I’m not going to lie: I have not been enjoying the main Secret Invasion book since the second issue.  In fact, that might be an understatement…the lack of forward progress really hacks me off.  That said, some of the tie-ins have been okay, and I’ve been really selective (maybe even random) about which ones I pick up.  This is one I’m glad I did not overlook…in fact, it may have replaced Captain Britain as my favorite Secret Invasion tie-in so far!

What I like about this Black Panther issue (and Captain Britain, now that I think about it) is that it delivers the global scope of the Skrull invasion as well as giving us an idea about how the various aspects of the Marvel Universe would react to such a threat.  I’ve never really been a Black Panther fan, and, thankfully, my enjoyment of this issue was not contingent on me being versed in the character’s history…I picked this up solely because of the love that this site shows Jason Aaron. 

Anyway, to avoid spoilers I won’t go into the details, but this issue chronicles the opening engagement between the Skrulls and the Wakandans.  Things do not go well for the Skrulls right off the bat, because, and this is why I loved the issue, T’Challa and the Wakandans are way more badass than I had ever really guessed.  I can’t say any more and keep this review spoiler-free, but the bottom line is that I personally loved how this issue played out. 

If I have any criticism, though, it’s that it took a few rather shaky plot contrivances to get the battle going in the form that it takes, but I enjoyed the end result to much to care.