Secret Invasion: Mighty Avengers #14 Review

Bendis has impressed the hell out of me with his excellent work on the Secret Invasion tie-in issues on New Avengers and Mighty Avengers. As critical as I have been about the lackluster story over on Secret Invasion itself, I am as equally effusive in my praise for these tie-in issues. It appears that Mighty Avengers #14 is going to focus on the Sentry and what Bendis has in store for him during the Secret Invasion event. Let’s go ahead and hit this review for Mighty Avengers #14.

Creative Team
Writer: Brain Michael Bendis
Pencils: Khoi Pham
Inks: Danny Miki

Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with a flashback scene to “Years ago.” We see the Sentry in his old school uniform trying to stop the Void from robbing a bank. The Sentry is shocked that the Void is still alive. The Sentry says that he killed the Void.

Suddenly, the Sentry sees a spaceship appearing over the city. The Sentry stops fighting the Void and races off to intercept the spaceship. The spaceship is about to blast into the side of the Baxter Building. We see Skrulls piloting the ship. The Sentry grabs the ship and prevents it from hitting the Baxter Building.

The Sentry then flies the Skrull ship back up outside of Earth’s atmosphere. The Sentry demands to know what the Skrulls are and why they are.., but before Sentry can finish his question, the Skrulls blow up their ship and kill themselves.

We cut to the Sentry waking up in the medical bay at the Baxter Building. Reed thanks Bob for saving them from the Skrull suicide bomber. Reed tells Bob that the aliens are Skrulls and that they hate Reed and want to kill him and the Fantastic Four. Reed says that the Bob is okay. Reed then asks Bob how he feels. Bob answers “I think I’m–” Reed says “What?” Bob answers “I’m just tired” and lies back in the bed. Reed says that Bob is a good friend and that he won’t soon forget it.

We zip forward to a couple of months ago with the Avengers meeting at the Avengers Tower. Jarvis asks Iron Man if it would be possible for him to review the Avengers files on the Sentry. Jarvis says that in light of the unfortunate tragedy with Scarlet Witch that he has been wondering if there was something he could have been more aware of and to have server her and all of them more properly.

Tony responds that he trusts Jarvis more than anyone else and that Jarvis doesn’t need his permission to access all the Avengers files. We then see Jarvis reading the Avengers file on the Sentry.

We cut to a meeting of all the Skrull imposters. Jarvis is addressing the rest of the Skrull imposters. In the crowd we see Henry Pym. Also present in the Skrull Empress posing as a dark haired woman. The Empress asks Jarvis what they are going to do about the Sentry. Jarvis says that all they have to do is simply wait for the Sentry to self-destruct.

Jarvis says that they decided to let the Hulk situation and the Registration Act situation come to a boil and do their work for them. That Thor is gone. The Scarlet Witch is gone. That Doctor Strange will soon buckle. And that the Sentry is going to kill himself. Jarvis says that the Sentry is mentally diseased and has created an alter-ego called the Void. A dark haired woman mumbles that she can’t believe she has to sleep in the same building as the Sentry.

Jarvis continues that the Sentry doesn’t even remember meeting a Skrull before. That even Tony Stark doesn’t know the Sentry’s full power and potential. That even if the Sentry doesn’t kill himself before their invasion is launched that the Sentry will be the easiest to manipulate. That all they will have to do is shape shift into the Void and tell the Sentry that he has launched this entire attack with his mind. That he has betrayed his people. That the only way for him to stop the slaughter of his friends and planet is to hurl himself into this system’s star and end his life.

If the Sentry does not kill himself then he will probably either simply fall into a complete catatonic state or have a mental collapse and kill everyone involved. His friends and the Skrulls included. The Empress wonders why Tony Stark keeps the Sentry around considering he is such a risk. Jarvis responds that Tony does so because he doesn’t know what else to do with the Sentry.

We then cut to today with the Mighty Avengers and the Secret Avengers brawling with the Skrull 1970’s heroes. The Sentry locks horns with the Vision. The Vision then shape shifts into the Void and tells the Sentry that he did all of this. That the Sentry brought the Void back as revenge on everyone for forgetting about him when he needed them the most. That everything is coming together as the Sentry planned.

The Sentry screams “NO!” and flies off into space. We see the Sentry arrive next to Saturn. Sentry sees a dark spot in the rings of Saturn. The Sentry has a shocked look on his face. The Sentry then curls up into a little ball in a vast sea of blackness and starts crying.

We cut back to Times Square right now in the present. The Super Skrulls are laying waste to Manhattan. The Young Avengers are brawling with some of the Super Skrulls. We shift over to the Sentry’s Watchtower. We see a Super Skrull busting into the joint. The Super Skrull is about to kill Lindy when a dark shadowy figure suddenly appears and beats the crap out of the Super Skrull.

We then see that the dark shadowy figure is the Sentry in his Void form. The Void Sentry tells Lindy that they are under attack. The Void Sentry says that Bob couldn’t handle it and he ran away. That is why he is here. That he will take care of Lindy. That he will do whatever Bob cannot do. The Void Sentry holds Lindy and promises her that everything is okay. Lindy starts crying and saying “No” over and over. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Mighty Avengers #14 was another strong tie-in issue. Bendis continues to turn in much stronger reads on these tie-in issues than what we get on Secret Invasion. Bendis serves up a nicely paced issue. This issue has an enjoyable blend of drama and action. I liked that this issue begins with a measured pace as it builds to the climactic action packed ending.

Mighty Avengers #14 was well plotted. Bendis is notorious for delivering titles that are plagued with plotting issues. This has not been the case with the Secret Invasion tie-in issues. Bendis has constructed well focused stories that move with a purpose and destination in mind. What is truly impressive and makes these tie-in issues so much fun to read is how well Bendis has planted the back story to Secret Invasion into the Marvel’s continuity from the past couple of years. Bendis manages to pull this off in a fairly seamless and organized fashion.

Bendis whips up some great dialogue in this issue. The best part is the noticeable and enjoyable absence of the ubiquitous Bendis speak. The Sentry has his own proper external voice that is devoid of any snappy witty banter. Bendis has such a nice feel for Sentry’s character. I really dig how Bendis writes the Sentry. And the character work that Bendis performs on the Sentry in this issue is simply brilliant.

The flashback scene in the beginning of this issue gives the reader a glimpse at the seeds of the Sentry’s mental illness that we later see bloom into the debilitating condition that he currently suffers from. Bendis shows how the Sentry keeps his budding mental illness a secret from even a close friend like Reed Richards.

Bendis builds logically off of Sentry’s mental illness and the long period when the rest of the 616 universe forgot about him in order to fashion a logical plan for the Skrulls to employ in order to remove the Sentry from the battlefield during Secret Invasion. The scene with Jarvis plotting with the other Skrulls shows the logical progression of how they would decide to deal with the Sentry.

Bendis does a nice job showing that the Skrulls laid back and allowed the events from Civil War and World War Hulk to work in their advantage. The Registration Act fractured the super hero community which made Earth more vulnerable. Then World War Hulk removed from the table one of the more powerful members of Earth’s super hero community.

Bendis has Jarvis touch on the fact that Thor and Scarlet Witch are both gone. There goes two more powerful weapons in Earth’s arsenal. Jarvis then states that Dr. Strange will break soon. And we do indeed see Bendis removing Dr. Strange from the playing field as he has retreated to heal himself and re-dedicate himself to the mystic arts.

Bendis neatly shows how all these various events from the House of M to Civil War to World War Hulk have all helped pave the way for the Skrulls Secret Invasion. This was a well crafted effort on Bendis’ part to connect seemingly disparate plotlines into one cohesive back story that serves as a sound foundation for Secret Invasion.

Of course, there is one noticeable change since this meeting between Jarvis, the Empress and the other Skrull spies. Thor has returned. I’m curious to see what happens when the Skrull’s Secret Invasion attracts the Thunder God’s attention.

The Skrulls’ plan to play off of Sentry’s schizophrenia and the long period where the entire world forgot about him in order to debilitate the Sentry was nicely done. By playing off of Sentry’s mental illness, Bendis has the Skrull Vision convince the Sentry that he concocted this entire attack on Earth as revenge for his friends and comrades forgetting about him for so long and not being there for him when he needed them.

The possible results from the Skrulls’ plan were all nicely thought out. Either Sentry kills himself or he goes into a catatonic state or he kills everyone on Earth. And it was cool seeing the Skrull Vision following the plan and quickly playing off of Sentry’s illness to remove him from the playing field.

The scene with Bob in space as his mind is reeling from what the Skrull Vision just told him was well done. Bendis takes Bob’s schizophrenic disorder to an all new height. I’m still not too sure exactly what the Sentry saw in the rings of Saturn. However, the sight of the world’ most powerful man curled up in the fetal position in total darkness drove home the point the Sentry’s fragile and weak mental state. There is simply something I find so compelling and intriguing about a Superman class character with a mind so fractured and feeble.

Of course, Bendis always has a trick up his sleeve. And the fantastic hook ending threw a cool swerve at the reader. Just when the reader thought that the Skrull plan to remove the Sentry from the battle worked perfectly we see something that we never thought would happen. Bob returns back to Earth as some hybrid version of the Sentry and the Void. Very cool.

Lindy’s reaction to Bob’s new physical form was perfect. Just when she thought Bob’s mental condition could not deteriorate any more it does. Bob now displays a third personality to compliment his Sentry and Void personas. It should certainly be interesting how this plot twist plays out.

The Bad: I found Khoi Pham and Danny Miki’s artwork to be average at best. It was inconsistent from panel to panel. Some scenes looked great while others were quite dull. Pham also seemed to struggle with giving each character their own distinct look. I had a hard time telling who some of the characters were. I could not tell if the Empress had indeed selected Spider-Woman’s persona to impersonate. Jarvis and Hank Pym were the only two Skrull impersonators that I could recognize.

Overall: Mighty Avengers #14 was another excellent Secret Invasion tie-in issue. The joy of Secret Invasion continues to be the back-story and build up to the event rather than the event itself. With this big event the journey is truly more compelling than the destination. Even if you are summarily unimpressed with what Bendis is giving us on Secret Invasion itself, I would still recommend giving Mighty Avengers #14 a try. These tie-in issues are well crafted and balanced reads.