|
|
Post by freedomfighter on Jan 5, 2009 23:21:12 GMT -5
So this phrase gets bandied about the Marvel U for, I dunno, the last year or so (give or take...) and I decided to google it cause I never understood exactly what it was all about.
Well even google only kinda helped. Something about an all-father- it's not very clear.
But here's my far greater problem with the situation. The saying was used to end a couple of chapters at least of what I purchased and the way it was used, it felt like there was some big reveal coming.
And all it appears is that it's kinda like Skrull trash talk when all is said and done.
I dunno. Feels a bit anticlimactic...
|
|
|
|
Post by Doctor Doom on Jan 6, 2009 12:13:22 GMT -5
As far as I know, "He Loves You" was just intended as the SKrulls' 'catchphrase', if you will, their religious chant. To use an analogy, it's the equivalent of "God Wills It" to the Crusaders, a rallying cry and a reminder of the power of their faith. There was no 'big reveal' except for people who didn't realise what it was, and then discovered that the Skrulls were referring to their God in Secret Invasion #7.
I think it was fairly succesful, as it went. Not fantastic or groundbreaking but it does sound like what could feasibly be a religious rallying chant, and it does have a somewhat creepy air at certain times- I'd point to the Hank Pym reveal at the end of SI 1 for instance. Usually if it's used in a dramatic context, it's because it's revealing that the person in question is a Skrull, or they think they've won or whatever.
On a somewhat related note, the cry was originally to be "As it is written!", which is the cry that appears in New Avengers #40 and Illuminati #5, but that was changed because it was too Judeo-Christian.
|
|
|
|
Post by freedomfighter on Jan 6, 2009 13:39:16 GMT -5
As far as I know, "He Loves You" was just intended as the SKrulls' 'catchphrase', if you will, their religious chant. To use an analogy, it's the equivalent of "God Wills It" to the Crusaders, a rallying cry and a reminder of the power of their faith. There was no 'big reveal' except for people who didn't realise what it was, and then discovered that the Skrulls were referring to their God in Secret Invasion #7. I think it was fairly succesful, as it went. Not fantastic or groundbreaking but it does sound like what could feasibly be a religious rallying chant, and it does have a somewhat creepy air at certain times- I'd point to the Hank Pym reveal at the end of SI 1 for instance. Usually if it's used in a dramatic context, it's because it's revealing that the person in question is a Skrull, or they think they've won or whatever. On a somewhat related note, the cry was originally to be "As it is written!", which is the cry that appears in New Avengers #40 and Illuminati #5, but that was changed because it was too Judeo-Christian. OK, but my problems stem from the fact that comics, unlike real holy wars, tend to have their deities popping in from time to time. So it was possible that some Skrull God was in fact directing their mission (not really so far fetched is it considering there were anywhere from three or more deities fighting for Earth), and that he in fact did preach some Universal love. There was also the possibility that there was a reveal coming. When you use pronouns its often to obfuscate identity. Admittedly using someone like Starfox would've sucked as a big reveal, but then the phrase "He loves you" would have had some context in the 616, know what I mean? A good reveal of a main baddie with roots in the Marvel Universe would've been more interesting. My complaint all along is that there wasn't a compelling bad guy or focused players to hang this on. I understand the invasion was the focus, but rudimentary storytelling for me includes characters that you can target, so the reader feels something. Almost all the Skrulls were uniformly blah, so the compelling aspects of the story were blah too. That coupled with the fact that it seems like "He" was rarely described in any fashion that the reader could understand, made for a disconnect for me. Oh well, that's the way it goes... |
|
|
|
Post by scottharris on Jan 6, 2009 14:42:34 GMT -5
On a somewhat related note, the cry was originally to be "As it is written!", which is the cry that appears in New Avengers #40 and Illuminati #5, but that was changed because it was too Judeo-Christian. This is just goofy. "He Loves You" strikes me as far more Judeo/Christian than "As it is written". It does sound better, however; "As it is written" is a pretty clunky catchphrase. If the Skrull god had turned out to be Jesus, now that would have been a big reveal. |
|
|
|
Post by spiderwasp on Jan 6, 2009 15:22:27 GMT -5
There was very little to be intrigued about with the whole SI storyline but the hinting that there was some purpose behind it all that would be revealed with the relevance of "He Loves You" was actually one of the more intriguing elements. Unfortunately, that panned out to be nothing but a catch phrase. It wasn't that it was necessarily bad that it was a catch phrase, just another let down that added to the whole blahness of the overall story.
|
|
|
|
Post by starfoxxx on Jan 6, 2009 16:13:08 GMT -5
Hopefully I won't have much more to comment on Secret Invasion (of my wallet), since it was so anti-climactic, lame, and left such a bad taste in my mouth....but now that I think about it, the whole "He Loves You" thing was pretty darn useless, as a catchphrase, plot device, whatever. I admit at first I was more intrigued by "He Loves You" than that creepy "Embrace Change" campaign with the kids, but the whole thing relied on catch phrases like "Who Do You Trust?" more than solid storytelling and art. The aftermath for me is I sure as heck know who I can't trust, Bendis and the Marvel editors!
And the thing that puzzles me the most is after reading Marvel comics for 25+ years, and lots and lots of Skrull stories, reprints, handbooks, etc. - I never remember the Skrulls ever saying "He Love You" or mentioning a Skrull-God.
And even if the Skrull-God was part of the big "Secret", it still wasn't explained adequately, for me.
BTW, thinking about all those great old Skrull stories, if you've never read Fantastic Four Annual #18, check it out, for a truly great Skrull story and superb art (not like the $32 I wasted on SI)
|
|
|
|
Post by woodside on Jan 6, 2009 22:42:27 GMT -5
The Skrull Gods showed up in Hercules.
|
|
Tone-Loc
Reservist Avenger
R.I.P. (... for now)
Posts: 200
|
Post by Tone-Loc on Jan 12, 2009 12:04:43 GMT -5
The Skrull Gods showed up in Hercules. True! The Incredible Hercules has been a solid book. I never miss it. I believe they called the war of the gods "Sacred Invasion," which I thought was a nice play on words. |
|
|
|
Post by Tana Nile on Jan 13, 2009 13:31:52 GMT -5
The whole religious element of the Skrull invasion felt underdeveloped to me, but then I only read the main series.
|
|
|
|
Post by Doctor Doom on Jan 13, 2009 18:36:54 GMT -5
And the thing that puzzles me the most is after reading Marvel comics for 25+ years, and lots and lots of Skrull stories, reprints, handbooks, etc. - I never remember the Skrulls ever saying "He Love You" or mentioning a Skrull-God. That one's actually simple- the 'Book of the Worlds' and whatnot with the Skrull God was a tiny crazy cult faction which only seized power and enforced their doctrine in later years. |
|
|
|
Post by woodside on Jan 20, 2009 4:12:55 GMT -5
I love you, too.
|
|
|
|
Post by woodside on Feb 8, 2009 22:10:51 GMT -5
If you were paying attention, you'd find it didn't come out of left field.
|
|
|
|
Post by spiderwasp on Feb 8, 2009 22:30:48 GMT -5
If you were paying attention, you'd find it didn't come out of left field. Ah, and there's part of the problem. It's like a full time job trying to follow this crap. You have to buy all the titles in case a hint is dropped somewhere and then when a big reveal of an important fact comes it may be in the third line of panel 5 on page 17 of one of the 76 books involved in the series. If you just buy a few issues or only follow a book or two, you are left feeling completely out of the loop. I feel like I did pay attention to the main SI book and the tie-ins that I bought (Which was a long way from all of them) and I'm still clueless as to the point of "He loves you." Granted, this came at reading each issue only once and with a month in between each one, but quite frankly, I just didn't care enough to reread them and try to figure it out. |
|
|
|
Post by betaraybill on Feb 13, 2009 23:49:43 GMT -5
If you were paying attention, you'd find it didn't come out of left field. You're probably right. My last run-in with the Skrulls was some time ago, before this religious wing rose to power. That being said, this secret infarction was orchestrated chronologically some time ago... certainly not by the Skrull empire itself though, correct? It was a radical wing that eventually seized power? Am I understanding it correctly? |
|
