REVIEW: Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust?

Just to get it out of the way - Who Do You Trust was very nearly a five out of five. But in even allowing myself to think those words, I had to immediately draw a comparison to the five out of five 'yardstick' - Walking Dead 48 - which made me knock it down a notch. But only a tiny one. If I had a four and a half score - this book would be getting it.

But I don't. So a four it is.

As for why it's a four...

***MAJOR SPOILER ALERT***

...that one will really speak for itself. Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust is a collection of five short stories focusing on the sub-plots and fallout of Bendis' epic crossover.

Five short stories, each with five potentially huge questions hanging over their heads.

Story one - Captain Marvel seemingly falling into line with the Skrulls, perhaps as part of a larger plan to 'save' earth?

Story two - Agent Brand, lost in the vacuum of space, pondering which of the objects around her will mark her end, all the while thinking back over recent events - slowly unravelling the clues that were always right under her nose...

Story three... I'll come back to in a moment.

Story four - Marvel Boy - building an army of his own from Cube prisoners? Certainly something big going down there...

Story five - the reappearance of The Agents of Atlas. And a mightily nasty reappearance at that. Never let it be said that heroes in the Marvel Universe don't know how to get their hands dirty. Dirty, in this instance with Skrull body parts. Grim just doesn't cover it. Think Mars Attacks, and you'll be along the right lines.

Now - each of those stories deserve high scores in their own rights, but story three - 'Skrull' Beast (Hank McCoy) and Wonder Man... That's potentially epic right there. If, and it's a big if, Hank has been away on 'Skrull island' for as long as it appears - then there are some pretty bloody monumental happenings about to go down over in X-Men.

Who has been looking for a 'cure' to House of M again and again, and always 'failed'? None other than... Hank McCoy.

I've learned to never trust what I see on the page in front of me until multiple sources confirm it - but - man alive... This could be massive - no?

Pete's Score: 4 out of 5
(potentially - this issue has setup a year's worth of quality comic books, and possibly a huge X-Men showdown - buy this book)

REVIEW: She-Hulk - 28

Peter David has had a few issues with She-Hulk now, so how is he measuring up to Dan Slott's run?

Well, Dan definitely favoured long story-arcs and subtly weaving plot devices into his books. Throughout his run on She-Hulk we would see small interesting nuggets, such as Andy's hidden crush, a shapeshifter hidden in plain sight, and many others - most of which seemed to be going somewhere pretty clear.

Peter's run however... Let's just say that there isn't anything wrong with it - but there doesn't seem to be much right with it either. I'm certainly not getting the same feeling of 'direction' from Pete that Dan would give to his readers, and am left feeling as though I'm almost reading a different character altogether.

Now - some might say it's a bit harsh to compare these two writers, as they both have very different styles. Peter's style has always seemed to be more action orientated than Dan's, but Dan's style was sometimes so dense with plot it would make the series harder for new readers to get into (you really got the most out of his writing only if the book was on your pull list each month).

But what of issue 28?

***SPOILER ALERT***

This issue finds She-Hulk in prison (again), with more questions asked about the seemingly immortal Jazinda, who 'dies' (again) in this issue chasing down Bran Murphy, the man responsible for the series' previous bomb attack.

Sound a little familiar?

It should do - this issue could have easily be a carbon copy of the one right before it, containing much of the same set pieces and questions.

I hate to say it - but I did get the impression that Peter kind of... 'Phoned this one in'...

Pete's Score: 3 out of 5

(doesn't really feel like it's going anywhere - but interesting to see a Skrull out in the open...) 

REVIEW: Captain Marvel - 5 of 5

Some big questions asked throughout this mini-series. And some pretty big answers given in this issue...

***SPOILER ALERT***

Well - as it turns out, Mar-vell appears to have been a Skrull all along. But - not quite the kind of Skrull we were expecting. When Skrull Mar-vell was mind-wiped, things went a bit wrong. He didn't keep his underlying Skrull persona - he became Mar-vell through and through.

So, because of this, now we have a Skrull on earth - who looks like he might be able to turn the tide in the Secret Invasion...

Throughout the series, the artwork in these books has been fantastic, as has the writing. This issue however, was lacking a little something.

The issue does give closure to the mini-series, while creating a nice entry to Secret Invasion - so it isn't lacking in the story department from Brian Reed.

Lee Weeks' artwork in the book was as crisp and clean as in previous issues - so it's nothing to do with the pencils. It's also nothing to do with the inks from Jesse Delperdang, or the colours from Matt Milla.

And the mix between the story and art works well - so it isn't the fusion (or lack of) between artist and writer.

To be honest - I can't really place my finger on exactly what it is about this issue. It just... Doesn't feel like it should have ended this way.

Although, having said that - I am extremely glad it didn't end with the real Captain Marvel returning from the dead.

Pete's Score: 3 out of 5

(a good ending to the mini-series, but it won't set you alight with awe and wonder)