Comic book review (8 part series)
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Leinil Francis Yu
Release date Issue 4 due July 2008

An epic eight-part conspiracy saga featuring virtually every superhero who has ever pulled on a pair of shamefully-coloured tights…

The House of Ideas has brought us what has to be the biggest comics event of the summer. The premise is simple: alien Skrulls have been posing as heroes for years. When an unusually-chinned Elektra turns up dead and rather green, big guys like Iron Man poop themselves. The big question is: who can you trust?

Although it might sound like it, this is no on-the-page Battlestar Galactica rip-off. Bendis goes further, implying that the roots of the secret Skrull invasion has been developing slowly for years - as far back as his 2004 Secret War mini-series, which saw the last appearance of S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury. While the series is only up to issue #3 at the time of writing, there have already been some shocking reveals and character returns. It’s a series that promises to reward the long-term reader and set the status quo for Marvel for years to come.

This in itself could put off the casual reader, yet it’s surprisingly easy to jump into Secret Invasion and enjoy it as a standalone story in its own right. Small vignettes from across the globe set up the action and characters nicely in the first issue, including the return of 80s-fashioned Wolverine, Spidey and Luke Cage, and there are enough interesting developments to keep you wanting more. Huge credit must go to artist Leinil Francis Yu, who makes drawing a Skrull invasion fleet on a double-page spread look easy.

Bendis is a consistently great writer on all the superhero titles he works on, and this is no different. You can be assured that if you pick up Secret Invasion, you’re going to have fun reading it. JP Rutter

VERDICT: 9/10
Tightly plotted, utterly thrilling storytelling.