So, here we are, mired in the ever present Secret Invasion event, and I can’t help but feel a little disappointed as to how things are turning out, at least, when it comes to the tie-ins.  As many know, I swooned over the event’s proper book.  It was faced paced, intriguing, and a whole lot of fun.  But with the tie-in issues, I’m feeling a little bit underwhelmed.  Last week saw the release of a completely underwhelming story in Mighty Avengers, and with this week, we get to see just how this is affecting the New Avengers.

With this issue, it seems that Bendis wanted to lay out a little bit more of the Skrull perspective, which I was intrigued to see.  And with the art of Jimmy Cheung, who is a god among men when it comes to art, I figured that this was going to be my pick of the week for sure.  But as I read it, and flipped it’s pages, I was left with a big gaping hole of dissatisfaction.

My main problem with the issue is that the pacing for the storytelling just seems way off.  The beats just were not falling into place for me with this issue.  There were often times conversations would end and time would jump forward or shift without the slightest hint that it had happened.  This was especially apparent in the first half of the issue, as the story follows the King in the days after the escape of the Illuminati.  It was an interesting place to put a story, but the way in which the story was told seemed disjointed.  I don’t know if it was issue with the art, like Cheung didn’t pace or break down the panels approrpiately, or if this was simply a lettering issue or…I don’t know, a writing issue.  Everything just seemed disjointed to me, and I kept having to flip back and forth between pages just to figure out when the king stopped battling the Priestess and started talking to his scientists.

Pacing issues aside, I have to mention that I’m not all that jazzed about the reveal at the end of the issue.  Is it surprising?  Somewhat, but to me, this character is not a major player in anyway.  I’ve never read much about the character outside of one other series, but I can tell you that I was hoping for it to be someone more prominent.  And part of me can’t help but think that the “reveal” may be, in fact, an “insinuation” to throw readers off.  I mean, it wasn’t clearly stated that this person was a Skrull.

It is worth nothing that Cheung’s art is amazing in this issue.  His style is just so clean and perfect.  It was a bit disappointing that Marvel put him on a story that is pretty much a talking heads issue because Cheung really shines when drawing dynamic action scenes.

I guess it’s good that Marvel is allowing Bendis to tell these little stories as I’m sure they are adding to the event for some people, but for me, they are merely adding layers of unnecessary intrigue and back story.