About Scott Cederlund
Location: Bartlett, IL
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Wake me up when something happens.
After the first time I read Secret Invasion #2, I put it down thinking I had nothing to say about it.
After I read Secret Invasion #2 again, I put it back down unable to figure out anything to write for a review of the book.
So I read it a third time. I am, after all, a comic reviewer. And anyway, it bugged me that I couldn’t find anything about the book to write about. It’s not that I didn’t love or hate the book; it’s just that the issue was simply there. And than I figured out, that’s what I could write about.
The first issue of Secret Invasion, while not War and Peace, was a solid and entertaining popcorn comic. It had enough twists and turns to keep me enthralled and wanting to see what Brian Bendis and Leinil Yu could pull off on the next page. Hank Pym a skrull? Jarvis a skrull? The Baxter Building imploded into space? A Skrull space ship with either the real or Skrully fake heroes on board? And what did that mean for the assembled Avengers, many of whom were facing a doppelganger of themselves coming off of that ship? For a Marvel super-hero fan, issue #1 had a lot to offer up.
Then Bendis followed up on Secret Invasion #1 with a couple of issues of New Avengers and Mighty Avengers that feature almost next to none of the Avengers. I’ll admit that those tie-in books quickly killed any excitement about this event that I had after reading the first issue. The fact that the second issue of Secret Invasion doesn’t advance the plot a lot also doesn’t help. This issue is one big battle in the Savage Land between the Avengers and the heroes (or are they Skrulls?) who cam out of the ship. New York and the rest of the world isn’t seen until the end. The focus on the battle wouldn’t have been bad if Bendis had provided some big pay off or revelation about who is and who isn’t a Skrull but the reveals in this issue are either for minor characters or quite obvious. The story barely moves forward at all this issue.
The series is now a quarter of the way over and what has really happened? The first issue established a quick pace and “anything can happen” feeling to the series. It’s too bad that Bendis had to let up on the second issue and give up page after page of hero fighting hero. Wasn’t that the same thing we saw in the last couple of Marvel crossovers?
Secret Invasion #2
>Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Penciled by: Leinil Francis Yu
Inked by: Mark Morales
Colored by: Laura Martin
Lettered by: Chris Eliopoulos
Talk about the nail on the head, brother. This was a “going nowhere fast” idea from the get-go, and now it’s just… really blah. And what was up with that unrevealing reveal at the end?
Kudos for bringing back Mockingbird though.
Plus an extra kudo to you for the Iron Man song! I wonder how many people have actually seen the old 60’s toons.
I thought the issue gave me a chance to catch my breath after last month’s action. I was surprised that there was no follow-up on last month’s happenings. (Most notably the fate of Mr.fantastic and SHIELD.