Having just finished reading the latest Marvel super "event" Secret Invasion, I have to say, I hope they decide to wait a while before they launch in to the next major cross over event. In my opinion "Secret Invasion" collecting issues #1-8 of the Secret Invasion mini-series, felt forced and more than a little dull.
In case you haven't read a Marvel comic published in the last two year, Secret Invasion provides a conclusion of sorts the the slow building Skrull plot for world domination. The Skrull are an alien race of shape shifters, who, after conducting tests on a couple of high profile heroes, including Mr Fantastic, develop the perfect plan to infiltrate human kind and break down various superhero teams from the inside. Basically the Skrull kidnapped a series of super heroes and replaced them with Skrull's. Cunning.
When the New Avengers kill Elektra, only to find her turn out to be a Skrull, the plot is revealed and distrust within the super hero community builds. Will the fractured super community be able to band together, and trust one another, long enough to end the threat and repel the Skrull invasion? No points for guessing the answer to that one.
The whole Secret Invasion arc also seems to serve as a get out of jail free card for Marvel, allowing them to bring back character previously assumed as being dead, using the "they weren't really dead, they were just abducted by Skrulls" device.
Perhaps the most interesting element of Secret Invasion for me was the conclusion, with Norman Osbourne poised to play a more prominent, and interesting role in the Marvel universe.
The major problem with this series is the pacing of the plot. Flicking through the first few issues it feels very slow, as if not much is happening, then the pace picks up at the end, to the point where it's as if Bendis was trying to cram a lot in.
Secret Invasion was also clearly written to contain just enough detail to remain coherent, whilst leaving plenty of plot gaps ready to be filled by countless crossover tie-ins. Basically every Marvel title seems to have had at least one of its own Secret Invasion tie-ins. Secret Invasion is a perfect example of when good story telling gets taken over by comic commercialism. With all that said, this series did not grab me enough to encourage me to pick up any of the tie-ins.
Overall I'd give this mini-series a 3 out of 10.
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