The Mighty Avengers, Vol. 3: Secret Invasion, Book 1

The Mighty Avengers (2007)

by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev (Illustrator), Khoi Pham (Illustrator)

Where has Nick Fury been, and who are the new Howling Commandos? It's the debut of all-new characters and some surprising revelations about some classic ones as Nick starts to put his plan to stop the Invasion together. But will it be enough

Collecting: Mighty Avengers 12-15

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

112 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 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

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is less this…



…and mostly this.



Sadly, all superhero crossover events can’t just be about the punching and laser beams to the solar plexus, there has to be some sort of background story, le expounding and plot machinations and stuff. Here Brian Michael Bendis elucidates on some Secret Invasion intrigue:

Nick Fury (old, white, douche) is laying low after the big reveal on Secret War (“Sorry for brainwashing you into invading Latveria and all, Canucklehead and others, it was all for the common good, etc, etc, etc.).



Fury finds himself at a loss after a hooker is revealed to be a Skrull agent bent on killing him, so since he’s on the outs with SHIELD, he goes about recruiting his own Secret Warriors, with help from Daisy Johnson/Quake.



In the meantime, he tries to figure out who’s a Skrull and who isn’t as he takes a vow of celibacy from hookers, Skrull and non-Skrull for the duration.



How do you solve a problem like The Sentry?
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?

Such are the problems for the Skrulls. The Sentry is a wild card for the shape-shifters, because little is known about him and his power set.

What is known is that he’s a nutter (Hiya Void!!) and he’ll probably go off the deep end rather than be any kind of deterrent to the Skrull’s master plan.



Wait, come back, Bob, you loon! We just ordered cheeseburgers!

Lastly, when did Hank Pym get a Skrull makeover?

It started here…



…which led to this…



If you, Goodreader, are saying to yourself, “Didn’t Nick Fury almost make the same mistake in issue #12?” I’d say, “Yes” and the takeaway here would be keep your Pym Particles in your pants.

The consequences are:



And an evil secret moment between Skrull agents.



Conniving Bastards!!

Bottom Line: If you’re looking for super hero pugilism and such, skip it. If you’re looking for Secret Invasion answers, give it a read.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

"What? Are you ****ing kidding me?" - Maria Hill, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., echoing my own thoughts

The back cover blurb boldly guarantees that this volume's plot reaches "a fever pitch", but for me it was more conducive in nearly generating a migraine. Our title personnel receive a mere two (?!) pages in which they're depicted together at the same locale . . . and it appeared to be at a low-key dinner party. How . . . exciting? While team members Sentry and Spider-Woman each get a few forgettable solo scenes, the murky narrative otherwise focuses and thickens on an on-going Skrull invasion, as well as numerous other characters that were not even featured in the very enjoyable previous two volumes. (This IS called The Mighty Avengers, right?) The illustration style that was earlier colorful and fun takes a nosedive into dark and gritty territory. Let us now all recite that dependable repeated line from the original Star Wars trilogy - "I have a BAD feeling about this." ☹️

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm...I think I'm just not impressed with the art and how much they drag this story on. It's all overlap and things we already saw...

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first 2 parts of this volume are about Nick Fury and him forming what will eventually become the Secret Warriors. They're drawn by Alex Maleev and they're pretty great. It's the reason I'm giving this 4 stars and not 3, because the other two issues which make up this volume are a little weak, but they do add to the overall story.

It makes me wonder why Bendis and Maleev never did a Nick Fury mini and/or series. It would probably be fantastic.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this trade we get an update on Nick Fury, an introduction to The Secret Warriors, an explanation for how The Sentry was taken off the board, and a close look at how Hank Pym was turned. Each smaller story helps show just how large scale and organized the invasion is.

The art is solid but stylistically all over the place.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nick Fury is Brian Michael Bendis's best pet character. Fury's always been on the periphery of the Marvel universe--Bendis has done a great job reintegrating him over the past few years in a way that feels less forced than with, say, Spider-Woman or Luke Cage. Fury's the star of this assortment of Secret Invasion stories that you need to read if you want to understand the main storyline. Fury went away in Bendis'Secret War, but here he's planning his counterattack against the Skrulls. Bendis is really good at writing spy stories like these.
Also in this collection is a great Hank Pym (Yellowjacket, Ant-Man, Giant Man) story that gets picked up in the next collection. The weak link is a story about the Sentry, another one of Bendis' pet characters that hasn't made much sense as an Avenger.

[Trevor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume contains five tie-ins that flesh out the background of the Secret Invasion event. The first two focus on Nick Fury, who has been absent since Secret War, as he finds evidence of the Skrull invasion and forms the Secret Warriors to prepare for it. It was nice to see Daisy Johnson, who has been barely used since Secret War.

The third issue focuses on the Sentry and one of the Skrull moles within the Avengers, Jarvis. The last one focuses on Hank Pym, what he's been doing since Avengers: Disassembled and the events that led to him being replaced by a Skrull.

I enjoyed these volume but it doesn't feel as essential as The New Avengers, Vol. 8: Secret Invasion, Book 1, though that's true of Mighty Avengers in general.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This whole collection is basically supplementary stories to the Secret Invasion story. They’re actually pretty good standalone issues - but I’m just kinda over the whole Secret Invasion and ready to move on.

[Daniel Sepúlveda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puntaje: 3.6 Estrellas

Mi parte favorita fue sin duda Nick Fury reclutando jovenes meta humanos para formar un grupo que trabaje con el, en especial porque aparecen personajes de Marvel Agents of SHIELD.

Pero pues el resto del volumen estuvo muy normal. La verdad la Secret Invasion no me está encantando mucho que digamos.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually a pretty good volume!

It deals with the tie in to the main Secret invasion event and like focuses on Fury and what he has been upto gathering his own squad and dealing with the Skrulls. Then Daisy and gathering the Secret warriors and I love that aspect of it and its so well done, Bendis gets the flair of this team thing and then you have them going on missions. Plus the story with Sentry allowed him the chance to get him off the board and an interesting plot point with Hank Pym and that sets up a massive story point in the main series.

This volume was good focusing on multiple characters and where they are during the whole event and its awesome the way Bendis writes it. Plus the art for the most part was okayish and focusing on character gives them time for their own development and shows the insane plan of Skrulls and how long its been manifesting for. A must read along with the main event.

[Mela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good Secret Invasion tie in, fills in gaps nicely. There was nothing particularly AWESOME about this volume, but it was definitely a good read.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

In classic Marvel tie-in book fashion we get here some stories that are inconsistent and basically as fun to read as terms and conditions.

That is a big exaggeration, at least in reference to this book (plenty of tie-in books are pretty painful to get through though). While this book was inconsistent in both pacing, writing and art, this is still the best volume of Mighty Avengers so far. Which isn’t saying much.

The first chunk of story shows Nick Fury returning from being missing and putting together a team of child heroes. It’s not a team or group of characters I am particularly invested in but I found the story interesting enough. The art was beautiful too.

The second shows how the Skrulls deal with the giga-powerful superhero Sentry. Sentry is one of my favourite characters. I know he isn’t particularly popular, and those that do know him don’t really like him all that much, but I do! So I enjoyed his story quite a bit.

The last is of Janet and Hank Pym. This was my favourite of the anthology, probably because I enjoy both these characters a lot. It’s unfortunate they are written as having such a dysfunctional relationship, but at least it makes it interesting. This story also, I believe, sets up a major event from the main Secret Invasion book. It actually seems weird that it’s set up here and not in a more notable book, but hey, I guess that’s the point of tie-ins.

This is actually worth reading if you’re interested in Secret Invasion. If you like the Mighty Avengers (for some reason) this book has practically nothing to with the team itself, so give it a miss you were trying to actually follow the series.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The third volume of the series features three stories tying-in to the Secret Invasion crossover event.
Initially we see Nick Fury, gone to ground after the Secret War debacle, begin to put together a team to counter the Skrull infiltration of Earth. We then get a story focusing on how the Skrulls view the threat posed by the Sentry, and finally, we see the tale of how Hank Pym was targeted and replaced by the alien invaders.

This is the third Avengers Secret War tie-in I've read (after the books 1 and 2 of the New Avengers tie-in) and, honestly, I've grown a bit tired of the format.
Since the significant events of the crossover happen in the main miniseries, all these books get to do is have tangential stories. That wouldn't be such a problem if it weren't for the fact that it feels like a betrayal of the character arcs going on in this series itself. It is an ongoing flaw in Marvel's approach to crossovers that they completely interrupt the narrative of these series in order to shift focus to a separate miniseries.

Here, I quite enjoyed the story about Nick Fury's off-grid attempts at putting together Skrull countermeasures but the other two stories on offer felt pretty pointless and more or less seemed like the series spinning its wheels until the crossover is passed and it can get back to the ongoing story.

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

[Kris Shaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this in under 45 minutes. In the House of M mini-series a few years ago Bendis wrote “No more mutants”, and I am now going to write: No more Bendis. I will not buy anything that this man writes. Issue 12 was total waste of space about Nick Fury's whereabouts after the Secret War mini, and didn't really belong in this title. Issue 13 was basically a prequel to the upcoming Secret Warriors Secret Invasion spin-off series. My biggest issue with these heretofore unknown heroes is that much like Heroes, Lost, and any other series geared towards the non-comic book fan, they are wholly derivative. I can see the suits, sitting behind their desks, Blackberry in hand, trying to figure out a team of heroes that could be a major motion picture option: We need a guy who flies, one who runs really fast, one that can control the weather and/or elements, etc. These heroes have already been created, and their stories were already told better years ago. Half of this book had nothing to do with this particular team of Avengers! I didn't buy this for a Nick Fury's Secret Invasion 2 part-er, I wanted to read an Avengers story. The only winner in this whole book was Issue 15, with solid art by John Romita, Jr., Klaus Janson, and Tom Palmer. Alex Maleev's "artwork" on Issues 12 and 13 sucks ass. If Dan Slott doesn't turn this series around when he gets on board, then I am jumping ship.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note: I'm copy-and-pasting my reviews for this and the New Avengers tie-in, because even though their contents are different, they're functionally the same. Since I read these issues interchangeably on Marvel Unlimited, I can't remember which ones were which.

These volumes are emblematic of the problem with event comics. In an optimal world, you'd have the main contents going back and forth between the Avengers books, but Marvel needs to sell more books, so you get the event as a standalone miniseries, and Mighty and New are put on hold while the event plays out over the year.

The consequence is that everything in these tie-in issues fills in gaps that no one asked for. Sometimes they broach important questions - like, how long has Hank Pym been a Skrull for? - but the answers take way too long. This is Bendis after all, so everything is "decompressed", and takes a full issue when a more efficient writer would communicate the necessary parts in a couple panels.

It's not that the content is "bad" per se; it's the same middle-of-the-road quality level of Bendis' typical Avengers books, which means its easy to read and has some monologues that would be nice if the characters didn't all use the same "realistic" dialogue style. But it's certainly pointless.

[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.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this and filling in several blanks that the Secret Invasion collection didn't answer. We see Fury's team come about and learn more about Hank Pym's timeline as a Skrull, which I appreciated. However, I feel like the information presented here can come off as repetitive to readers who have been keeping up with the different storylines while also not being clear enough to a new reader. It doesn't quite stand out as much as I want it to.

For: fans of superheroes/comics; readers wanting a comic with a focus on characters.

Possible red flags: manipulation; characters in peril; violence; blood; death; language; conspiracies; distrust and paranoia; invasion/colonialism; religious extremism; impersonation; sex and sexual situations; cheating and affairs; mental health issues; gore.

[Kyle Berk · Rating 3 out of 5]

BE AWARE THIS COLLECTION ONLY CONTAINS ISSUES #12-15 NOT #12-18 LIKE IT SAYS.

Alright with that out of the way we have a pretty fun two issue arc that shows what Nick Fury has been up to. A boring Sentry story, and showing how Henry Pam got taken by the skrulls.

I’m not a big fan of the Skrulls but I’ve read the first couple issues of Secret Invasion and it’s pretty alright so far. The Nick Fury stuff is well executed though the art is very stylized and some won’t like it. I do.

I’ve never cared or liked the Sentry so I thought his issue was boring.

And the Pym issue was pretty good. Drawn by Romita Jr. who’s Marvelwork I really like.

Entertaining volume that works fine as a Secret Invasion tie in. Without that it’s not much.

3 stars.

[Mickey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another event tie-in, another mostly filler very little killer pile of disjointed stuff. Nick Fury gets a new bunch of commandos together, which is fine but has that distinct action figure feel that Nick Fury stories usually do. The skrulls do skrull stuff to Sentry, who went had the fastest trajectory of incredibly cool idea to one-note nothing that the writers don't know what to do with I've ever seen. Finally amidst his yet-again-failing relationship with Janet Van Dyne, Hank Pym sleeps with an undergrad student who turns out to be a skrull. This one actually kind of worked for me. It was nice to see a smaller scale story of Skrull emotional manipulation, even if it is a little rushed.

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good pre-Seret Invasion book, this volume contains four behind-the-scenes skrull activities set just before/at the beginning of The secret Invasion. Nick Fury in hiding. Nick Fury and Quake (yes, from the Agents of SHIELD show) recruit and form The Secret Warriors, the Skrulls fuck with the mentally unstable Sentry, and Hank Pym is targeted.

Each story is solid, and gives insight into some of the impending storylines from the main series. It's definitely worth reading, no matter how involved you would like to get with Secret Invasion. It's a top tier side story collection.

[Ryan McNie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has very little to do with any of the actual Mighty Avengers. Instead it focuses on a brilliant Nick Fury arc with fantastic art by Alex Maleev that shows him coming back into the fold and assembling a new team. It also shows what're Sentry has been up to and how another well known character was infiltrated by the Skrulls. Essentially it's more filling in the blanks so, whilst still and enjoyable read, especially the Fury issues, I am wondering how much context can be given to the same event.

[Terry Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adore what Bendis managed to accomplish with this title during the Secret Invasion event. He took a flagship title, and used it as a springboard to showcase lesser-told stories. Not exactly peeks at events in the main title, but spotlights of key players that are woven in to the main storyline. The artists change with rach story, and the tone he hits with each is pitch perfect. Absolutely top notch stuff, from first page to last.

[ila · Rating 4 out of 5]

had a blast reading the first two issues, where we see Fury bringing together a bunch of cool people with powers (including a child. granted, he in the son of Ares, but still. poor kiddo) with the help of my beloved Daisy Johnson

and it's always genuinely sad to see Bob struggling with The Void, his other personality :( I haven't read much about him but he seems a very complex and interesting character and I absolutely will check out more of his stuff

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even by Bendis' standards, there's a LOT of talking in these four issues of a surprisingly low key, in-depth story highlighted by Nick Fury's disappearance and his unravelling of the Skrulls' plan and his implementation of his own resistance. Still, none of it feels all that essential, the pace is far too slow and there's very little action. Aside from issue #12, this is a very skippable Secret Invasion tie-in.

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is really integral reading for Secret Invasion, Secret Warriors and the Marvel Universe as a whole in this era. I can't believe I haven't read it before.
Great art and colours so far by Maleev and Hollingsworth.

I can't wait to read more. Bendis is at the peak of his powers here. Great world building/sharing.

The tiem jumps in the sentry issue more wo than the Yellowjacket issue were ar times frustrating. I think because I know Hank's history better.

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

Al igual que los volumenes de New Avengers que sirven como tie ins de Secret Invasion, aqui Bendis sigue expandiendo lo que sucedió, especificamente con Nick Fury.
La combinación de Bendis, Maleev y Fury es algo que necesitaba pasar. Aqui realmente sucede una invasión secreta. Hay intriga, sospecha y secretos.
Aparte comienza el glorioso camino a Secret Warriors.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of feels like an admission that Bendis wasn't interested in the Mighty Avengers because this isn't Mighty Avengers. As a Mighty Avengers book this is terrible; they aren't even in it. As a Secret Warriors pilot, it's pretty promising. As a Secret Invasion tie-in, it's pretty great. I wonder if Mighty Avengers only existed to turn into Dark Avengers.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lot of big stuff happening in this one. Nick putting together the new team, Hank Pym's being substituted for a skrull, the Sentry turning into the Void. Definitely need to read this one if you're doing the Secret Invasion event.

[Madi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked that the last few pages were just of the writing on the previous pages. The art work was filled with tiny details that made it more interesting. Some of the art work was too dark to be able to see some of those details though. Overall it was a good story.

[Bekka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, I'm liking the set up here for the big Secret Invasion comic!