Status Updates From Invasion!

Notes:
(1) This trade suffers from its very concept. I doubt these three issues were written with the expectation they'd be packaged together to be read exclusively.
- So much is left to tie-ins to explain, and if I hadn't already read them I'd be constantly baffled.
(2) The UN must have been a bigger deal back in the day!
- I've never seen such liberal use of "communiqué."

Notes:
(1) There are three main artists here, all with very different styles.
- McFarlane's the most dynamic. He draws exaggerated and sketchy and is inclined to thin vertical panels.
- Sears is by far the most conventional. Though his men all have distractingly prominent square jaws and cleft chins.
- Giffen should just stick to writing. All his characters have LEGO heads.

Notes:
(1) It's pretty clear to me now that, if you have the time and energy, the best way to read this is along with the companion books in chronological order, which is what I did my first time around.
- While readable, the collected trade reduces nearly all of the superhero comeback to companion issue recaps and continuations, which by themselves lack sufficient context.

Notes:
(1) Anyone who's seen the 1966 "Batman" film will be familiar with the trope at the heart of this book: if the villains could just join forces, they could easily beat the heroes.
- Among others, this is the premise of Mark Millar's "Wanted."
- The twist here is it's hostile alien races that team up, which this does an excellent job of introducing and differentiating.