World Famous Comics: New Avengers, Vol. 8: Secret Invasion, Book 1 (v. 8, Bk. 1)
New Avengers, Vol. 8: Secret Invasion, Book 1 (v. 8, Bk. 1)
By: Brian Michael Bendis Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Format: Illustrated Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 120 Publication Date: December 24, 2008 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: The Avengers are trapped in the Savage Land, battling friend and foe. And Spider-Man heads to the one person in the entire place he knows he can trust: Ka-Zar! But is it really him? This important chapter rewinds the events of the very first New Avengers story and shows how it connects to the Invasion. Plus: the break-up of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage; a major development in the life of Echo; and the story of how the Skrull empire was able to infiltrate the Marvel Universe, who instigated the invasion... and why? Collects New Avengers #38-43.
The Skrull invasion gets underway... "New Avengers, Vol. 8: Secret Invasion, Book 1 (v. 8, Bk. 1)" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the key books in Marvel's much hoo-hahhed "Secret Invasion" multi-crossover Skrullfest. It's a good read, although a bit on the short side (and pretty pricey, for what you get!) Still, this is fun, and definitely worth picking up. (SEMI-SPOILER ALERT:) if you've been wondering what the deal is with Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman... Well, now you know! It's not entirely clear if the Skrulls actually offed her or not -- there is talk of "swapping out" Skrull agents who are posing as humans, so perhaps they reintroduce their abductees when the time is right, just to make things more confusing(?) Anyway, the glimpse behind the scenes within the remnants of the Skrull Empire is fun... Bring on Book 2! (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)
Background stories at foreground prices!! Here's the deal with this book, its a bunch of unconected stories tha take place either in the background of Secret Invasion or are precursors to the invasion. While some are intersting, they arent really necessary and certainly don't qualify their own collected edition. Some of the chapters I enjoyed, others (Savage Land) were almost pointless. If you're a completeist this will be like crack for you but if just want a good complete story, steer clear.
I feel secretly invaded... Three and a half stars for this.
THE NEW AVENGERS Vol. 8: SECRET INVASION does the skimpy by only reprinting issues #38-42, and this bunch of stories only constitutes Book 1 of the New Avengers' tie-in with the Secret Invasion crossover event. And echoing the New Avengers TPB which tied into Civil War, this trade basically puts the New Avengers title on lockdown. Instead, for the most part, this becomes a showcase for flashback stories and supplementary Secret Invasion stuff. The first two issues do spotlight a few members of the New Avengers, in their own individual stories, as they cope with the the notion of Skrulls secretly amongst them. Not too shockingly, trust issues and extraterrestrial skullduggery dominate these pages.
Naturally, how invested you are in these issues will depend on whether you're tracking the Secret Invasion Skrullapalooza. If you are, then there are some worthwhile reveals here for you. On the other hand, if you're sick and tired of huge crossover shenanigans which force you to grab other comic books just so you can keep up with current events, then this trade will exasperate the shiznit out of you. I'll say this, the New Avengers do play a huuuuge role in Secret Invasion and this set of stories is better executed than those issues which tied into Civil War.
The first issue here kicks off with one of the best realized relationships in Marveldom. Luke Cage and his wife Jessica Jones have always shared a tumultuous relationship, and it doesn't ease up in issue #38. Jessica has had enough of living outside the law and of her and Luke's baby being placed in constant jeopardy. After the Hood's attack on Dr. Strange's sanctum sanctorum (see New Avengers, Vol. 7: The Trust (v. 7)), unbeknownst to Luke, Jessica steals away with the baby and seeks asylum with the Mighty Avengers. She also registers with the Superhuman Registration Act. So, if you know Luke and what he stands for, you can imagine the unholy row that's about to go down. It's tense, buddy, it's tense.
Next, we have Echo sort of getting her flirt on with Logan. Secret Invasion stuff happens when a Skrull displaying all kinds of X-men powers decides to pick on Echo. This little tale comes full circle in the end, with our deaf martial artist now getting all flirty with Hawkeye. Basically, it's just nice to see Echo featured. She's one of the lesser known New Avengers.
On to issue #41 (skipping #40 for now). Bear in mind that, previously (in SECRET INVASION #1), both the Mighty and New Avengers investigated a mysterious ship in the Savage Land, only to have Marvel heroes pour out of the ship. Of course, they all had to tussle. During all that mess, a dinosaur flings Spidey off and he lands some distance away, at the feet of Ka-zar and Shanna the She-Devil. After the expected Abbott & Costello "Is you a Skrull?" - "No, but is you a Skrull?" routine, Mr. and Mrs. Plunder recount the time when, months ago, they stumbled upon a S.H.I.E.L.D. encampment and learned disquieting stuff, only to then catch the New Avengers' bracing of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents (this was back in New Avengers 1: Breakout). The story then plonks us back to the present and ends with a splash page, featuring the "return" of a dead hero, but, really, at this stage, how dumb does Marvel think its readers are?
Meanwhile, issues #40 and 42 are the even more direct tie-ins to Secret Invasion, and are invaluable in giving us juicy glimpses of how the Secret Invasion links with several key past Marvel events. We get a peek at the Skrully side of things and witness the rise of Veranke the Queen Skrull and the early planning stages of the Secret Invasion. So, in these two issues, not only do we get a whiff of how the Skrull's master plan played a part in House of M, but we find out how the Skrulls were accidentally instrumental in re-forming the Avengers (again, see NEW AVENGERS Vol. 1: BREAKOUT). And, with Vernake having decided to take a more pro-active role in field operations, we also get clued into what character she impersonates. So, plenty of enlightening moments here where you just may go, "Oh, snap, that's how it went down, huh?!"
Wordsmith Brian Michael Bendis is working hard and, for what these issues are, I think he manages to keep confusion down to a minimum. That is, if you've been keeping up with enough of the Marvel titles. Mind you, though, I'm still not down with the New Avengers title turning into a Secret Invasion platform. The one consistent saving grace running thru all these issues is the artwork, done up by different artists but all demonstrating very good skill. If you've read ALIAS and THE PULSE, then you know that Michael Gaydos draws the definitive Jessica Jones, and he's here to provide visuals for the monster squabble between her and Luke Cage. The rest of the artists also turn in exemplary stuff. David Mack draws the Echo story, Billy Tan covers the Savage Land arc, and Jim Cheung provides stunning visuals for issues #40 and 42.
Secret Invasion and NEW AVENGERS are two of Brian Michael Bendis's babies, so I guess I shouldn't begrudge him letting one title carry so closely into the other. As informative as these issues are, I'm not keen on the New Avengers title being slaved to whatever Big, All-Important Mini-series is currently going. I'm also not into solo stories in a team book. I miss the New Avengers being together. Anyway, prep yourself for the next NEW AVENGERS trade, which will also feature more Secret Invasion tie-ins and, by #48, will introduce some changes in the lineup. But, by the power of Greyskull, I can't wait for things to settle down, and for the New Avengers title to get back to actually being about the New Avengers.
Inside Secret Invasion Warning: if you haven't read any of Secret Invasion, be prepared for spoilers.
During the run of Marvel's Secret Invasion mega event, Brian Michael Bendis's runs on New Avengers and Mighty Avengers have basically become what you could consider an insider's look behind the big events going on. The eighth collected volume of New Avengers collects the first five Secret Invasion tie-in issues, beginning with the breakup of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, who sought sanctuary from Tony "Iron Man" Stark when things took a real turn for the worse. Next up, Echo finds herself the subject of the latest Skrull replacement, followed by developments spun directly out of the beginning of Bendis' New Avengers: Illuminati mini-series, as we learn just how using Spider-Woman plays into the Skrulls' plan, going all the way back to the beginning of New Avengers and the massive prison breakout that first brought them all together. There's also a direct tie-in to Secret Invasion involving the New Avengers trapped in the Savage Land with Ka-Zar, which will definitely leave you hanging if you haven't read any of Secret Invasion yet. The inconsistency is what's definitely this volume's biggest flaw, but only for those who haven't been keeping up with Secret Invasion, who may find things a bit confusing here. Still, there are plenty of questions that get answered with these side issues to the main event, and there's solid artwork throughout from Michael Gaydos, David Mack, Jim Cheung, and Billy Tan. All in all, with Secret Invasion in full swing, these New Avengers issues are essential reads to help bring everything full circle.
I'd give this a zero were it an option I'm a big fan of the New Avengers and have read the entire run thus far. The first 7 volumes are fantastic, I don't see how a book can all of a sudden put it's story on pause for a year. This and the next coming volume deal with the secret invasion, a story line that falls flat in almost every way. The volumes leading up to this set up promised what seemed to be a provocative battle with shape sifting aliens. Paranoia, fear, mistrust, and a conspiracy, it reminded me of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. What we got from the main book of Secret Invasion was an excuse to throw every character marvel had into a battle with no character development whatsoever. With the main characters busy, Bendis takes the entire year to use New Avengers as fill in stories to explain how the aliens took their foothold on earth and their religious reasons for doing so. The problem with this? There are no New Avengers! These issues have nothing to do with the characters that the book is about! It's bad enough that these fill in issues were boring, you get an issue with Luke Cage, an issue with Echo and then everyone disappears for the next 12 issues or so. Add to this that the characters never find out any of this supposedly important information. It has no bearing on the outcome of the main story so there was no use in it's telling. Hopefully the book won't continue on this path as they undoubtedly change a good lineup again.
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