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Secret Invasion

 
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"Secret Invasion"

Variant cover of Secret Invasion 1 (Jun 2008).Art by Steve McNiven.
Publisher Marvel Comics
Publication date June 2008 – Jan. 2009
Genre Superhero
Crossover
Main character(s) The New Avengers
The Mighty Avengers
Fantastic Four
Nick Fury
The Initiative
Thunderbolts
Inhumans
The Skrulls
Skrull Kill Krew
Hood's Crime Syndicate
Creative team
Writer(s) Brian Michael Bendis
Penciller(s) Leinil Francis Yu
Inker(s) Mark Morales
Colorist(s) Laura Martin
Collected editions
The Infiltration ISBN 0-7851-3231-7
Secret Invasion ISBN 0-7851-3297-X
Captain Marvel ISBN 0-7851-3303-8
Incredible Hercules ISBN 0-7851-3333-X

"Secret Invasion" is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled eight issue limited series and several titles published by Marvel Comics from April through December 2008. The story involves a subversive, long-term invasion of Earth by the alien Skrulls. Capable of shapeshifting, the Skrulls have secretly replaced many of Marvel's heroes with impostors over a period of years, prior to the overt invasion. Marvel's promotional tagline for the event was "Who do you trust?"

Contents

Production and marketing

Writer Brian Michael Bendis stated in interviews that the motivation for the invasion is the destruction of the Skrull Empire in the Annihilation storyline.[1] Bendis states the Skrulls believe Earth "is religiously and rightfully theirs,"[2] and that there were hints as to the plot placed in the limited series Secret War[3] and the title New Avengers from the first issue.[4] The limited series will conclude the plot and is, according to Bendis, "a hell of an end." (the original pitch for Secret Invasion is at Marvel's official website.[1])[5]

As of November 2007 several ongoing titles and mini-series were branded as tie-ins to the main Secret Invasion storyline, with the tagline: Secret Invasion: The Infiltration. In addition to the core story, the Avengers titles provide additional plot material and act as a link between titles. Other Marvel titles also featured variant covers with the characters depicted as Skrulls.[6] Bendis stated that the series would not deal with the origins of the invasion, but rather "if there's a character on the team who's a Skrull, we will rewind from when they got on that team, or from before they got on that team, so when they are infiltrated, how they became who they became and the effects of their actions from their 'point of view' is shown."

The Marvel website featured two online-exclusive e-comics for the event, titled Secret Invasion Prologue (a seven page comic that reveals the replacement of a previously unknown Skrull agent) and Secret Invasion: Home Invasion (a MySpace video blog featuring a young teenager named Kinsey Walden and her fears regarding her brother's strange behavior, supported by comic pages by writer Ivan Brandon and artist Nick Postic.[7]

Plot synopsis

After the Kree-Skrull War[8] a group of Earth's superheroes - Iron Man; Mister Fantastic; Namor; Black Bolt; Professor Charles Xavier and Doctor Strange - band together as a group called the Illuminati to secretly confront the Skrulls. They attack the Skrull Empire, and warn that any further invasion attempts of Earth would mean further reprisals. However, they are all captured and intensely studied before escaping.[9]

An eventual successor to the Skrull throne, Princess Veranke, claims that a prophecy foretold the annihilation of the Skrull homeworld. The current Emperor, Dorrek, exiles her to a prison world for inciting religious extremism. After the destruction of the Skrull Throneworld by the cosmic entity Galactus,[10] Veranke becomes Empress by lineage, and guides an invasion of Earth, armed with the knowledge of superhumans gained from having studied the Illuminati. The Skrulls capture several superhumans and infiltrate Earth's defences, with Vernake herself posing as heroine Spider-Woman.[11] Veranke, however, is inconvenienced when there is a breakout of supervillains at the prison the Raft, which forces her to join the team the New Avengers.[12]

The Skrulls also skirmish with the Earth's heroes several times prior to the invasion. Elektra, the leader of the ninja group the Hand, is revealed to be a Skrull named Pagon after dying in battle with the New Avengers.[13] Posing as agents of spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D., the Skrulls attempt to mine the metal vibranium in the Savage Land and battle the New Avengers before being killed.[14] The Illuminati battle an impostor posing as Black Bolt and two new Super-Skrulls, possessing all-new powers.[15]

The Skrull invasion destabilizes the superhuman community as simultaneous strikes disable the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and orbiting base the Peak, a breakout is instigated at the supervillain holding facility the Raft, the Baxter Building headquarters of the Fantastic Four is transported to the Negative Zone and the Thunderbolt Mountain headquarters of the Thunderbolts is attacked. Additionally the Avengers are attacked by Skrulls posing as heroes in the Savage Land, and Reed Richards is wounded by the Skrull Criti Noll (who was posing as Henry Pym) seconds after determining a way to identify the shape shifters.

After several battles between Earth's heroes and the Skrulls in Manhattan and the Savage Land, Mister Fantastic manages to develop a device that can detect the aliens. Criminal kingpin the Hood aids the heroes, deciding that "no more Earth is bad for business." Veranke regroups with her forces in New York, and a final battle against the combined Avengers - now aided by Nick Fury and his new Commandos: Thor, Daredevil, Howard the Duck, Ka-Zar, and super teams the Young Avengers and the Thunderbolts.

In a final battle, Veranke is wounded by the Avenger Hawkeye. Criti Noll activates a booby trap placed on the heroine Wasp, although the blast is contained by Thor at the cost of her life. Veranke is then shot and killed by Norman Osborn. The last remnants of the Skrull armada are destroyed, with Iron Man locating the missing heroes. S.H.I.E.L.D. is dissolved by executive order of the President of the United States while a last Skrull (posing as Avengers' butler Edwin Jarvis) flees with the child of hero Luke Cage. Norman Osborn is placed in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D's replacement - H.A.M.M.E.R - and forms a secret group consisting of himself, Emma Frost, Namor, Doctor Doom, The Hood and Loki which commences the Dark Reign storyline.[16][17]

Reception

Issue #1 was well received for its strong introduction to the story, good pacing and "slick" art[18][19] although some concerns were raised over Bendis' dialogue.[18][19] Sales estimates suggested that around 250,200 copies were sold, more than twice as much as the second highest seller.[20] The Secret Invasion: The Infiltration collected volume also topped the trade paperback chart, with an estimated 7,247 sales.[20] The second issue kept the top slot, with estimated sales dropping to 200,344.[21]

Tie-in issues

Secret Invasion: The Infiltration

The following issues were released with the The Infiltration banner prior to the launch of the Secret Invasion series:

Secret Invasion

The following issues tie into the Secret Invasion mini-series:[22] [23]

Other versions

What If?

Marvel Comics' alternate universe title What If features one-shot publications that illustrate how other events both impede and advance the Skrull invasion. A slight change in action by character the Scarlet Witch during the House of M storyline reveals all Skrulls,[32] while the death of Tony Stark during the Fallen Son helps the Skrull cause by invading early.[33]

Collected editions

The stories are being collected into volumes:

-

Merchandising

Marvel Heroclix released a Secret Invasion-themed booster set based on the storyline. The set included included Captain Marvel; Dum-Dum Dugan; Yellowjacket; Elektra and Ms Marvel. Veranke (as Spider-Woman) and Lyja (as the Invisible Woman) were released as chase figures in their Skrull-only personality.

References

  1. ^ Annihilation #1 - 6 (Oct. 2006 - Mar. 2007)
  2. ^ New Avengers #31: Bendis Talks About the Big Twist, Comic Book Resources, June 14, 2007
  3. ^ Secret War #1 - 5 (Apr. 2004 - Dec. 2005)
  4. ^ New Avengers #1 (Jan. 2005)
  5. ^ Baltimore '07: Brian Bendis Talks Secret Invasion, Newsarama, September 10, 2007
  6. ^ Comic Book Resources > Lying In The Gutters - 4-7-2008
  7. ^ Marvel’s Viral Marketing Invasion - 4/7/2008 9:55:00 PM - Publishers Weekly
  8. ^ Avengers #88 - 97 (June 1971 - Mar. 1972)
  9. ^ Shown in flashback in New Avengers: Illuminati #1 (Dec. 2006)
  10. ^ Fantastic Four #257(Aug. 1983)
  11. ^ New Avengers #40 (Apr. 2008)
  12. ^ New Avengers #1 (Jan. 2005)
  13. ^ New Avengers #31 (June 2007)
  14. ^ New Avengers #41 - 43 (May- July 2008)
  15. ^ New Avengers: Illuminati #5 (Nov. 2007)
  16. ^ Secret Invasion #8
  17. ^ Dark Reign: Dark Avengers #1 (Mar. 2009)
  18. ^ a b Review of Secret Invasion #1, Comics Bulletin
  19. ^ a b Review of Secret Invasion #1, Comic Book Resources
  20. ^ a b Sales Estimates for April, 2008 Books, Comic Book Resources, May 20, 2008
  21. ^ Sales Estimates for May, 2008, Comic Book Resources, June 17, 2008
  22. ^ Marvel and CBR talk tie-ins
  23. ^ Brevoort talks Secret Invasion Page 3, IGN
  24. ^ Cornell & Lowe talk "Captain Britain and MI:13", Comic Book Resources, February 18, 2008
  25. ^ The British Invasion: Paul Cornell on Captain Britain and MI: 13, Comics Bulletin, April 10, 2008
  26. ^ a b NYCC: DnA talk "Nova" & "Guardians of the Galaxy" tie-ins to "Secret Invasion", Comic Book Resources, April 19, 2008
  27. ^ Secret Invasion Amazing Spider-Man #1
  28. ^ Tuesday QA: Joe Pokaski - Marvel.com News
  29. ^ Richard George (March 13, 2008). "Exclusive Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers Interview". IGN. http://comics.ign.com/articles/859/859389p1.html. Retrieved 2008-03-16. 
  30. ^ EXCLUSIVE—Secret Invaders: Mike Carey
  31. ^ Mike Carey's "Secret Invasion" Plans, Comic Book Resources, May 7, 2008
  32. ^ What If? House of M (Feb. 2009)
  33. ^ What If? Fallen Son (Feb. 2009)

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Captain America (Steve Rogers) · Doctor Strange · Echo · Iron Fist · Iron Man · The Sentry · Veranke (disguised as Spider-Woman)
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