In a continuing series of reviews, we have Incredible Hercules: Secret Invasion. Once again, we have the inimitable Greg Pake and Fred Van Lente on writing chores but, unlike the previous volume, we actually have a single penciler on this entire volume in Rafa Sandoval but then a motley crew of inkers and colorists. Just like the last volume, this is published by Marvel Comics but unlike the previous volume, this can be found in both softcover and hardcover volumes.
To contrast this volume with the Smash of the Titans is almost unfair. Unlike the previous volume, this one is a very focused story, very tightly plotted, humorously written, and no longer suffering from the yoke of World War Hulk. The art is uniform and very, very well done. All in this collection alone, Sandoval manages:
- Multiple pantheons of both terrestrial and intergalactic gods
- An interstellar journey through the Dreamtime and a nightmare dimension
- Some pretty great rock’em sock’em action scenes
But he also manages:
- The pastoral beauty of a redwood forest
- Several flashbacks to ancient Greece, some of them as short as a few panels and others as long as several pages
- Storytelling via facial expressions
What I’m saying is, the man has range and all of it is good.
That said, there is a fair comparison to be had because this book dips its toe into the other giant crossover Marvel was doing at the same time as World War Hulk, Secret Invasion. But don’t be concerned, daring reader, that you will be lost in a byzantine plot in which you have no interest. No sir, you are told up front exactly all you need to know about what was going on with Secret Invasion. To wit, shape shifting alien empire, the Skrulls, declared a religious war on Earth and laid the foundation for it by using their ability to mimic other creatures to infiltrate our societies at every level. You then immediately jump into the main characters dealing with that information in exactly the way you’d expect Athena, Hercules, and the seventh smartest person on Earth to deal with it.
They call a war meeting of all earthly pantheons and then gather a small cadre of gods and godlings to declare war on the Skrull gods.
That sound you just heard was your mind blowing. Here’s an aftershock: the chapters that made up this book originally were subtitled Sacred Invasion. Thank you, please can I have some more.
I really can’t say much more without giving away what happens and to whom. I don’t even feel like I can tell you which gods and godlings decide to go on the mission without giving something away. Look, since I’m going to be “reviewing” these books for the next few weeks, I might as well be straight with you, my daring readers. This isn’t really about telling you whether or not you should read these books. I’m already in the tank for them. They’re funny, exciting, sexy, dangerous, they have big picture things going on just under the surface; there are betrayals, family tensions writ large, twist endings (and middles for that matter). They are what comics are for.
Read them, please, and then talk about them with me because the only thing I love more than reading great comics is talking about great comics after I read them.
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