Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1

Dark Reign: One-Shots

by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev (Illustrator), Dean White (Illustrator)

A secret meeting is called in a sub-basement of Avengers Tower. The attendants: Dr. Doom, Loki, The Hood, Namor, Norman Osborn, and Emma Frost. What are they up to?

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels Comics

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 10, 2008

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I docked a star because Namor looks like a receding hairline buffoon.

The Cabal of Osborn, The Hood, Emma Frost, Loki, Doom, Namor...

Norman is out of,his league, and Doom knows it.

Sets up the Dark Reign...

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Cool little set up book here. The art was OK but they way the had Namor looking was ridiculous

[Colm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fucking typical tie-in nonsense. "To continue having The Fantastic Four make sense to you please read this comic by Brian Michael Bendis, because this is the only way anyone reads anything written by Brian Michael Bendis." Nobody reads his nonsense willingly.

As per usual I find myself reading about a secret meeting in a bloody basement between characters (It's always fucking Namor too...) who I have next to no back story on where they have a conversation about an event I'm not reading just so I can go back to what I am reading, but if I don't then Doom is just suddenly out of prison for no reason.

Having said that, as far as having read this comic goes, Doom is STILL out of prison for no fucking reason. Something, something, Tony Stark is bad now. Loki is a girl now. Norman Osbourne is now in charge and says Doom can go home. End of. Jesus wept.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story but the art is ugly.

[Tym · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art was heinous and it was basically a bunch of talking heads but not well written enough to pull it off, the story serves the purpose of establishing the new status quo of the Marvel Universe and very little else and good God both Namor and Hood looked like drunken overweight middle-aged men in multiple panels. It gets the second star for giving a lot of important information the only part that wasn't talking heads felt gratuitous