New posts on Saturday are unlikely. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday should see this event get caught up in time for next week’s new entries with Final Crisis #5, Secret Invasion: Dark Reign and Avengers: The Initiative #19. I’m also behind on a Buffy Season Eight review.
General Information
Title: Secret Invasion: X-Men #1-4
Author: Mike Carey
Illustrator(s): Cary Nord (artist on 1, 2, 4) and Claudio Sepulvedo (artist on 3 and 4). Colours by Dave McCaig.
Cover Date: October 2008 – January 2009
Cover Price: All issues $2.99 US. Canadian cover prices for issues 1-4 are $3.05, $3.05, $3.50 and unlisted respectively.
Detailed coverage of all applicable issues of all Secret Invasion related titles can be found at this address.
Premise
The Skrull invasion includes San Fransisco. It seems the Skrulls have only been concerned with their own manifest destiny, though, as they were unaware that the X-Men now call San Fransisco home (along with the majority of the world’s mutant population.)
High Point
Skrull Commander: I congratulate you on the guerrilla war you waged. You held an overwhelmingly superior force off for far longer than should have been possible. We meet as brothers and equals.
Cyclops: We do? Funny, I do have a brother who’s a rabid, murderous psychopath. But somehow I still feel insulted by that.
Low Point
The art is not a good fit for this story. The style is very ethereal, and would work well for romance or non-violent high fantasy, where you want that muted look. On an action piece where characters consider things like genocide, it just doesn’t fit.
The Scores
This doesn’t start to seem original until we reach Cyclops’ actions in the fourth issue. Until then, it’s a knockdown fight with the potential for a traitor among the group. I can’t imagine Cyclops considering what he considererd before Whedon’s run on “Astonishing X-Men” gave him back the edge he had for a while in the 1990s. It really suits him. I give it 4 out of 6.
The artwork, as mentioned above, would be a good fit for an utterly different type of story. The pastel wash, with lines inked in grey if they’ve been inked at all, aren’t a good fit for something this combat heavy. It also tends to sully and blend the features, which isn’t the best plan with a cast this large that needs to be distinguished. I’ve enjoyed work by Nord and McCaig on other titles, but combined with this inking and this colorist, it just doesn’t work for me. I give it 2 out of 6.
The story serves its purpose, keeping track of the characters (in the interiors; Wolverine only appears on the cover to issue four, since he’s busy with the Avengers in New York and the Savage Land through all of this.) It also serves to show the new X-Men status quo. To that end, it feels like a slightly more warranted crossover than the Spider-Man crossover. At least this one made a definite impact on this corner of the invasion, and everything from the last page of issue 3 on works well on its own. I give it 5 out of 6.
The characterization of Cyclops, Emma, Beast and Nightcrawler is well done. Everyone else gets only cursory attention, which isn’t surprising given the size of the cast. I give it 4 out of 6.
The emotional response is much stronger in the last issue than in the first three. That’s where it breaks away from the mundane to the point that the story can overcome the art style. I give it 4 out of 6.
The flow is smooth, as with most of the event, since there’s not a lot of room for time cutting. I give it 6 out of 6.
Overall, the conclusion is great for Cyclops fans, but I don’t recommend it to others unless they can see the story behind the art style. I give it 4 out of 6.
In total, Secret Invasion: X-Men receives 29 out of 42.
Secret Invasion Review Checklists
Background reviews:
- First appearance of Skrulls (Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #2)
- Creation of the Super-Skrull (Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #18)
- Kree Skrull War (Avengers Vol. 1 #93-97)
- Annihilation (complete event)
- Skrull Infiltration revealed (New Avengers #26-32)
Infiltration reviews:
- Avengers: The Initiative Annual #1
- Captain Marvel #1-5
- Mighty Avengers #7
- Ms. Marvel #25-27
- New Avengers: Illuminati #1-5
- New Avengers #38-39
Main Event reviews (including date the last issue should be available):
- Secret Invasion #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, full series: December 17 (once all tie-ins complete)
- Avengers: The Intiative #14-19: December 10
- Black Panther #39-41
- Captain Britain and MI 13 #1, #2, #3, and #4.
- Deadpool #1-3
- Guardians of the Galaxy #4-6
- Incredible Hercules #117, #118-120
- Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. / War Machine: Weapon of S.H.I.E.L.D. #33-35
- Mighty Avengers #12, #13, #14, #15, #16, 17-20: December 17
- Ms. Marvel #28-30
- New Avengers #40, #41, #42-47: ready for review
- New Warriors #14-15
- Nova #16-18
- Punisher: War Journal #24-25
- Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #1-3
- Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1, #2, and #3.
- Secret Invasion: Frontline #1-5: ready for review
- Secret Invasion: Home Invasion: ready for review
- Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1-4
- Secret Invasion: Runaways / Young Avengers #1-3
- Secret Invasion: Thor #1-3
- Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust?
- Secret Invasion: X-Men #1-4
- Thunderbolts #122-125
- X-Factor #33-34, She-Hulk #31-33
Dark Reign reviews:
- Agents of Atlas #1+
- Avengers: The Iniative #20-22+
- Black Panther #1+
- Dark Reign: New Nation: December 17
- Deadpool #6-7+
- Invincible Iron Man #8-10+
- Mighty Avengers #20-22+
- Ms. Marvel #34-36+
- New Avengers #48-50+
- Punisher #1-2+
- Secret Invasion: Dark Reign: December 10
- Secret Invasion: Requiem #1: December 24
- Secret Warriors #1+
- Thunderbolts #126-129+
- Uncanny X-Men Annual #2: January 21
- War Machine #1-3+
- Wolverine Origins #33+