Sunday, November 30, 2008

Random Thoughts: Secret Invasion #1-7

Since Secret Invasion #8 comes out this week (and I'll be reviewing it for CBR since Canada's shipping schedule is unaffected by the American Thanksgiving, meaning Canadians get to read it before everyone else... odd), I figured I'd reread the first seven issues and be all caught up regarding all of the characters, plots, subplots and little bits of information that may play a part in the final issue. So, here are some random thoughts as I flip back through the issues:

* Why does Tony Stark try to arrest Luke Cage and company in Antarctica? Isn't that just a bit outside of his jurisdiction?

* Did we ever see how Jarvis got replaced? I'm sure the issue featuring that plot would have been padded and boring, but... did we?

* In issue one, the SHIELD helicarrier is clearly crashing over Manhattan... in issue three, it turns up in the Bermuda Triangle... what the fuck? I know I'm not the first person to mention this, but, seriously, what the fuck?

* Why would Emma Frost be on the ship featuring the '70s heroes? In fact, why those specific heroes? Like, only the Invisible Woman represents the Fantastic Four and in a lovely bit of retroactive placement, Jessica Jones is there in costume. Why just Wolverine and Phoenix from the X-Men? Seems very random, going for characters who are either dead or have changed their look...

* How stupid is Clint Barton? Every other "hero" off that ship turns out to be a Skrull, but his back-from-the-dead wife is real? Okay, the emotional element is pretty strong, but still.

* Norman Osborn is one smooth talker.

* Even Nick Fury calls his group Commandos... just saying.

* I've got to wonder... will Ares be pissed off that his son is a member of Nick Fury's Howlin' Commandos Secret Warriors?

* Really, it's a quick read, but I'm mostly left with nit-picky questions regarding how the Skrulls managed to get DNA samples of every hero and villain in order to create so many super-Skrull warriors. Especially the Galactus one that shows up in issue seven... And how fucking shitty are these Skrulls, really... they get their asses handed to them pretty easily in issue seven.

* Some scenes really seemed designed for the serial nature of the series, particularly the bit between the Skrull Queen/Spider-Woman and Tony Stark where she tells him that he's a Skrull sleeper agent... it seems designed for shock value that's quickly undermined if you read these issues in one sitting.

* I will say that, so far, it works better than Civil War as a whole story, though. Some of the middle issues get a bit too jumpy and fragmented, but there's more of a whole feeling here. To the point where some of the New Avengers and Mighty Avengers issues seem horribly redundant or unnecessary (especially that Captain Mar-Vell/Noh-Varr one).

* However, like Civil War, logic is almost completely replaced in some spots by what seems like a cool idea... hitting those "fanboy orgasm" moments. Really, the whole invasion seems very ill-planned from a logic perspective, explained away by mentions of scripture and prophecy...

Not much here to discuss, honestly. We'll see how it ends, because that will also determine if I keep reading the Bendis-penned Avengers books.