Woman in the back room, but that is because he was a skrull and she was a skrull also, that's the ticket and Jessica Alba is my girl friend (Morgan Fairchild is too old to work anymore). We could see more rabbits being pulled out of hats trying to explain away retro-cons then ever before.

7) Please stop with the blurry effects screwing up the art, little lines on each side of a person is fine. Half the time I ready to ask for a refund of my misprinted book.

8) What the heck is with the gun Nick Fury is carrying? Is the goal just to make it the biggest and most ridiculous thing possible? If yes, then you have succeeded.

9) And oh joy, oh joy another group of people who I have barely had time to get to know shows up so I don’t care about them or the people they are saving. I have read comics for over 40 years and followed both companies. Yes, I’m a bigger DC fan now days, but the biggest event in Marvel this year does not involve the FF, the X-Men, Thor, Hulk, Captain America and instead stars Young Avengers, the Initiative Brats, new Howling Commandoes, Spider-Woman and Echo?

10) Killing the Vision is a joke, that robot has been destroyed more times then Tokyo in a Godzilla movie.

Overall grade - F