Post by goldenfist on May 8, 2008 8:06:50 GMT -5
Here's a review from Ign.com on Secret Invasion #2.
That was it?
It's an unfortunately less than rare circumstance when I put down a comic feeling that I didn't get my money's worth. That's just how it is in the era of $3 and $4 cover prices. Still, I like to think I can count on major releases like Secret Invasion to deliver a satisfying bang for my buck. Now I know that isn't the case. Issue #1 showed plenty of promise in setting up various conundrums and catastrophes for our heroes to face. Issue #2 ignores almost all of them, instead filling up nearly every one of its 22 pages with punching. To say that I feel ripped off is an understatement.
Anyone who read the first issue has been salivating over the final page cliffhanger for the last 30 days. Just who were all those heroes that stepped out of the downed Skrull ship? While it's highly unlikely they're all the real deal, neither is it likely they're all fakes. Whatever the case, don't expect much in the way of answers. Brian Michael Bendis has developed something of a reputation for relying on decompressed storytelling. Secret Invasion #2 is a textbook example of why. Essentially, the two groups of Marvel heroes talk amongst themselves, someone throws the first punch, and then all hell breaks loose in the jungle. I honestly expected the story would have progressed much farther by now than it has. Outside of the Savage Land, time seems to have slowed to a crawl. The only real glimpse of the outside world involves a group of characters standing outside the Baxter Building and gawking at the gaping vortex inside. How long does it take for a skyscraper to get sucked into the Negative Zone anyway?
Still, I wouldn't score this issue as high as I did if there weren't at least some redeeming qualities. For one thing, the art looks better than I ever could have hoped for based on Leinil Yu's past Avengers work. I'll lay most of the credit at the doorstep of colorist Laura Martin. The colors in this issue are vibrant and just plain gorgeous, particularly in the Savage Land scenes. Martin does have a tendency to color Spider-Man's costume as if it's coated in mosaic titles, but I'll forgive her that because the rest of the issue is just so darned pretty.
Bendis doesn't completely disappoint, either. He's always been a master of snappy dialogue, and his talents are put to good use as the factions of heroes begin to splinter and divide. Every line leaves you to question what you read, and certain revelations may not be as clear cut as they appear. The sense of dread and paranoia among the heroes is quickly leaking out from the page. And lest I forget, this month's two-page cliffhanger spread is even better than the last. That's a good thing too. As disappointed as I was in the overall package this month, those last pages still manage to leave me eagerly anticipating the next issue. Let's just hope that book will prove a better value.
Review Score: 7.5 Good
Here's what two reviewers thought about Secret Invasion #2.
Another Take by Dan Phillips
Color me unimpressed.
That's the most concise statement I can make about my reaction to Secret Invasion #2, which goes through great pains to disguise what it really is – a rather mindless action fest. A lot about this issue reminded me of Jim Shooter's original Secret Wars and the worst, most fan-fictiony (new word) aspects of Civil War. I suppose when it comes down to it, I just don't find the idea of a fight between the modern Marvel heroes and their 1970s counterparts to be very interesting, regardless of the whole "who's really a Skrull?" plotline. Come to think of it, I would have preferred to see Bendis spend more time answering or at least exploring that question than indulging artist Leinil Yu with hero vs. hero fight scenes. We've seen this stuff before, and adding a dinosaur to the mix doesn't make things any more interesting story wise (although Yu's visuals are pretty darn cool).
Another problem with this issue is that I'm just about fed up with the same old types of "who can we trust?" dialogue exchanges. Perhaps this has more to do with the long lead-up to the actual miniseries than it does the merits of this issue, but I've already seen my fair share of conversations in which characters pronounce their distrust of one another. These scenes always seem to involve Wolverine, Luke Cage or both, and the main point – that nobody can be trusted – has already been hammered home many times. I understand this is the central theme of the series, but Bendis desperately needs to find new ways of voicing this point.
I've heard Secret Invasion described as a Michael Bay movie set in the Marvel Universe, and I think that's a pretty spot-on comparison. The only problem is I'm not a big fan of Michael Bay, and with a few exceptions, I tend to find his movies to be cheesier and more mindless than they are fun. The main Secret Invasion miniseries isn't cheesy, but it's definitely not as intelligent as it pretends to be. I much prefer the more cerebral, behind the scenes, cloak and dagger approach Bendis is using in his Avengers titles than the punch-first, answer-questions later technique used in this issue. That may speak to my own tastes as a reader, but it also might have something to do with where the real meat and bones of this story truly lay. I'd rather watch folks like Nick Fury, Tony Stark and Reed Richards think their way out of this predicament than watch the New Avengers punch their way out of it.
One final observation – I've never been a fan of Leinil Yu's artwork, but if Marvel continues to pair him with such a talented inker as Mark Morales, I just might get on the Yu bandwagon. Together with colorist Laura Martin, Morales brings some much-needed clarity and crispness to Yu's work, and Secret Invasion #2 is, at the very least, a beautiful and exciting sight to behold. I just wish there was more to this issue's story.
Review Score: 7.2 Good
A Marvel fanboy wet dream, that's what Secret Invasion #2 is. From page one to page twenty-two, this issue feels every bit the seminal Marvel crossover it's been hailed as, with the crazy cranked up to 10. Many will inevitably feel that it pales in comparison to the issue #1, and that's probably true. But it's still definitely worth your time.
I'm almost tempted to call issue #2 filler, but it's really so well done that I'm willing to ignore that designation. Essentially what we've got here is a large-scale fight between the Avengers -- er, Avengerses -- and the pod people, with intermittent cuts to show characters saying variations of "OMG WTF." What makes the whole thing great is what I love about the basic idea of SI itself, that yes, there are Skrulls on the "good guys" team and (probably) bona fide humans on the "bad guys" team. More than any SI-related book yet, this issue really drives home the "Who Do You Trust?" tagline -- most notably in a very solid Hawkeye sequence that could very well be the high point of the issue.
Once again, enough cannot be said of Leinel Yu's art. After last issue, I knew his work on this event was going to be better than average, but this installment is in another league compared to his recent work. He's helped immensely by Laura Martin's vivid color work, allowing every panel to pop. Yu's clarity issues have practically vanished, which is quite the feat considering the subject matter. And most of his character models look beautiful as well, with only a couple glitches to speak of (see: Hawkeye's face).
There are absolutely some trouble areas in the issue that keep it from being quite as fun as the one that came before, however. On a minor note, Secret Invasion #2 is the latest in a long string of tie-ins to an unannounced Marvel event years in the making called Sentry Is The Worst Character Ever Made. It's almost laughable. Why such a fundamentally flawed concept is a consistently prominent figure in the Marvel Universe baffles me. I actively hope he's a Skrull. In a broader sense, despite its fanfic wackiness, this issue feels a bit like decompression. Yes, I realize there are eight issues to the event and using just one to have them play rock'em sock'em isn't going to really hurt anybody, or the story at large. But I can't help feeling that the Avengers books from the past two weeks had more to do with the event itself than this one. It's a little worrying in the short term, but in the grand scheme I'm not sure it's such a big deal if the series is paced well enough. Time shall tell.
Still, all told, Secret Invasion is getting one crucial thing right: it's fun. To be honest, that goes a long way these days. And, tellingly, my enthusiasm for all things SI has not been squelched in any way.
Review Score: 7.5 Good
That was it?
It's an unfortunately less than rare circumstance when I put down a comic feeling that I didn't get my money's worth. That's just how it is in the era of $3 and $4 cover prices. Still, I like to think I can count on major releases like Secret Invasion to deliver a satisfying bang for my buck. Now I know that isn't the case. Issue #1 showed plenty of promise in setting up various conundrums and catastrophes for our heroes to face. Issue #2 ignores almost all of them, instead filling up nearly every one of its 22 pages with punching. To say that I feel ripped off is an understatement.
Anyone who read the first issue has been salivating over the final page cliffhanger for the last 30 days. Just who were all those heroes that stepped out of the downed Skrull ship? While it's highly unlikely they're all the real deal, neither is it likely they're all fakes. Whatever the case, don't expect much in the way of answers. Brian Michael Bendis has developed something of a reputation for relying on decompressed storytelling. Secret Invasion #2 is a textbook example of why. Essentially, the two groups of Marvel heroes talk amongst themselves, someone throws the first punch, and then all hell breaks loose in the jungle. I honestly expected the story would have progressed much farther by now than it has. Outside of the Savage Land, time seems to have slowed to a crawl. The only real glimpse of the outside world involves a group of characters standing outside the Baxter Building and gawking at the gaping vortex inside. How long does it take for a skyscraper to get sucked into the Negative Zone anyway?
Still, I wouldn't score this issue as high as I did if there weren't at least some redeeming qualities. For one thing, the art looks better than I ever could have hoped for based on Leinil Yu's past Avengers work. I'll lay most of the credit at the doorstep of colorist Laura Martin. The colors in this issue are vibrant and just plain gorgeous, particularly in the Savage Land scenes. Martin does have a tendency to color Spider-Man's costume as if it's coated in mosaic titles, but I'll forgive her that because the rest of the issue is just so darned pretty.
Bendis doesn't completely disappoint, either. He's always been a master of snappy dialogue, and his talents are put to good use as the factions of heroes begin to splinter and divide. Every line leaves you to question what you read, and certain revelations may not be as clear cut as they appear. The sense of dread and paranoia among the heroes is quickly leaking out from the page. And lest I forget, this month's two-page cliffhanger spread is even better than the last. That's a good thing too. As disappointed as I was in the overall package this month, those last pages still manage to leave me eagerly anticipating the next issue. Let's just hope that book will prove a better value.
Review Score: 7.5 Good
Here's what two reviewers thought about Secret Invasion #2.
Another Take by Dan Phillips
Color me unimpressed.
That's the most concise statement I can make about my reaction to Secret Invasion #2, which goes through great pains to disguise what it really is – a rather mindless action fest. A lot about this issue reminded me of Jim Shooter's original Secret Wars and the worst, most fan-fictiony (new word) aspects of Civil War. I suppose when it comes down to it, I just don't find the idea of a fight between the modern Marvel heroes and their 1970s counterparts to be very interesting, regardless of the whole "who's really a Skrull?" plotline. Come to think of it, I would have preferred to see Bendis spend more time answering or at least exploring that question than indulging artist Leinil Yu with hero vs. hero fight scenes. We've seen this stuff before, and adding a dinosaur to the mix doesn't make things any more interesting story wise (although Yu's visuals are pretty darn cool).
Another problem with this issue is that I'm just about fed up with the same old types of "who can we trust?" dialogue exchanges. Perhaps this has more to do with the long lead-up to the actual miniseries than it does the merits of this issue, but I've already seen my fair share of conversations in which characters pronounce their distrust of one another. These scenes always seem to involve Wolverine, Luke Cage or both, and the main point – that nobody can be trusted – has already been hammered home many times. I understand this is the central theme of the series, but Bendis desperately needs to find new ways of voicing this point.
I've heard Secret Invasion described as a Michael Bay movie set in the Marvel Universe, and I think that's a pretty spot-on comparison. The only problem is I'm not a big fan of Michael Bay, and with a few exceptions, I tend to find his movies to be cheesier and more mindless than they are fun. The main Secret Invasion miniseries isn't cheesy, but it's definitely not as intelligent as it pretends to be. I much prefer the more cerebral, behind the scenes, cloak and dagger approach Bendis is using in his Avengers titles than the punch-first, answer-questions later technique used in this issue. That may speak to my own tastes as a reader, but it also might have something to do with where the real meat and bones of this story truly lay. I'd rather watch folks like Nick Fury, Tony Stark and Reed Richards think their way out of this predicament than watch the New Avengers punch their way out of it.
One final observation – I've never been a fan of Leinil Yu's artwork, but if Marvel continues to pair him with such a talented inker as Mark Morales, I just might get on the Yu bandwagon. Together with colorist Laura Martin, Morales brings some much-needed clarity and crispness to Yu's work, and Secret Invasion #2 is, at the very least, a beautiful and exciting sight to behold. I just wish there was more to this issue's story.
Review Score: 7.2 Good
A Marvel fanboy wet dream, that's what Secret Invasion #2 is. From page one to page twenty-two, this issue feels every bit the seminal Marvel crossover it's been hailed as, with the crazy cranked up to 10. Many will inevitably feel that it pales in comparison to the issue #1, and that's probably true. But it's still definitely worth your time.
I'm almost tempted to call issue #2 filler, but it's really so well done that I'm willing to ignore that designation. Essentially what we've got here is a large-scale fight between the Avengers -- er, Avengerses -- and the pod people, with intermittent cuts to show characters saying variations of "OMG WTF." What makes the whole thing great is what I love about the basic idea of SI itself, that yes, there are Skrulls on the "good guys" team and (probably) bona fide humans on the "bad guys" team. More than any SI-related book yet, this issue really drives home the "Who Do You Trust?" tagline -- most notably in a very solid Hawkeye sequence that could very well be the high point of the issue.
Once again, enough cannot be said of Leinel Yu's art. After last issue, I knew his work on this event was going to be better than average, but this installment is in another league compared to his recent work. He's helped immensely by Laura Martin's vivid color work, allowing every panel to pop. Yu's clarity issues have practically vanished, which is quite the feat considering the subject matter. And most of his character models look beautiful as well, with only a couple glitches to speak of (see: Hawkeye's face).
There are absolutely some trouble areas in the issue that keep it from being quite as fun as the one that came before, however. On a minor note, Secret Invasion #2 is the latest in a long string of tie-ins to an unannounced Marvel event years in the making called Sentry Is The Worst Character Ever Made. It's almost laughable. Why such a fundamentally flawed concept is a consistently prominent figure in the Marvel Universe baffles me. I actively hope he's a Skrull. In a broader sense, despite its fanfic wackiness, this issue feels a bit like decompression. Yes, I realize there are eight issues to the event and using just one to have them play rock'em sock'em isn't going to really hurt anybody, or the story at large. But I can't help feeling that the Avengers books from the past two weeks had more to do with the event itself than this one. It's a little worrying in the short term, but in the grand scheme I'm not sure it's such a big deal if the series is paced well enough. Time shall tell.
Still, all told, Secret Invasion is getting one crucial thing right: it's fun. To be honest, that goes a long way these days. And, tellingly, my enthusiasm for all things SI has not been squelched in any way.
Review Score: 7.5 Good
!!!