Secret Invasion #8 - The Invasion Ends

Well, it was quite a ride, but the Secret Invasion has finally come to an end. Marvel handled this one much better than DC handled Final Crisis, though Marvel stumbled badly when it came to producing the backstory to the invasion by killing both of its Avengers titles for the year with the stuff.

As promised, this issue does indeed feature the death of one of the founding members of the Avengers--but it's one of those ambiguous death scenes that obviously won't stick later on down the line. We'll see this hero again, there's no doubt.

The rest of the issue is filled with some great moments. The Skrulls get a smackdown like you wouldn't believe as they finally find their war a futile effort. Still, the parting shot that gets all the credit goes to Norman Osborn, which leads to an interesting plot twist at the end. It all sets the stage for Marvel's next big event: Dark Reign.

This issue was a very satisfying conclusion to the storyline. As is only fitting, Iron Man ends up getting a vast portion of the blame for the attack because of his part in starting the Civil War. SHIELD is ultimately disbanded because of the Skrull infiltration, and topping it all off we have the return of the heroes who had been replaced! There is a problem there because Black Bolt is seen coming from the ship, while he was clearly seen in the Secret Invasion: Inhumans miniseries as being in deep space during the whole thing. But don't worry, I'm not seeing this as a paranoid conspiracy issue thing...it's just a little thing you'd get a no-prize for back in the 70's.

Where Marvel goes from here is anyone's guess. The "Dark Reign" storyline looks promising, and here's hoping Marvel can follow up on its success on this series with another great one.