Astonishing X-Men #26 and Skrull Invasion 1-5

[selenak]

Yay for transatlantic friendship and providing of comics! (You know who you are.)

So, Warren Ellis so far delivers with commendable regularity. I'm not clear as to why Hank is on the cover of AXM #26 when he isn't in the actual story, but hey.



Fun trivia: Emma and Scott have invented the telepathic equivalent of the Universal Tranlator. As this spares us a) embarassing attempts to render accents phonetically or b) footnotes "In English", "In *insert local language*, I'm all for it. It also clears something up I've been wondering about: whether in the Marvelverse telepaths are able to read people thinking in another language or whether all thoughts are the same, so to speak.

Also amusing: Ellis continues to enjoy the Wolverine-Hisako relationship as much as Joss did, clearly, and has great fun with it. Now you can't go wrong with Logan and teenage girls, and I really love that Hisako isn't crushing on him but does the merciless teasing thing instead.

More seriously: likeadeuce, who hoped we'd get scenes with Storm and Scott as they have history, especially when it comes to leadership issues, should be pleased, as the two get the great character scene of the issue. Scott's attitude re: causing someone's death strikes just the right note of pragmatism without cynicism, let alone military gung-ho-ism, and is a logical consequence of everything that happened in recent years.

Sidenote: aw, Marvelverse, where someone is willing to do something about Mugabe. Why isn't Wakanda in the real world?

I also liked the use of Storm's slums-of-Cairo past when the X-men first arrive; things like this make it clear Ellis is really interested in the character and not just using her because after Kitty's, err, departure, the team needs another woman.

The new villain: so far is creepy and, as opposed to Pyro, definitely won't be slashed by fandom. Also, he's working for someone else/part of a greater collective, which isn't a surprise. What I'm interested in is whether they'll be new characters or old suspects from the Marvelverse. What they definitely can't be: Skrulls. Since this is the main plotline of this season's big crossover event.

Which brings me to the Skrull Invasion, aka the big Marvel event of the summer. Encouraged by rozk and likeadeuce, I checked it out (and was able to buy issues when in England), and now issue#5 is out, I might be able to come up with some impressions other than "better than World War Hulk".



Well, me, at any rate. After all, he seems to know I wanted more Agent Brand, and has included her in his big invasion event, which, considering her job is to prevent or fight these kind of things, makes perfect sense. Mike Carey also wrote her in the standalone issue. Both gentleman use her well, but I have to make one tinsy critical observation in the direction of Mike Carey: now Abigail Brand, despite being created by Joss "Daddy Issues" Whedon, made it through three arcs without Joss giving her same. Her short reference to her alien father in Joss' last issue doesn't sound as if she has them, either, especially as she uses Dad to convince Hank to give the relationship thing a shot. And what happens the very first time someone other than Joss writes her? We get a flashback to little Abigail cowering under a bed while her father does something that causes bloodshed on the carpet. I'm just saying.

But other than that: Brand loses the S.W.O.R.D. HQ and gets blown into space only to infiltrate the Skrull ship, uses her alien language skills to great effect, takes out the Skrull crew, saves Reed Richards, nearly gets choked by Reed Richards, and then makes Richards go to the Savage Land to pick up all those other stranded Marvelverse heroes instead of going to New York to angst about his family. I'm a happy fangirl, me.

(There was also a Skrull!Hank hanging around in the Savage Land but I knew right from the start he couldn't be the real thing, because that would have negated not just years but decades of Hank's character development. And he was skrulled back by Reed Richards' mad inventor skills before Brand could see him, so, no interaction. Which could have been interesting, but I don't expect Bendis to cater to my fannish sensibilities THAT much.)

Biggest ZOMG Skrull! revelation were Dum Dum Dugan and Jarvis. I feel for the Knaufs, as the Dugan thing negates the entire subplot of their Iron Man run where Dugan goes from disliking Tony as unworthy of Nick Fury's job to tentatively respecting him to staunchly supporting him as a friend. Complete with great angsting character scene when nobody but Dugan is actually present. (Alias season 3 watchers might be reminded of the EVIL!Lauren revelation that made nonsense of earlier episodes.) On the other hand, making Dugan a Skrull allows Bendis to do something for Maria Hill, who along with Tony Stark and Reed Richards is a contender for "Marvelverse character made most unpopular by Civil War", and as opposed to the guys she has neither a movie nor a decades old fanbase to help her counter that. Maria Hill gets a showdown with the Skrulls scene which is as cool as Brand's in its way, and it was fun to read.

Now, Jarvis: as the editor of the first Skrull Invasion said, what does that mean for Aunt May?!? Only half kidding. The May/Jarvis romance was dropped like a hot potato as soon as the Civil War storyline kicked in, and now of course after the big Spiderman ret-con it's questionable whether it ever happened to begin with. (Speaking of the Spider-man rectcon, you can tell Bendis is not a fan. He writes Peter Parker as he did before the retcon, so as far as this story is concerned, it might as well not have happened.) Still. Given the gigantic cast Bendis brings up for this extravaganza, he might as well give us a Skrull!Jarvis-May encounter.

More seriously, though, Jarvis the Skrull comes in handy to inflict a technovirus on Tony Stark, which leads to the great mindfuck scene in #3 where the Skrull Queen, masquerading as Jessica drew, tells Tony he's been a Skrull all along. This of course is what many deplorers of Civil War have been suggesting all along, so if you've read any Brian Bendis interviews in which there is quite a lot of Iron Man defending, you knew it wasn't true. (And it would have been bad storytelling: love it or hate it, all the Civil War decisions were big, big character stuff.) On the other hand, you can see why Tony wouldn't be able to reject the possibility all at once, especially when in the process of being torn inside out by a virus. All of which led to a fantastic scene in #4 in which Black Widow, Natasha Romanova, breaks Tony out of captivity and makes him get his act together (sort of, under current conditions) by sheer ruthless pragmatism. I loved it.

Cheap joke which I should have found groanworthy but at which I had to smile instead: when Norman Osborn talks to one of the Skrulls/superheroes and says "strange as it may sound, I know what it is like to have voices in my head and to wonder whether I'm pink or green...."

The Skrulls: are H.G. Wells' Martians in that they're very obviously meant to reflect humanity's (and for humanity, insert most often "Americans" in the Marvelverse) treatment of others in their "we're invading you for your own good, you can't get your act together anyway, you're killing each other and have no idea how to handle your resources, plus God is on our side, so we're taking up the Green Man's Burden" behaviour, and also echo all the pod movies ever made with the paranoia they invoke and on which they count. Now Paul Cornell's British Invasion tie-in had a sympathetic Skrull (working for humanity), who sadly ends up dead, but the main title has yet to display any inner Skrull disagreements. Perhaps I'm Battlestar Galactica influenced because I expect those to show up and actually be the thing that makes the invasion fail, as opposed to a grand military defeat, but then, the new BSG type Cylons and their religion obviously were a big influence on the current Skrull characterisation as well.

(If Bendis reveals May actually has a Head!Jarvis: you read it hear first.)
(Kidding.)
(Mostly.)

Comments

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

Aww. I didn't know the John Lennon skrull was dead, I'm so horribly disappointed.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

He gets a great British-style epitaph from the Captain Britain characters though. Paraphrased slightly since I don't have the comic with me:

CAPTAIN BRITAIN: How did he die?
PETE: Mocking them.
CB: Good.

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

Excellent. I'll probably pick it up later today.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Now I've spoiled you without intention! Sorry. The relevant pages are up at scans_daily...

[skywaterblue.livejournal.com]

I know! Oh, the irony. Well, I get paid today so I'll probably be picking it up soon, if not tomorrow. (The IDW Tony Lee/Pia Guerra Doctor Who mini starts this week too.)

[neotoma.livejournal.com]

The writing on Astonishing is pretty darn nifty, but if the art doesn't get more readable and less muddy, it's going to drive me nuts.

Good to know that someone is writing Agent Brand well. I really liked her as a foil for the Xmen in Astonishing, but I didn't have much confidence in a lot of the Marvel writers to handle her well.

I saw a scans_daily of the Skrull-Jarvis reveal to Maria Hill, and all I could see was that it looked like the Skrulls manuvered her into SHEILD command because she was manipulatable.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Re: Jarvis reveal - that was #4; in #5, Maria Hill countered with the cool scene I was talking about. Which I think was also put up at scans_daily. (A hint: LMD. Let's just say Jarvis was one very surprised Skrull at the end of that one.)

PS

[selenak.livejournal.com]

...which makes the three outstanding showdown sequences so far all female: Natasha Romanova versus the Skrull Queen, Abigail Brand versus A Ship Full Of Skrulls, and Maria Hill versus Jarvis And Skrull Posse. In two out of three cases, it wasn't just a showdown but also a successful rescue mission. I must say, I like this trend.

[samdonne.livejournal.com]

I feel for the Knaufs, as the Dugan thing negates the entire subplot of their Iron Man run where Dugan goes from disliking Tony as unworthy of Nick Fury's job to tentatively respecting him to staunchly supporting him as a friend.

Ah, damn. Another reason to avoid reading Tony outside of his own titles, as much as it can be managed. I'll be over there with IM:DoS, living in denial until (and after) they inevitably cancel and/or retcon it.

Thanks for saving me the trouble of tracking these issues down. (Though I'm going to try and find that Maria Hill panel at scans_daily. Go Maria.)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Well, Brubaker in Captain America writes an excellent Tony, and Brian Bendis, being the author of The Confession, is good with him, too. (If you can find it, check out the scene where Natasha snaps him out of the "am I a Skrull?" angst.) Also, his short appearances in The Eternals I liked - but then, those were written by the Knaufs.*g* All of which doesn't go to say that retconning Dugan as a Skrull isn't waste of a great suplot of IM: DoS. Unless, of course, Skrull!Dugan later has buried feelings, or something, but signs point to them doing that with someone else. (I.e. future loyalty conflicts because the pretend has become real on some level.)

[viciouswishes.livejournal.com]

Agent Brand is probably my favorite Joss-created character since Buffy. I was so excited to see her kicking ass, saving herself (and Reed) with both her brains and muscle.

Bendis is so not a fan of the Spider-Man retcon.

From Newsarama:

NRAMA: The Spider-Man marriage.

QUESADA: Oh - that. [laughs]

NRAMA: Let's hit everyone…

WHEDON: Spider-Man is married?

[...]

QUESADA: And of course, we're not saying that we're un-marrying them. Nobody here is saying that.

BENDIS: I was there when Joe was going nuts about what a big hit Big Love is for HBO, and that Peter's going to marry MJ, Black Cat, and Ms. Marvel, because she debuted pretty high.

[laughter]

QUESADA: It's what the kids like -- they're down with polygamy these days.

[...]

STRACZYNSKI: I should point out too that Joss has a definite vested interest in Spider-Man's personal life in that, during the retreat, I mentioned a plan that we had with respect to a certain old Spidey character, and he actually got up from his chair, crossed the room and embraced me, and called me a "brother." So there was that.

WHEDON: It's true. I also tried to spoon him…a little bit. But he's tall.

[...]

QUESADA: [...] Let me add that I also don't think that a story about a divorced, widowed, or parental Spidey are in the best interest of the character. Yet, I believe that there are stories that you can tell with a single Spider-Man that you can't go near with a married one.

BENDIS: Like Chlamydia.

QUESADA: What was that?

BENDIS: Spider-Man: Chlamydia.

WHEDON: Isn't that what we're doing after Civil War?

QUESADA: Yeah -- Spider-Man, Chlamydia. There's the relevancy we want with today's youth.

BENDIS: Hey, I'm just out here pitching.

[...]

BENDIS: Well, you're all missing the whole storyline where Peter begs MJ for a threesome for a year and a half. You can't do that story with a single Spider-Man. We haven't gotten to that yet…

[laughter]

QUESADA: That might be the watershed moment of this whole thing -- I take it all back -- there is one story that we can tell about the marriage that isn't half as much fun with a single Spider-Man.

LOEB: And then we can end it with MJ agreeing, as long as the third is Luke Cage.

QUESADA: Well, if Brian is writing it, it definitely would be Luke Cage.

BENDIS: WHAT? What are you insinuating sir?

LOEB: You love Luke Cage. You loooooove him. You may want Peter to love him too.

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

I don't think there's any way to wank the Dugan stuff. Basically, they hadn't decided he was a skrull until after that arc was undeway. It's lousy planning, but they were either going to have to Skrullify people who had had absolutely no character development for the last couple years, or end up undoing some stories.

I'm glad you're liking Ellis's 'Astonishing." The Storm-Cyclops interaction pleased me, most definitely.

spoilers for Loeb's "Hush"

[selenak.livejournal.com]

they were either going to have to Skrullify people who had had absolutely no character development for the last couple years, or end up undoing some stories.

I know, and I'm not saying Jarvis or Dugan are bad choices - they had to pick people whom not just the characters but we would care about, and hurt that they are skrulls.

IMO the big failing of Hush the Batman story, not the Joss masterpiece: it introduces a best childhood friend for Bruce nobody has ever heard about and depends on the "OMG betrayal" horrible realisation, but there is no way the readers can be invested in that relationship that has just been sprung on them. So if Bendis had just introduced someome people and retconned them as confidants and trusted subordinates/friends, it would have been worse, despite leaving Dugan and his bonding with Tony intact. Still. Selfishly I wish it had been - wait. How about Skrull! Mary Jane? (And of course no stupid retcon.) Skrull!MJ could have given Quesada his wish to undo the marriage without blaming Peter and provided character angst - because she was at his side through thick and thin during Civil War, why, does she feel something for him after all, etc., - while leaving the hope real!MJ is somewhere alive, waiting to be liberated by the next editor in chief.

Re: spoilers for Loeb's "Hush"

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

Hah, yes. I have a bit of a Hush review in the first part of this post (http://likeadeuce.livejournal.com/874428.html) -- I like Hush as a walk through the Batman universe, less so for the actual plot. I mean, it's definitely possible to create a character and bring them into a story in a way they have an impact (see Maya and Sal in Extremis), but if you're going to make the argument that this character whose never been seen before is OMGSOIMPORTANT -- that's a bit of a stretch.

And I like your MJ idea a lot better than what was actually done (with MJ, I mean; I think the Dugan and Jarvise stuff worked okay, considering).

Re: spoilers for Loeb's "Hush"

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I mean, it's definitely possible to create a character and bring them into a story in a way they have an impact (see Maya and Sal in Extremis), but if you're going to make the argument that this character whose never been seen before is OMGSOIMPORTANT -- that's a bit of a stretch.

Exactly. Maya and Sal in Extremis are actually a good counter example, of how to do this right - we get told they're old acquaintances of Tony's from years back, but not that they're the absolute key to his childhood/youth, and their past relationship with him isn't presented as so close you're wondering why we haven't seen them before. Your boy Henry Hellrung is another example of a successful retcon. Being Tony's sponsor in AA is a big thing, but it's not a position covered by someone else already, plus with Henry's acting career in Hollywood it makes sense he wasn't around in New York on a regular basis in previous years.

And I like your MJ idea a lot better than what was actually done (with MJ, I mean; I think the Dugan and Jarvise stuff worked okay, considering).

He, yes, and I agree the Dugan and Jarvis stuff worked, see above.

Re: spoilers for Loeb's "Hush"

[likeadeuce.livejournal.com]

You could even say Henry's a character who needed to exist, and just hadn't been created yet. Tony's sometimes been referenced as being in AA (he sponsors Carol Danvers), which means he *would* have a sponsor, but as far as I know, nobody tackled that before Fraction did.