Secret Invasion Update #3
Secret Invasion Update is a weekly feature that among other things takes a gander at all things Skrully. More directly, we will be talking about the many issues of comics that tie into Marvel’s big summer blockbuster Secret Invasion. Is the series good? Which issues rock the house? Which ones bite the big one? Do you have to read everything that comes out to get the whole picture of the Invasion, or can you just read the main series and be fine? Those are the types of questions that we’ll be tackling with the gusto that you’ve come to expect from the Panteon.
This week we will be covering Mighty Avengers #14, and Incredible Hercules #117.
Mighty Avengers #14
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Khoi Pham
Company: Marvel Comics
Nick: You know, the list of Marvel comic characters that I have no particular love for is not one that’s extremely long. I have a fondness for a lot of the obscure or mostly unimportant characters, everyone from people like D-Man to Sleepwalker to the Chameleon. That said, I hate The Sentry with the fire of a thousand suns. He’s boring and blah and his overall story hasn’t moved a microbe in the last two or three years. And, oh joy, this just happens to be an entire issue devoted to him and the wonders of his fractured and supposedly easily manipulated mind. Oh yeah, and there’s a portion about Skrull-Jarvis too, if the Sentry thing wasn’t a big enough hook. Overall, there’s a lot in this one that reminds me of why I’m not always excited about Bendis penned books. The dialogue feels a little too shtick-y and annoying, not like many of the other books that have tied into this crossover. More directly though, this one isn’t that important to the overall Secret Invasion plot. I say that only because if it turns out it is, they’ll highlight it in the main series. And really, an abbreviated version of this would be a hundred times better. The one compliment that I will give however, is Pham’s art, which was pretty slick looking.
D3 (David Martindale): I’d say you were pretty generous, Nick. I thought Pham’s work looked hurried and sketchy, but on the other hand, I really liked Dean White’s color palette choices. The dialogue was actually awful. In fact, there’s even an interaction between Carol Danvers and Skrull-Jarvis (groan) that caused me to stop and roll my eyes. Miss Danvers is so impressed that she goes as far as calling Skrull-Jarvis a “psychic genius.” Why, you ask? Because he had blueberry muffins on hand, and that, of course, is Ms Marvel’s favorite sort of muffin; which means that he knew Ms. Marvel would be there. Do none of the other Avengers like blueberry muffins? Aren’t they pretty much the most commonly available muffin in North America? Maybe it’s a clue! Ms. Marvel must be a Skrull! A culturally ignorant Skrull in such deep cover that not even Skrull-Jarvis knows about her! Well it’s that or she’s just really, really dumb. We’ll see how it all works out, but my guess is that sloppy writing is the true culprit.
Randy: Here’s the best thing I can say about Mighty Avengers #14: I thought this is what all of Secret Invasion would be like, and thank God that is not the case. It’s just Mighty Avengers #14 that features the worst of Bendis’s inexplicable love for Sentry, his nonsensical dialogue and his bizarre plots that go nowhere.
Seriously, I would rather have read a story about Echo. Or Ronin.
Nick: I concur with this very true statement.
Incredible Hercules #117
Writers: Fred Van Lente & Greg Pak
Artist: Rafa Sandoval
Company: Marvel Comics
Nick: Though I’ve always had a huge man crush on Hercules, the stories that Van Lente and Pak are producing are actually making me love him more. They’re smartly constructed, laugh inducing, and are always packed to the gills with action. Who would have thought a year or two ago that Hercules could even sustain a monthly series the way he has. But I digress…This issue, the start of the Sacred Invasion storyline, provides the same wallop of entertainment that the book normally does. The idea of a band of God-like beings (and Amadeus Cho with pup coyote in tow) teaming up to fight the Skrull Gods is just a cool sounding idea. Plus, just seeing some of these periphery characters, people like Snow Bird and Ajak, get a chance to shine is neat. These writers have made Hercules such an interesting character, one that’s not just the HIT and SMASH guy he used to be. Seeing him bicker with his sister while at the same time wrestle with the notion of being a full blown leader, all of that just makes the character more and more interesting and engaging. Also, before getting to the power punch that is Sandoval’s art, I do have to say that that was a heck of a cliffhanger ending.
D3: Hercules leading a team of warriors hand picked by the various pantheons of Earth might be the Superhero Comic Concept of the Year. I didn’t think Pak and Van Lente could top Herc, Angel, and Namora, but Herc leading this band featuring, as Nick mentioned, Snow Bird and Ajak, has already been an idea jam packed with awesome, and it’s still the first issue! Oh yeah, Sandoval’s art is pretty damn good too.
Randy: I dug this issue, but not as much as you guys did. The use of the various gods is indeed nifty, and the notion of a Secret Invasion tie-in that features them going up against not the Skrulls but their pantheon, is a pretty kick ass way to tie in this book. However… one of my favorite aspects of Incredible Hercules has been Amadeus Cho, and I feel like with the focus on the god stuff, he’s basically pushed to the side. He doesn’t belong here, Athena is at least as smart as he is and she can kick ass, and so Cho and his pup wind up coming off as little more than weak sidekicks, which is a shame.
It’s also one of those tie-ins that Secret Invasion readers can probably safely skip. I’ll be very surprised if this war on the Skrull gods actually ties into the main story in any big way. It’s likely to be one of the better stories, read on a standalone basis, but it’s probably less crucial than, say, Mighty Avengers or New Avengers. However, on the flip side, it features neither Skrull Jarvis nor Sentry, so it’s got that going for it.
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1. IRON MAN (Movie) rocked
2 The problem with Sentry is his WHOLE point was if showed up again the world blows up and here he is and nothing happens
3 That said Sentry meeting Doom should be interesting but under Bendis?
26 May 2008 at 11:19 am
QuoteLove the SI updates guys. Keep em coming. I’ve only been getting the main SI title, so this has been a great way to stay up to date with what’s going on in the larger story. Otherwise I’d have the choice of dropping titles I enjoy just to buy tie-in books or being clueless to all the developments that occurred outside the main book. (Can you tell that company-wide crossovers frustrate me?)
26 May 2008 at 11:39 am
QuoteThe future of a successful Secret Invasion story is looking mighty bleak. The main story is ( I think ) great, as is Hercule’s spin-off, but having both the new avengers and the mighty avengers in the savage land makes their respective titles redundant. Secret Invasion could have been told in New/Mighty Avengers format and the current stories could have been told as miniseries. I wish they’d done that, because now I feel like I’ve wasted my money. I don’t really care about the “new howling commandos” nor do I really care about all this religious skrull BS, but I’ve been duped into buying their number ones because they were craftily hidden. To me, this is reading less like a great who’s who mystery story and more of a money grabbing scam which is entirely disappointing.
26 May 2008 at 4:58 pm
QuoteThings I found awesome about Incredible Hercules:
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26 May 2008 at 5:09 pm
QuoteArrrg I stopped picking up Herc for some reason and now I’m regretting it, oh well, there always the trades.
I didn’t hate Mighty Avengers #14 as much as you guys seemed to, but it was easily the weakest Secret Invasion book so far. While I also have zero interest in the Sentry, I found some of the Skrull politicking interesting enough, even with the horrid dialog, apparently even when talking alone amongst themselves Skrulls talk in Bendis-speak. I do think that as a way of gathering information about the heroes, the idea of a Skrull Jarvis, if not so much the execution, is a good one.
Though honestly the thing I liked most about this issue, is the faint hope it gave me that the Skrull plan for the Sentry might work and we’ll be forever more spared his mediocre presence.
26 May 2008 at 5:40 pm
QuoteI found the scenes with Skrull Jarvis and the other Skrulls really interesting in Mighty Avengers. Also, Jessica Drew was there, so it seems that the empress suceeded in replacing her off-panel. I am gonna go out on a limb and say that Jessica actually bested the empress as Echo beat her Skrull replacement, and Jessica is posing as a Skrull.
I too hate the Sentry and do not understand his purpose. But he was brought on the team the same time Bendis was setting up this Skrull stuff, so maybe this is what his story has been waiting for. I sure hope he ends up evil or significantly changed by all of this. I do not think that the issue was pointless; Sentry ended up back in NYC, making him the onyl Avenger on the scene and seemingly changed.
And of course I love Herc. I am moving through Van Lente’s Action Philosopher’s right now, and I have quite the writer-crush on him. But why didn’t Amadaeus mention Athena’s eyes before they left on a boat they can not steer?
26 May 2008 at 10:47 pm
QuoteThe blueberry muffins aren’t exactly a plot point, and I’ve heard people say similar stuff about equally favorable but less-than-miraculous circumstances. “Pepsi?” “You read my mind.” Be honest: haven’t you?
Sheesh.
27 May 2008 at 3:16 am
QuoteSeriously - are there any readers out there who actually *like* the Sentry??
Seems like Bendis and Marvel as a whole have really been trying to sell us on the whole concept for way too long.
27 May 2008 at 8:26 am
QuoteWell I don’t hate the Sentry. Bought both of his mini’s, and thought the first one was great. I’ve been kind of surprised by all the growing hate for the Sentry though. I never knew he was hated by some fans so much.
I don’t know why they would still be trying to sell his concept. He is what he is, but it isn’t the best that everything comes done to the Sentry. That used to be someone like Thor’s role.
27 May 2008 at 11:06 am
QuoteWhile I don’t follow him very closely (read: I kinda avoid his stories), every story I’ve seen that features him ends up reading like ‘Casey at the Bat’.
The Sentry shows up . . . and gets taken out.
Every. Single. Time.
OK. That does it — I’d like to formally request a “We Hate the Sentry” podcast.
27 May 2008 at 11:52 am
QuoteI dunno. “You read my mind” is a far cry from “You’re a psychic genius!”
One is a casual expression, the other indicates you have some kind of cosmic gift because you brought out a %^*ing blueberry muffin.
I liked the first mini as well, or at least the first few issues of it before it sort of went off the rails. But the mini sort of covered everything interesting that could be said about the character, and bringing him back seems like a misreading of the miniseries at best.
Murphy pretty much nailed it. His raison d’etre seems to be to show up, get punked out, and slink off to complain about how crazy he is.
27 May 2008 at 12:03 pm
QuoteWhat I think is even funnier is that this dialogue you guys find so atrocious? It’s a flashback to a scene from New Avengers #15. Word for word. You’re dissing it on the second time through. And apparently Bendis liked it enough to show that bit twice.
I’m not some sort of New Avengers scholar, by the way. You can thank the folks over at Scans_Daily for catching that one.
27 May 2008 at 3:06 pm
Quotenot a big deal… but the blueberry muffin line is from New Avengers #12 or #13 the one where Carol is blogging about the team and they’re getting ready for their press conference… it’s the exact dialogue from there, and I think was used to show where the flashback is set…
27 May 2008 at 3:38 pm
QuoteI don’t think it went off the rails or anything but those tie ins were not the best for the first mini. Everything I’ve seen him after that mini my mind goes “where’s the Void?”. Unless Bendis explained this in New Avengers, but I couldn’t make heads or trails out of some of that stuff.
Well he is crazy, but I just don’t think they have pulled off the character properly since he came back. A super-man characters can’t exist in the marvel universe so they give him crazy problems to cripple him. Maybe they just proved their own point.
I’ll at least give credit for trying to bring back a new modern character since there’s so few of those these days, and no one seems to want to create any.
27 May 2008 at 4:34 pm
QuoteI too would very much like for the Sentry to cease to be. Annoying pointless character. Please someone kill him and make him stay dead forever.
Love the SI updates though!
28 May 2008 at 6:41 am
QuoteJust took a look at New Avengers 41. Please tell me there’s no connection between secret invasion and the ultimate universe? Why are the ultimates in the savage land and Shanna and Kazar show up and we’ve got the avengers in the savage land meeting up with the same physically appealing, loin cloth wearing aborigines? Please tell me Bendis isn’t trying his hand at a crisis on infinite earths with Wanda as the catalyst.
28 May 2008 at 2:33 pm
QuoteI think you would like “THE SENTRY MUST GO AWAY: Top Eight Ways Marvel Writers Will Set The Sentry Aside In The Next Crossover”
28 May 2008 at 8:01 pm
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