Post by goldenfist on Jul 11, 2008 8:03:52 GMT -5
Ign.com reviews Secret Invasion #4.
There's been a clear running theme throughout all our Secret Invasion-related reviews lately. The core series is decent for what it offers, namely, a lot of flashy action. The real story, however, can be found in the Avengers books. It's enough to make one wonder if Secret Invasions needs to exist as a separate entity in the first place. Luckily, Brian Michael Bendis goes a long way to justifying the main book in issue #4. This month offers a great deal of what past months were lacking - interesting new developments, a wide variety of characters, and a look at the greater scope of the invasion. Best issue so far? You betcha.
What I most appreciated about issue #4 is the fact that Bendis focuses on several characters who have been left in the dust so far. Agent Brand has been floating in space far longer than her 15-minute air supply should allow. Finally she's given the chance to do something. Bendis also strikes a better balance with the Savage Land characters. Rather than devoting two-thirds of this issue to that ongoing fight, he only shows us as much as he needs to before shifting to the war in New York and elsewhere. Oddly enough, the only character who feels left out is Nick Fury. Despite his return last issue and prominence on the cover, Fury only appears sporadically and has very few lines. In a way Ben dis almost takes a bird's eye approach to the story. We see the war raging all over Earth, yet the early pages are narrated from the Skrull Queen's point of view. This would have worked better if I felt like Bendis had a firmer grasp of Skrulls dialogue. It's struck me as odd how laid back and "human" his Skrull characters sound at times, and it's not something I'm entirely comfortable explaining away by assuming they've spent too long living as Earthlings.
A surprising number of new characters join the fray this month. That's both a good and bad thing. It's interesting to see a certain villain's reaction to the invasion, yet I have to wonder if they'll end up serving the story at all. They could just as easily complicate matters unnecessarily. The ending pages also foretell events to come. In this instance I have no complaints. Bendis is setting up for a huge payoff in a couple months, and I'm really excited.
Unsurprisingly, I have no complaints about Leinil Yu's art. Even in its lowest moments Yu has carried this series on the strength of his pencils. They only seem to improve further as Bendis lets him tackle war torn city streets, dense jungles, and alien warships all in the span of a few pages. Thanks in large part to Laura Martin's colors, this continues to be one of Marvel's best-looking series. And with a healthy boost to the script, it's quickly becoming one of Marvel's better-written series to boot. I can only hope Bendis is building to as climax a climax as it appears.
Review Score: 8.6 Great
There's been a clear running theme throughout all our Secret Invasion-related reviews lately. The core series is decent for what it offers, namely, a lot of flashy action. The real story, however, can be found in the Avengers books. It's enough to make one wonder if Secret Invasions needs to exist as a separate entity in the first place. Luckily, Brian Michael Bendis goes a long way to justifying the main book in issue #4. This month offers a great deal of what past months were lacking - interesting new developments, a wide variety of characters, and a look at the greater scope of the invasion. Best issue so far? You betcha.
What I most appreciated about issue #4 is the fact that Bendis focuses on several characters who have been left in the dust so far. Agent Brand has been floating in space far longer than her 15-minute air supply should allow. Finally she's given the chance to do something. Bendis also strikes a better balance with the Savage Land characters. Rather than devoting two-thirds of this issue to that ongoing fight, he only shows us as much as he needs to before shifting to the war in New York and elsewhere. Oddly enough, the only character who feels left out is Nick Fury. Despite his return last issue and prominence on the cover, Fury only appears sporadically and has very few lines. In a way Ben dis almost takes a bird's eye approach to the story. We see the war raging all over Earth, yet the early pages are narrated from the Skrull Queen's point of view. This would have worked better if I felt like Bendis had a firmer grasp of Skrulls dialogue. It's struck me as odd how laid back and "human" his Skrull characters sound at times, and it's not something I'm entirely comfortable explaining away by assuming they've spent too long living as Earthlings.
A surprising number of new characters join the fray this month. That's both a good and bad thing. It's interesting to see a certain villain's reaction to the invasion, yet I have to wonder if they'll end up serving the story at all. They could just as easily complicate matters unnecessarily. The ending pages also foretell events to come. In this instance I have no complaints. Bendis is setting up for a huge payoff in a couple months, and I'm really excited.
Unsurprisingly, I have no complaints about Leinil Yu's art. Even in its lowest moments Yu has carried this series on the strength of his pencils. They only seem to improve further as Bendis lets him tackle war torn city streets, dense jungles, and alien warships all in the span of a few pages. Thanks in large part to Laura Martin's colors, this continues to be one of Marvel's best-looking series. And with a healthy boost to the script, it's quickly becoming one of Marvel's better-written series to boot. I can only hope Bendis is building to as climax a climax as it appears.
Review Score: 8.6 Great