Re: Secret Invasion Discussion (Spoilers)
Who do you trust? 'Secret Invasion' asks it again
Submitted by SHNS on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 12:25. books By ANDREW A. SMITH, Scripps Howard News Service
"Who do you trust?"
That's the tagline for "Secret Invasion," the latest mega-crossover story at Marvel Comics. It officially cranks up in April, but it's already under way, and it got its initial start in (believe it or not) 1962.
Yep, the bad guys in "Secret Invasion" -- shapeshifting aliens from the Andromeda galaxy called the Skrulls -- first appeared 46 years ago in the second issue of "Fantastic Four." In line with pop-culture norms of the time, the Skrulls were little green men with pointy ears and corrugated chins (and, for some reason, a preference for purple clothes). And like the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," which had premiered six years earlier, the Skrulls could replace humans (by shapeshifting, not pods).
"I couldn't think of anything of anything bigger or more menacing or more dangerous or more difficult to defeat than people who could be anybody," said the legendary Stan Lee, co-creator of the FF, in a recent marvel.com podcast. "They were great villains. With guys like the Skrulls, you never know who to trust."
Which is a nice segue back to "Secret Invasion." Who can we trust? A few months ago the Avengers discovered that two secondary characters -- Elektra and Black Bolt -- had been replaced by Skrulls. Two other heroes, Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel, are under suspicion. Iron Man and allies have drawn the obvious, and correct, conclusion: Earth is being invaded, and anyone could be a Skrull agent. And if so, for how long? And where did the replaced people go?
In March, the "Infiltration" phase concludes in "Captain Marvel" No. 4, "Ms. Marvel" No. 25 and "New Avengers" No. 39. Then in April, "Secret Invasion" No. 1 (of 8) kicks open the door to Skrullian shenanigans in a variety of titles over the summer.
So how did the Skrulls go from little green men in 1962 to the villains in a mega-crossover in 2008? Apparently Marvel anticipated that question, and will try to answer it with "Secret Invasion Saga," a one-shot shipping March 4. This free 32-pager will hit the highlights of Skrullian history as it has been revealed in various comics over the decades.
But in case you miss it, here's a quick Skrull 101:
-- 1962: A Skrull scouting party mimics the Fantastic Four to discredit the team and hurt Earth morale. They are defeated, and Mr. Fantastic hypnotizes them into believing they are cows. Seriously!
-- 1963: The FF's powers are technologically re-created in a villain called Super-Skrull. The Skrulls retain this technology.
-- 1964-65: Skrulls murder the father of the Human Torch and the Invisible Girl. The team gets revenge on the Skrull who gave the order the next year.
-- 1969: Skrulls who have patterned their planet after 1930s Chicago - in what is later revealed as part of a Skrullian amusement park - capture The Thing and make him a gladiator (until he escapes).
-- 1971-72: The Skrulls go to war against their arch-rivals, the blue-skinned Kree. Earth and its superheroes are caught in the middle, but force a stalemate. Note: Those cows from 1962 make a comeback, with one of them impersonating a senator running for president. Any parallels to the current presidential race are purely coincidental.
-- 1975: It's revealed that the Skrulls are responsible for having technologically jump-started the Kree millions of years ago, creating their own bitter rivals. Oops!
-- 1983: Galactus eats the Skrull throneworld, and the Empire falls into civil war.
-- 1985: The Skrulls lose their shapeshifting abilities, but regain them four years later.
-- 1991: The X-Men discover "Warskrulls," who can technologically mimic Terran superhero powers, and a training facility to teach them how to infiltrate Earth super-teams.
-- 1991: The FF find out the Human Torch's wife, Alicia Masters, is a Skrull spy and had been since 1985.
-- 1993: Skrulls lose another homeworld, fragmenting the Empire again.
-- 1995: Remember those Skrull cows? Turns out everyone who drank their milk became Skrull sleeper agents. A few retain their mental independence, and kill all the rest in a bloody miniseries called "Skrull Kill Krew."
-- 2007: Most of the Skrull Empire is destroyed or conquered by an invasion from the Negative Zone, led by Annihilus ("Annihilation" Nos. 1-6, "Super-Skrull" Nos. 1-4, other titles).
So, after all that, who do we trust? Until "Secret Invasion" is over, nobody. Which ought to be good, clean, paranoid fun.
(Contact Andrew Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics(at)aol.com or visit
www.captaincomics.us.)
Link that the info came from:
https://www.scrippsnews.com/node/31009
