by Brian Bendis and Lenil Yu.
I know this has probably been discussed to death but I'm a collected editions dude and I finally got around to reading the Secret Invasion tpb and I wanted to share my two bits worth.
I'm not a fan of crossovers in general; they are usually just big, protracted slugfests based on the flimsiest of pretexts.
Having said that, I thought Civil War had an interesting and intriguing premise but I found the execution lacking and what annoyed me most of all was the characterizations of old, much-loved characters, which seemed completely inconsistent with the past, particularly Tony Stark and Reed Richards.
So my expectations for Secret Invasion weren't high. However, what I gleaned of the plot seemed like a neat solution by Bendis to retroactively explain away the (ostensibly) inconsistencies of the past years. Kudos to him if this had indeed been his game-plan all along.
I have long valued Bendis' (long-term) plottings skills compared with his quirky dialogue.
I loved the denouncement in New Avengers that Elektra was a skrull and it actually came as a surprise to me as I had assidiously avoided reading too much about the series.
I thought the 8-issue series got off to a great start, high octane action with some tight, clever plotting and unexpected twists and turns. The way the skrulls took out Stark and his worldwide arsenal seemed like with a virus was a great touch.
After a great start and exciting build-up, it unfortunately started to unravel and eventually fizzled out. The skrulls eventual defeat came to fast and easily and the turnaround in fortunes seemed too sudden and contrived.
I have to say I enjoyed the heck out of the first half with its adrenaline pumping pace so I have no regrets, even if it did eventually deteriorate into one big, star-studded slugfest.
Another plus point is that Bendis actually seems to have recognised his dialogue's repetitive idiosyncracies and to have virtually erased them of late. There was hardly any toe-curling dialogue throughout.
I'm saving the best for last; Lenil Yu's gob-smackingly awesome artwork.
Ye gads, can that guy draw!?!
Every face is distinctive, registering a wide spectrum of emotions and he can stage anything, from quiet moments of reflection to massive fight scenes, juggling dozens of characters with the ease of a David Lean.
George Perez is the acclaimed master of the mass scene but Yu kicks Perez' butt from here to eternity.
Few artist working in the industry today can touch Yu when it comes to superheroics.
Only Mark Hitch and Jimmy Cheung can compare.
To be honest, with artwork of this caliber, he could illustrate the phone book AFAIC.
Come to think of it, Secret Invasion featured most of the characters in the Marvel phone book.
In conclusion, IMHO Secret Invasion was a big improvement over Civil War; fun, thrilling, clever and entertaining, coupled with spell-binding artwork.
I'm so enthusiastic that I want to pick up some of the tie-ins.
I have New Avengers and Mighty Avengers tie-ins.
Any others I should consider.
I've always had a soft spot for Captain Marvel and Lee Weeks so that looks like a likely candidate.
And where do I go from here?
How many teams of Avengers are out there nowadays?
Who/what are the Initiative? Should I get it?
I know this has probably been discussed to death but I'm a collected editions dude and I finally got around to reading the Secret Invasion tpb and I wanted to share my two bits worth.
I'm not a fan of crossovers in general; they are usually just big, protracted slugfests based on the flimsiest of pretexts.
Having said that, I thought Civil War had an interesting and intriguing premise but I found the execution lacking and what annoyed me most of all was the characterizations of old, much-loved characters, which seemed completely inconsistent with the past, particularly Tony Stark and Reed Richards.
So my expectations for Secret Invasion weren't high. However, what I gleaned of the plot seemed like a neat solution by Bendis to retroactively explain away the (ostensibly) inconsistencies of the past years. Kudos to him if this had indeed been his game-plan all along.
I have long valued Bendis' (long-term) plottings skills compared with his quirky dialogue.
I loved the denouncement in New Avengers that Elektra was a skrull and it actually came as a surprise to me as I had assidiously avoided reading too much about the series.
I thought the 8-issue series got off to a great start, high octane action with some tight, clever plotting and unexpected twists and turns. The way the skrulls took out Stark and his worldwide arsenal seemed like with a virus was a great touch.
After a great start and exciting build-up, it unfortunately started to unravel and eventually fizzled out. The skrulls eventual defeat came to fast and easily and the turnaround in fortunes seemed too sudden and contrived.
I have to say I enjoyed the heck out of the first half with its adrenaline pumping pace so I have no regrets, even if it did eventually deteriorate into one big, star-studded slugfest.
Another plus point is that Bendis actually seems to have recognised his dialogue's repetitive idiosyncracies and to have virtually erased them of late. There was hardly any toe-curling dialogue throughout.
I'm saving the best for last; Lenil Yu's gob-smackingly awesome artwork.
Ye gads, can that guy draw!?!
Every face is distinctive, registering a wide spectrum of emotions and he can stage anything, from quiet moments of reflection to massive fight scenes, juggling dozens of characters with the ease of a David Lean.
George Perez is the acclaimed master of the mass scene but Yu kicks Perez' butt from here to eternity.
Few artist working in the industry today can touch Yu when it comes to superheroics.
Only Mark Hitch and Jimmy Cheung can compare.
To be honest, with artwork of this caliber, he could illustrate the phone book AFAIC.
Come to think of it, Secret Invasion featured most of the characters in the Marvel phone book.
In conclusion, IMHO Secret Invasion was a big improvement over Civil War; fun, thrilling, clever and entertaining, coupled with spell-binding artwork.
I'm so enthusiastic that I want to pick up some of the tie-ins.
I have New Avengers and Mighty Avengers tie-ins.
Any others I should consider.
I've always had a soft spot for Captain Marvel and Lee Weeks so that looks like a likely candidate.
And where do I go from here?
How many teams of Avengers are out there nowadays?
Who/what are the Initiative? Should I get it?
