SECRET INVASION #8 (OF 8)
Review by: daccampo
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This review contains spoilers, click here to read
Everyone and their mother is going to be writing a review for this issue, so why shouldn't I? Haven't written a review in a while, but I felt like this is such a hotly anticipated title, it merits a closer examination.
Here's what I got out of it:
Bendis does not really like the classic fight scenes. He finds them boring. You can see this in the way he structures his various books. He's trying to get away from what you expect. The first seven issues of Secret Invasion build to a fight scene. That fight scene lasts a couple of pages.
And then he skips over it and starts this issue narrated in the present, detailing the fight scene in the past. This is a clever technique. It allows Bendis to drop into scenes at will and pull out character moments. He does this fairly well.
Except... it's missing something. The death of the Wasp, for example. That's rushed over. Sometimes it's okay to give us a classic death scene, to get a little sentimental with it. In his recent column on this very site, Paul Montgomery listed some "Heartbreaking Moments" in comics. Among them was the death of Sue Dibny in DC's Identity Crisis. He included a panel. Janet Van Dyne deserved such a moment. Brad Meltzer may fall too far on the sentimental side, but he knows that those big moments merit attention, no matter how cliche they might seem. I think this was an oversight on Bendis' part. In his zeal to do things "differently," he's forgotten that sometimes these things work for a reason.
This is one point where I give writer Geoff Johns credit. He understands this. He's not afraid of the big moments in his books. And while his stories often feel familiar to me, bordering on cliche, he knows how to make these scenes work. Bendis, take note.
Now, here's what I liked:
Regardless of whether or not you liked the pacing, this story does come to a definite conclusion here. The Skrulls lost their world, they believe Earth is theirs by divine right. They set up a clever strategy and made their best go of it. But they couldn't beat the combine might of Earth's heroes and villains. Simple enough. Everything does fall into place here, and the story once again changes the landscape of the Marvel Universe. Sure, we've got Previews guides to tell us what to expect, but let's ignore that for a moment. The final reveal in this issue is one that excites the imagination. What does this mean for our heroes? The various teams? The structure of government? It feels like a natural follow-up to Civil War. If Civil War set up a new structure for heroes, what's the next step? A corruption of that structure. If the government has the power to control super-heroes, what happens when that power falls into the hands of the corrupt?
At the end of the day, I think this story will read decently in trade. It suffers from hype, overexposure, and -- quite frankly -- the monthly schedule. Read in one chunk you'll see a big gambit by aliens, heroes stuck, heroes making their escapes, heroes coming together, and a final battle.
It's flawed. This issue could have been spread over two, giving lots of big, glorious moments. Better moments in which the heroes rally, and the tide is turned. But, overall, I don't think it's a bad story. It's not that poorly executed. It's a decent popcorn comic book that got a little too caught up in the hype.
Here's what I got out of it:
Bendis does not really like the classic fight scenes. He finds them boring. You can see this in the way he structures his various books. He's trying to get away from what you expect. The first seven issues of Secret Invasion build to a fight scene. That fight scene lasts a couple of pages.
And then he skips over it and starts this issue narrated in the present, detailing the fight scene in the past. This is a clever technique. It allows Bendis to drop into scenes at will and pull out character moments. He does this fairly well.
Except... it's missing something. The death of the Wasp, for example. That's rushed over. Sometimes it's okay to give us a classic death scene, to get a little sentimental with it. In his recent column on this very site, Paul Montgomery listed some "Heartbreaking Moments" in comics. Among them was the death of Sue Dibny in DC's Identity Crisis. He included a panel. Janet Van Dyne deserved such a moment. Brad Meltzer may fall too far on the sentimental side, but he knows that those big moments merit attention, no matter how cliche they might seem. I think this was an oversight on Bendis' part. In his zeal to do things "differently," he's forgotten that sometimes these things work for a reason.
This is one point where I give writer Geoff Johns credit. He understands this. He's not afraid of the big moments in his books. And while his stories often feel familiar to me, bordering on cliche, he knows how to make these scenes work. Bendis, take note.
Now, here's what I liked:
Regardless of whether or not you liked the pacing, this story does come to a definite conclusion here. The Skrulls lost their world, they believe Earth is theirs by divine right. They set up a clever strategy and made their best go of it. But they couldn't beat the combine might of Earth's heroes and villains. Simple enough. Everything does fall into place here, and the story once again changes the landscape of the Marvel Universe. Sure, we've got Previews guides to tell us what to expect, but let's ignore that for a moment. The final reveal in this issue is one that excites the imagination. What does this mean for our heroes? The various teams? The structure of government? It feels like a natural follow-up to Civil War. If Civil War set up a new structure for heroes, what's the next step? A corruption of that structure. If the government has the power to control super-heroes, what happens when that power falls into the hands of the corrupt?
At the end of the day, I think this story will read decently in trade. It suffers from hype, overexposure, and -- quite frankly -- the monthly schedule. Read in one chunk you'll see a big gambit by aliens, heroes stuck, heroes making their escapes, heroes coming together, and a final battle.
It's flawed. This issue could have been spread over two, giving lots of big, glorious moments. Better moments in which the heroes rally, and the tide is turned. But, overall, I don't think it's a bad story. It's not that poorly executed. It's a decent popcorn comic book that got a little too caught up in the hype.
Story: 3 - Good
Art: 3 - Good
Art: 3 - Good
Good review this.
Good review, but….
It ignores the fact that this wasn’t a story in itself – rather, it’s just a set up for another crossover story. Is Bendis an architect or a writer?
Great, balanced review, Dave. With excellent references to an excellent outside source. 😉
I stopped reading Si after the third or 4th issue and decided to wait for the trade. I agree that the serialization hurt this one, and I really look forward to reading it in one big chunk.
@coltrane — I disagree with the notion that it wasn’t a story in itself. It clearly was. I wrote: "The Skrulls lost their world, they believe Earth is theirs by divine right. They set up a clever strategy and made their best go of it. But they couldn’t beat the combine might of Earth’s heroes and villains." That’s the story. It has a beginning, middle, and an end. Whether you thought it was a GOOD story is something we can debate endlessly. 😉
About half of this series was made up of mindless, traditional battles, and the climactic end fight scene took up all of issue seven, so it’s not like he’s skipping over it. That being the case, though, you’re right that the more important moments within the big battles were kind of rushed over or incomprehensible (see: Giant Purple Death-Janet).
I disagree. The earlier skirmishes were very quick but not pointless. They would, say, show the Skrulls landing in NYC and the young Avengers fighting. But they were glossed over quickly and cut away from. Bendis isn’t interested in those things. He’d drop into smaller moments, moments of distrust. He’s much more comfortable having Cage and Logan argue with each other for several pages.
Also: that was my point about giant janet — he shows it, but doesn’t focus on it. It’s presented after-the-fact. She doesn’t really get a death scene. She’s just decoration in the background.
And I agreed with that point…
great review, I couldn’t agree more with your points. This is one event book that definitely felt like it had a conclusion while leaving strings to follow into the next storyline. And it’s all taking place in an afternoon, a day at best.