Book of the Week 4/2/08 Secret Invasion #1

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils by Leinil Francis Yu
Inks by Mark Morales
Colors by Laura Martin
Letters by Chris Eliopoulos

WARNING! This review will contain some spoilers!




Ok, wow, I'm not even sure where to start. As corny as it sounds I think that I can admit that Marvel's Secret Invasion tagline is ringing true and I honestly do not know who I trust in the Marvel U right now.

Secret Invasion #1 hit stores today and Eric and I have been talking a lot about this book and whether it would deliver or not and I just thought it was excellent. I was actually excited to read this book and rushed home just to have to opportunity to tear it open and find out what the crap is happening to my beloved Marvel Universe, I haven't been this excited for a book since the final issue of Civil War.

The book starts off with a great sequence showing the desperation of the Skrull race following Annihilation and leads into an attack on earth, we're given a few small reveals which were very interesting and then all hell breaks loose.

Tony Stark being attacked by a skrull virus was the turning point in this book and through Stark the Skrulls systematically start taking down the entire United States in a sequence that was chilling and left me on the edge of my seat. It really shows how powerful on a man Tony Stark is and make you realize that maybe one man shouldn't be connected to so much power.

The big reveal was towards the end of the book when both Avengers teams are shocked to find copies of our heroes crash land on earth......and we don't know who's a skrull and who isn't. This was such a great move by Bendis, I was expecting a lot of reveals in this first issue and was looking forward to some great character interactions but we now have a situation where Hawkeye, Luke Cage and Wolverine are looking at copies of themselves who claim to be the real deal and this changes everything.

Leinil Yu has really outdone himself and the art in the book was simply amazing. His sharp and edgy pencils really came through in this story and lent to the overall feeling of desperation that Bendis set up. The expressions and emotions in the art when Tony was under attack was so intense and truly made me feel like I was right there watching it happen.

I've always been a huge fan of Bendis and I think he's at the top of the writers' stack but he's really outdone himself this time and I think we may be getting a great story, something on caliber with Geoff Johns' Sinestro Corps War.

I cannot wait for the next issue, to surf the net and see what other people's reactions are and record our show this weekend. This comic is a perfect example of why I love comics and just how exciting they can be.

Stay tuned for our podcast this weekend, I'm sure Eric and I will have a lot to discuss about this book!