This week (ok, so the article is late - blame real life) the Secret Invasion continues in Secret Invasion #2, then crosses over into Mighty Avengers #13, which is still filling in the blanks from the end of the "Secret War" miniseries up to the present day Skrull invasion. Nick Fury knows the invasion is coming and is slowly putting together his plans to avert it, which involves the return of Daisy Johnson, super-powered ex-agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and part of the team that toppled the Latverian government in the pages of Secret War.
What can I say? I'm all for the return of any character that was based on Angelina Jolie in Hackers. Rrrrowr.
Mighty Avengers #13
 As mentioned above, Nick Fury tracks down the 'Acid Burn' lookalike and offers her the job of putting together a brand new team of superheroes... or rather, the offspring of superheroes. You see, Nick Fury originally tracked down Daisy because she was in a "caterpillar" file - a list of people with super-powered heritage that may or may not develop powers. With the Skrulls already infiltrating every superteam, the only people Nick can trust are these "caterpillars", since the Skrulls wouldn't have information on them yet. "If you want to make sure you don't get a rotten apple, you don't pick one off the ground - you pick one off the tree" he tells Daisy Johnson, aka Quake.
Damn I missed Nick Fury. He's like James Bond - nobody does it better.
Daisy, the illegitimate daughter of the villain Mr. Hyde takes the job (as well as insults Nick Fury's disguise) and starts her search. From all over the globe, she tracks down superpowered people from all walks of life. Phobos, the God of Fear - the small son of Ares who is unaware of his godlike powers. YoYo Rodriguez, the super-fast daughter of the supervillain known as the Griffin. J.T., grandson of the original Ghost Rider, the son of Doctor Druid (his name and powers aren't revealed in the issue), and a man named Jerry Sledge who was arrested for hitting a cop (his powers also aren't revealed in this issue). Nick puts them together and tells them quite clearly that if they don't follow his orders, they'll die - but if they listen to him, every day they'll make the world a better place.
The issue ends with Fury asking them a simple question: "Any of you know what a Skrull is?"
Is this the new "Skrull Kill Krew" that Marvel has been hinting at? For those of you who don't know, SKK was a short-lived miniseries that revolved around a team of Skrull-hunting superheroes. It's been hinted at that the new "Krew" could have a part in the Secret Invasion, but no details have been revealed.
Secret Invasion #2
 The cliffhanger ending of the first issue continues here, with a group of present day superheroes facing down dopplegangers of the 70s era superheroes that have emerged from a crashed Skrull ship in the Savage Land. The showdown is tense, with each side confused about just what's happening. Finally, even though he wants to walk away, the present day Luke Cage gives in and attacks. All hell breaks loose.
If there's one thing that artist Leinel Yu does well (and there's much more than one) it's large battle scenes. Spidey versus Spidey, Luke Cage versus Luke Cage, Wolverine versus Cap... it's just huge splash pages of pure fanboy happiness. He even works in a Tyrannosaurus attack!
When the dust settles, some of the questions are answered. The Skrull Ship version of Spiderman (crushed by the aforementioned dino) is a Skrull, as well as the Skrull Ship version of Hawkeye. The real Clint Barton, who now goes by the superhero alias Ronin makes a startling discovery though, when he tests the Skrull Ship version of Mockingbird, his ex-lover long thought dead. She reveals personal and tragic information that only the real Mockingbird would know, proving that some of the heroes from the ship are indeed the real deal.
Now that we know for sure that not all the ship escapees are Skrulls, who's real and who's not? More importantly, how many Captain America's are we going to have running around? It's like Reign of the Supermen over at Marvel lately - we have Bucky Barnes as the new Cap, a doppleganger with amnesia that was resurrected (or created) in the Red Skull's laboratories, and now this new Skrull Ship version of Cap - who even has Ronin (who served with Cap for years as an Avenger) contemplating his authenticity.
Is the real Captain America running around, or is this all just a marketing ploy by Marvel to keep us picking up comics? I guess we'll find out eventually. But what's even cooler is that while all of this is going on, Miss Marvel takes Tony Stark (still incapacitated by the Skrull virus in his computer systems) to a destroyed base in the Savage Land where he starts to rebuild his armor from scrap. "I built my first armor from a lot less than this" he tells Miss Marvel as he scrounges through computers and circuit boards. Are we going to see a bodged-together Iron Man suit? Awesome.
Meanwhile back in New York, the Skrull Invasion officially begins as the first superpowered troops land, and judging by their looks, our heroes in for the fight of their lives.
Two Skrulls are revealed in Secret Invasion #2, which brings our tally to:
- Elektra - revealed in New Avengers #31
- Black Bolt - revealed in New Avengers: Illuminati #5
- The Revolutionary - revealed in Avengers: The Initiative
Annual #1 - Cobalt Man - revealed in Captain Marvel #3
- Valentina Allegra de Fontaine - revealed in Secret Invasion Prologue
- Dum Dum Dugan - revealed in Secret Invasion Prologue
- Edwin Jarvis - revealed in Secret Invasion #1
- Henry Pym - revealed in Secret Invasion #1
- Captain Marvel - revealed in Captain Marvel #5
- Cyclone- revealed (then killed) in Captain Marvel #4
- Crusader - revealed in Avengers the Initiative #12
- Spider Woman (unverified) - revealed in New Avengers #40
- Skrull Ship Spiderman - revealed in Secret Invasion #2
- Skrull Ship Hawkeye - revealed in Secret Invasion #2
Who do you think the next Skrull will be? Post a comment below and let me know!
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