The New Avengers, Vol. 8: Secret Invasion, Book 1

The New Avengers (2004)

by Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Gaydos (Illustrator), David W. Mack (Illustrator)

Formed by Captain America following the collapse of the original team, the New Avengers, including Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Iron Man, must fight the mysterious forces at play around them.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

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

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a couple of great character building issues, we get to the main event, Secret Invasion. I actually like what Bendis does here. While Secret Invasion is going on, he turns this book into a little between the moments book. You're seeing previously unseen moments that show how this all came together and how since day one, Secret Invasion is what this comic has been leading up when all the prisoners on the Raft escaped. It's like the Keyser Söze reveal of comics. It's really cool and packed with top-notch artists.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good for filling in the Secret Invasion blanks. You get to see just how many different things the Skrulls were responsible for.

[˙⋆✮ Anny ✮⋆˙ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this at the same time of the main event. It did its job of filling in some of the blanks, but all in all it felt pretty disjointed, with every other issue focusing on another character, some even being flashbacks. It helped with understanding the main storyline better though so 3 stars it is.

[Kyle Berk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright this collection doesn’t just focus on one group it focuses on a couple different things. The New Avengers pre Savage Land zero. Spider-Woman being swapped out. And Spider-Man with Kazar and his small army. And I enjoyed reading all of it. This is the Secret Invasion tie in to read.

The art is consistently good and it’s all written by Bendis. Better than the mighty Avengers book and a hell of a good time.

4 stars.

[Javier X · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a great tie-in to the main event and I like that it connects back to the first issue of this run, it makes it feel like Bendis really had a plan for this characters.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is a real hodge-podge. That's in part due to Bendis' rather innovative use of his Avengers comics during Secret Invasion, but also due to the bad design of this particular volume.

The first two issue (#38-39) are actually pre Secret Invasion. So we get an issue about the relationship between Luke and Jessica and an issue about Echo's place in the New Avengers. They're both excellent character building issues, the best in this book ... but they should have been in the previous volume.

We also get two issues about the Skrull side of the Secret Invasion backstory (#40, 42) which are annoyingly separated by another issue and also the weakest in the volume. The story of the post-Illuminatus reaction on the Skrull world is the duller one, though it introduces the queen. The story of the queen's plans on Earth is better, in large part because it puts everything from "Breakout" to "House of M" in perspective (and with the secrets running through The New Avengers, things really needed to be put in perspective).

The final issue in this collection (#41) is a direct continuation of the fight in the Savage Land that begins in Secret Invasion #2. It's used mainly as an excuse to describe the backstory of what's going on in the Savage Land, nicely connecting to the Avengers' previous visits here, but the annoying part is that it ends with a cliffhanger for issue #43, which is not in this collection.

Overall, this volume makes a strong argument for the recently released Secret Invasion Omnibus (assuming that Marvel organized it well) — though the problem with the omnibus is that it doesn't bridge cleanly to any other set of New Avengers collections.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty cool volume and it is a tie in to the main event and we check back with where is everyone or rather you know what they doing.

Luke dealing with Jess after she registers and the drama there and that was exciting to read and you can feel the tension or the thing with Maya and how she fights a skrull and her chemistry with Hawkeye but before that maybe the return of Mockingbird and that was my favorite part. So much drama there and that means big things for them and these characters.

Plus finally we learn of how the Skrull plan came about and the Queen Veranke of it all and how she invaded this world and her ulterior plans and its brilliant..the exposition that Bendis gives explaining it and it leads right into the heart of the event and shows you that its been a long time coming and I love it and finally we see the fallout of it all!

This was a great volume and sure could be considered wordy but is required exposition and you get so much of whats happening and it increases the reading experience so much ore and the constant art changes are annoying though.

[Holden Attradies · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know a lot of people were not fond of this and the next volume because of how it was disjointed one offs centering around Secret Invasion. But, I for one, was very fond of this. Secret Invasion was a massive story, and along with Civil War probably the best thing Marvel's done in the last decade. The characters in New Avengers were all so heavily tied into the Secret Invasion story line that I don't see how they could have continues a straight story during that event. With that all in mind it was nice to have the series be a place to expand out both the back story of the Skrull Invasion AND take time to concentrate on individual characters during this time. The addition of different artists for the different stories was also something I thought was a nice move, making each of the characters stories feel like it was more their own.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bendis does a good job at filling in some of the back story to Secret Invasion in both of the Avengers titles (New and Mighty). They're tie-ins to an event that actually help with the other all story, rather than tying in just for the sake of it. The Jim Cheung parts are my favourite, which include the back story to Spider-Woman/The Queen Skrull and what Nick Fury has been up to since the Secret War. Really worth reading if you're interested in the Secret Invasion story.

[Sylvester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, the tie in could have been done by combining this with the next volume as the story is pretty thin. It was good to see Jessica Jones and Luke Cage were still fighting, the rest of the plot were not that interesting which involves Spiderman trapped in a jungle with some savages. Lastly, it showed us how the Skrulls got their memories from their victims. It was pretty uneventful, I couldn't really focus my attention on reading this volume at all.

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 3 out of 5]

"And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earths Mightiest Heroes found themselves united against a common threat! On that day, the Avengers were born, to fight the foes no single super hero could withstand!"
Various styles and artists throughout this TPB and all pretty good... 2 1/2 🌟
This was great, each issue was more of a back story for certain characters involved, up until the invasion. Reading it chronologically there were a few spoilers but I can live with that...3 1/2 🌟
Relevance to SI, 4 🌟 So overall for this TPB 3 🌟

[Buse Arslan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gizli İstila severek okuduğum bir event'ti ama kafama oturmayan fazla soru işareti bırakmıştı. Civil War'ın New Avengers sayısını okumuş ve hiç beğenmemiş olduğumdan, bu sayıdan uzak durmaya çalışmış, 10. saydan devam etmek istemiştim ancak gelecek Captain Marvel filminde ana kötülerin Skrullların olacağını öğrenmem ve içimden 4. Faz'da kesinlikle Gizli İstila göreceğimden emin olduğumdan filme hazır olarak gitme isteği ve kafama oturmayan bir kaç soru işaretini doldurması umuduya bu sayıyı aldım. Veee vay canına diyorum çünkü Skrullar hala kafamda mal kaldılar ama bu içeri sızma olayının daha birinci sayıya daha dayanması beni şoke etti. İçeri sızma olayı Jessica dışında ne kadar iyi tartışılır * olaylara fazlasıya Fransız kalmaları, eski kostüm giymeleri vss.* Üç vermemin sebebi biraz olayların ne olduğunu zaten bilmem ve Skrullarda biraz daha zeka beklemem.

[Daniel Sepúlveda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Puntaje: 3.4 Estrellas.

La Secret Invasion no me está matando, me esperaba algo más genial.
En este volúmen vemos el inicio de los planes de los Skrull en la tierra salvaje y su infiltración en SHIELD.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew. Wow. Pain. Anguish. Still up in the air...last issue of this shows the Skrull Cap and what happened to him to convince him he was the real deal...

I'm plugging away issue by issue, and avengers series's are the important parts.

[Valerie Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oops had too many books out accidentally went out of order OH WELL everything's stressful always no matter what

[Lindsey.parks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's see where this goes.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reprints New Avengers (1) #38-42 (April 2008-August 2008). The Skrulls have infiltrated Earth and the first people that need to fall for their plans to work are the Avengers. With sides being picked, the New Avengers could be over as they are just starting…and Luke Cage could find the ultimate betrayal from Jessica. The New Avengers have had a Skrull in their midst from the beginning, and the traitor could be revealed!

Written by Brain Michael Bendis, New Avengers Volume 8: Secret Invasion—Book 1 is a Marvel Comics event series crossover with Secret Invasion. The collection features art by Michael Gaydos, Jim Cheung, David Mack, and Billy Tan. The issues in this collection were also collected in New Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis: The Complete Collection—Volume 4, Secret Invasion by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus, and Jessica Jones: Avenger among others.

While I didn’t love Civil War, Secret Invasion was really a breaking point for me. I didn’t enjoy the story choices, and I didn’t like how everything played out. New Avengers 8: Secret Invasion—Book 1 demonstrates the problems with comic books today and how loyalty from readers is punished.

First, the positives about the collection. I like the Echo issue because I thought Echo was an interesting and good choice for the Avengers though she was poorly used. With a character who has the skill needed to be a fighter but not the experience, the character had a lot of potential for interaction with other members of the team…but much of Bendis’ run eliminated the interaction that always made Avengers a fun book. In addition to the Echo issue, the Spider-Woman issue helps kind of outline the Skrulls’ hodgepodge plan, but it still is far from being great.

Spider-Woman is a good example of where Bendis’ writing went wrong. Spider-Woman was a great and interesting character that he warped and twisted into something bland and uninteresting…is she an Avenger, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, a HYDRA spy, or a Skrull? By the time Secret Invasion finally rolled around, I didn’t particularly care. He did the same thing to Jessica Jones who continues to be misused here. While I believe Jessica would have strong words about the Registration Act, I don’t think that she’d see it as the logical way to protect her child…It is played as melodrama in this volume, but it comes off as laughable.

The biggest problem I have with this collection and many of Bendis’ crossover events is that it isn’t reader friendly. If you were reading New Avengers at the time (which I was), it lost all sense of storytelling. It was one-offs that didn’t feel they connected to each other. The goal of “event series” like Secret Invasion is to draw in more readers and push them to new books. Likewise, you don’t want to alienate loyal readers by making the books they have hung on to less readable…they should be drawn to the big event series. It is a tricky slope, and Bendis never mastered it. He just continued to jack-up his series and others.

New Avengers 8: Secret Invasion—Book 1 is just the first book in a long string of Secret Invasion issues that really killed my interest in the Avengers. The comic has its moments but largely it is forgettable like the confusing and almost unreadable Secret Invasion. New Avengers 8: Secret Invasion—Book 1 is followed by New Avengers 9: Secret Invasion—Book 2.

[Trevor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Secret Invasion is divided into TPBs really strangely.

The first two issues in this volume precede Secret Invasion, continuing to deal with the distrust that the Avengers feel for one another as they learn of the Skrulls within their midst. The first one focuses on Luke Cage and Jessica Jones and the deterioration of their marriage. The second one is from the perspective of Echo. I'm glad she's getting more of a focus post-Civil War. She's an interesting character with a lot of potential.

The next three issues are Secret Invasion tie-ins. The first gives some background to the Skrulls, revealing who their leader is and some of their motivations (issues #1 and #5 from New Avengers: Illuminati are really important for this one).

Then we get some background on the S.H.I.E.L.D. vibranium mining outfit in the Savage Land from way back in The New Avengers, Vol. 1: Breakout. In my review of that volume I called the plot kind of hard to follow. That turns out to be intentional. All the dissatisfying answers you receive in that volume are lies and red herrings. P.S. Ka-Zar and Shanna are in this issue a lot and Bendis's take on them is really fun.

The final issue explains some much needed background for the New Avengers' secret Skrull, Spider-Woman. I'm impressed by how thoroughly Bendis has had this worked out since the beginning of his run, though I still have some questions I hope he'll answer, especially regarding House of M.

Overall, this is a solid volume consisting of what I would characterize as essential reading for the Secret Invasion event (and basically every previous New Avengers volume is essential reading for this).

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 8.
As the fugitive New Avengers begin to fragment, the Skrulls make an attempt to replace one of them and infiltrate the team. The story of Skrull Princess Veranke is then revealed, showing how she rose to power and, ultimately, infiltrated the Avengers as Spider-Woman.

The beginning of this book has a powerful moral dilemma, as Jessica Jones abandons the New Avengers and defects to Tony Stark's team in order to protect her child. This leads to a rift between her and husband Luke Cage, who still holds to the principles that forced the New Avengers to become fugitives in the first place. There is some genuine moral grey areas to be explored here, with both characters having valid points and I enjoyed that there wasn't a clear right or wrong for them, with their love for each other clashing with their choices in a really impactful way.

The latter half of the book, flashing back to before the Skrulls began their secret invasion and working through the events which led up to it with the secrets of Jessica Drew's true identity revealed, made for an interesting bit of background info for the Secret Invasion crossover event. Whilst it's not necessarily the most engaging plot, I did enjoy seeing earlier events, such as the founding of the New Avengers, recontextualised with the information that the Skrulls are secretly at work behind the scenes.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Mickey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The filler books on these events are always hit and miss. This one is particularly disjointed as it tries to tie together 3 different ideas: following the New Avengers themselves as they deal with the fallout of finding Skrull Elektra, adding context to the current Skrull invasion, and then doing some Savage Land stuff with Ka-Zar (context from earlier New Avengers stories).

Overall, the two lead-in issues (which focus on the actual team) are really great. Issue 38, which focuses on the fracturing of Jessica and Luke's relationship under the mounting pressures of a changing and dangerous world, is particularly excellent and possible my favorite issue of the entire run. 39, which focuses on Echo, is also really solid.

The others, which widen the scope away from the team, get kinda boring and same-y for me. There's a little bit of fun with explaining how long the Skrulls (particularly the one posing as Spider-woman) have been around and how they were involved with previous major events... but it's mostly just a lot of repeated beats from the main arc that they don't really put that much of a different spin on.

Anyway, reading the second SA book of this title might change my tune, but it seems like just a lot of fandom wiki page filler at this point rather than actual story content (as happens a LOT with these event side books).

[Alicia Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciated this volume, mainly because I think it helps fill in some of the gaps from the main Secret Invasion book. We see just how long the Skrulls have been planning this and all of the ways that they've been playing puppet master to our world. I found it fascinating, though there are still several questions that haven't been answered.

This collection really works best as a character sketch as we see snippets from different characters in each issue. I particularly liked the different digs that the comics made about the verse, including a lot of confusion about the Avengers vs. the New Avengers. I liked the Skrull perspective as well. Very interesting.

For: fans of superheroes/comics; readers wanting a comic with a focus on characters; readers looking for a comic with religious extremist and colonialist commentary.

Possible red flags: manipulation; characters in peril; violence; blood; death; language; conspiracies; imprisonment and experimentation; distrust and paranoia; war imagery; invasion/colonialism; religious extremism; impersonation; sex and sexual situations; the separation of parent and child--domestic issues.

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading New Avengers for some reason and got up to the Secret Invasion storyline and said, “Hey, I have the Mavel Unlimited app, why don’t I just read the entire Secret Invasion storyline? I’d be really interested because I know that the MCU is going to come out with a movie pretty soon.” Great idea, right?

Ugh, that thing is 99 issues long and just starts to d r a g in the middle as Marvel tried to cash in by incorporating as many titles as possible. But I was committed, and I read every single issue. Was it worth it? Absolutely not. Am I glad I read it? I’m not sad, but I wish that Marvel had done a better job writing with concise storytelling. Or that I had not made the decision to read the whole blamed thing.

But, you know, in for a penny, and for a pound. And it’s red and I will never have to read it again and I can enjoy the movie when it comes out. So I’m just going to copy and paste this review in every single trade paperback that contains the secret invasion, storyline and call it a day.

if anyone reads this review, I recommend you just read the essential story itself without all of the side issues.

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collecting issues 38 to 42 of the New Avengers element of the much (much) wider Secret Invasion event, this is all very, very Bendis. It's heavy on character development, major plot developments and of course, lots and lots of development. Over these five issues, we get Luke Cage and Jessica Jones' marital problems, Echo struggling to find her place as an Avenger and stuff in the Savage Land involving dinosaurs and Skrulls masquerading as superheroes (which goes on a LOT in this event). Easily the most interesting issue is #40, digging into the Skrulls' motivations (based on a religious revival and historical grievances with the Fantastic Four and the Illuminati) and the technology they use to steal their targets' memories. That issue is one of the very best of the first few months of the whole Secret Invasion event.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bendis, Bendis, Bendis... The man is not paid by the word, that's for sure. I flew through this hardcover in about 40 minutes. That's terrible! Issue 38 is nothing more than padding, with the whole of the issue comprising of a conversation between Luke Cage/ Power Man and Jessica Jones, and the team moving into a new apartment headquarters. I wish I were kidding, but that is really all that happened for 22 pages! Couple that with Michale Gaydos' laughably pitiful artwork, and you have Grade A crap. Issue 39 seems to be a 45 RPM single played at half speed to take up a full issue. 38 and 39 combined are almost one issue's worth of story. The rest of the issues move along at a brisk clip but are at least entertaining. Brian Michael Bendis has some interesting ideas but really needs to pick up the pace in this day and age of $3.99 floppies.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

A messy introduction to the Secret Invasion storyline.

The volume begins with two stellar issues. The first, revolving around Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. Bendis started their relationship during his founding run on Alias (AKA Jessica Jones) which inspired much of the Netflix Marvel Tv Universe., and he takes it to a spectacularly dramatic height here, as Jessica tries to convince Luke to abandon the New Avengers for the proper Mighty Avengers, using their baby as a bargaining chip. It's really well done. 5/5*

The second issue focuses on Wolverine and Maya Lopez as we discover yet another superhero (not either of them) is a Skrull, and, yes, they've been amanipulating things since before Civil War. This is Bendis at his best level of intrigue. 5/5*

Issue #40 is where it starts to get dicey. We see the lead up to the conflict through the eyes of the Skrulls. It's science vs prophecy as a segment of the Skrull population believes their home planet is destined to be destroyed, and that Earth is their next home planet. And, lo, their homeworld is destroyed, so ..... 3/5*. The best part of this book is the last page reveal of another skrull's identity.

Issue #41 is a mess. Now we're in the Savage Land. But it's before some things, and after others. And there are Skrulls there, and Avengers, and Captain Am...isn't he dead?..This is a terribly mangled issue of the series. Even long-time comic fans will find it difficult to follow. 2/5*

#42 doesn't get much better as we see the lead up to The Secret Invasion through the character revealed to be a Skrull at the end of issue #40. It's bumpy. It does tell an interesting story, but it's neither paced well nor clear what happens at the end. I *think* it infers the Skrulls were really the ones behind M-Day, and not The Scarlet Witch? If so, that definitely got retconned. 3.5*

It's also worth mentioning that the art in this entire volume is superb. From Gaydos revisiting his work on Alias, Mack revisiting his work on Daredevil, and Cheung and Tan just killing it because they can. The art is 4-5* all the way through.

Definitely worth reading before the TV version airs, even if it's a bit choppy.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up reading this after the actual Secret Invasion event. It is interesting to read this after that to get all the back story of the Skrulls and the Skrull Queen leading up to Secret Invasion. I might actually prefer it that way since it fills in all the gaps and explains everything that wasn't explained before and I really like how it all comes together.

I will say that it is unfortunate for the Secret Invasion event to say that I already enjoy this more since the ending to Secret Invasion was lackluster. Maybe the next volume of New Avengers will help redeem it, but it will be hard to do that.

[Sr. Lado Brillante · Rating 4 out of 5]

Secret Invasion es una de las historias más flojas que Bendis hizo en Marvel, no es necesariamente mala, pero tenía tanto con que jugar que no aprovecho el momento.
A pesar de eso, sus tie ins (que aplican lo mismo para New Avengers y Mighty Avengers) y expanden y dan profundidad a esta invasión y desde cuando comenzo a suceder.
Hay dos números que Jim Cheung dibuja sobre el imperio Skrull y son lo mejor de este volumen.

[Terry Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bendis always does an absolutely stellar job of using major titles to spotlight background stories of big events, and he shines here again. By transforming the New Avengers into an appendix of sorts, we got phenomenal side stories to the main invasion, and background that only makes the main title that much more thrilling. I loved the issues, and was smiling along with the story. Fun, fast-paced and a great addition to the Secret Invasion saga.

[Jimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Skrulls are here and Kazar and Spider-man fight. Who is a skrull and who isn't isn't clear and even some of the skrulls don't know they are skrulls.

See what religious fervor will get you? Prophecy states that the Skrulls will have the Blue Planet -- earth (although for all we know it could have been Alpha Centarie , not earth, but that's the story and Bendis sticks to it.

[Ryan McNie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This entry does exactly what I hoped it would be and more. It fills in questions raised by Secret Invasion, provides more context to event that have transpired throughout this New Avengers run and even changes your perspective of the whole thing.

Throw in some more intimate character led issues featuring Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Echo and you've got a brilliant set of issues.