Not so long ago, the series Secret Invasion was released on the Disney+ platform . A moment earlier, the comic book with the same title hit our market thanks to the Egmont publishing house. Does the original story have anything to do with the Samuel L. Jackson production?
Skrull, Skrull everywhere…
The Secret Invasion comic tells the story of the Skrull race attacking the Earth in order to conquer it. This cosmic, shape-shifting race has been planning to take over our planet for years, and they implemented their plan very slowly, only to finally attack with impetus. Of course, superheroes stand in their way. And it’s not just the Avengers. The X-Men, SHIELD and the Fantastic Four are also joining the fight. The threat is so great that even supervillains decide to defend humanity. However, there is a problem – enemies can change their appearance to become copies of each of the heroes. So no one can be trusted. The only hope in technology created by Tony Stark and Reed Richards. However, both were neutralized , so that the scales of victory begin to tip in favor of the invaders.
We’ve got everyone here!
Secret Invasion is a comic book created by multiple Eisner Award winner Brian Michael Bendis. He proved that he knows his way around great events, creating, among others, Secret wars (someone here likes to create secret stuff). Therefore, it could be assumed that he would lead the war with the Skrulls in an intriguing and unusual way. In addition, the appetite could be fueled by the fact that the issue originally released in 2008 quickly gained many fans in the USA and became the best-selling title of that period. Was it worth waiting for it to come to us? To be honest, I’m not fully able to understand the phenomenon of the album. Personally, I love crossoversand moments when heroes stand shoulder to shoulder for heroic battle. Here, in addition, even villains join them, so everything seems even more epic. And the fights themselves look really spectacular, but that’s about it. We have a great murder without a specific plot. The next scenes build on there being an argument over who is a Skrull, and a brawl ensues. Later, more characters are added, there is a dispute over identity, and again everyone throws himself at each other’s throats. Somewhere in the background there is a thread of helpless Stark and kidnapped Mr. Fantastica, a few people are trying to help them and in a moment we’re back to the “who’s who” puzzle and face-slapping (and not only). There’s not even a specific twist. Due to the intensity of the heroes, no one gets enough time to do anything meaningful either. They only do what we know them for – Thor throws Mjolnir, Captain America with a shield, Wolverine extends his claws, and Spider-Man shoots a spiderweb. Well, the latter is still joking a bit, which adds character to it, but still does not bring anything new. Superheroism from the ruler. If someone needs something like this – he will be delighted. The rest will be disappointed.
Superhero world
Can we say that the cartoonist draws the way the screenwriter creates the plot for him? Well, if so, Leinil Francis Yu has done his job admirably. And actually, thanks to his work, the album can be much more liked. The artist had to work a lot to show all the major and minor skirmishes and put the superheroes in them well enough for the cartoonist to find them all. I admit, the scenes came out very effective. Many graphics would be perfect for a poster, phone wallpaper or puzzle. It’s colorful, dynamic and you can feel the sweat that pours on the characters’ foreheads when they fight an uneven fight with the Skrulls. And you will certainly spend more time looking at the details of each frame than thinking about the plot. I also appreciate the humorous picture in which the Skrulls turned into familiar characters, to convince people to join them. Among them, we can see Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, Paris Hilton and Bob Saget. And again – fans of superheroes will be in seventh heaven, but other readers should not complain either.
What does the series have to do with the comic?
This isn’t the first time Egmont has released a comic just before the premiere of an MCU movie or series based on or closely related to it. In my opinion, it’s a great treatment, both for fans who can read the story before going to the cinema, and of course in terms of marketing. And now that we’ve got the filming of Secret Invasion ,it would be a shame not to compare it to the original. And there will be no secrets here – one has almost nothing to do with the other. The thread that connects both titles is the Skrull attack on Earth and the character of Nick Fury, and that’s pretty much it. And even that’s not quite it. In the comics, aliens are exclusively evil, no one knows they live among humans, and Fury is one of the many characters who tries to stop them. There are also less political plays and more action. In the series, however, we have aliens on our side (which you probably already know from Captain Marvel ), the head of SHIELD is the main character, and intrigues are above killing (although there are a lot of those here too). Completely missedhere the appearance of any hero, who are hard to count in the album. I will add that there is a theme of stealing superpowers and creating Superskrulls. However, the genesis has been completely changed, so also in this aspect everything looks different. And what did the creators do better? In fact, both Secret Invasions leave a lot to be desired and are not outstanding works.
A curiosity for the collection
In the case of the Secret Invasion comic book , the edition deserves a big plus. We get a hardcover album, with an introduction introducing us to the event and a gallery of beautiful covers. As I mentioned earlier, our attention will certainly be drawn to the graphic design. It’s hard to say anything about the plot because there isn’t much to it. The event itself, however, is extremely important for the entire Marvel universe. Fans and collectors should nevertheless be interested in it and read the content. It will later be shelved and confidently shown to friends , as an example of a typical and simple superhero comic. And by the way, everyone will probably find their favorite here.
