Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four

Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1-3

by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Roger Stern, Tom DeFalco

"Contains material originally published in magazine form as Secret invasion: Fantastic Four #1-3 and Fantastic Four #300 and #357-358"--T.p. verso.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy

96 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2008

About the author

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is an American playwright, screenwriter, and comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics and for the television series Glee, Big Love, Riverdale, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. He is Chief Creative Officer of Archie Comics.
Aguirre-Sacasa grew up liking comic books, recalling in 2003, "My mom would take us out to the 7-Eleven on River Road during the summer, and we would get Slurpees and buy comics off the spinning rack. I would read them all over and over again, and draw my own pictures and stuff."
He began writing for Marvel Comics, he explained, when "Marvel hired an editor to find new writers, and they hired her from a theatrical agency. So she started calling theaters and asking if they knew any playwrights who might be good for comic books. A couple of different theaters said she should look at me. So she called me, I sent her a couple of my plays and she said 'Great, would you like to pitch on a couple of comic books in the works?'"
His first submissions were "not what [they were] interested in for the character[s]" but eventually he was assigned an 11-page Fantastic Four story, "The True Meaning of...," for the Marvel Holiday Special 2004. He went on to write Fantastic Four stories in Marvel Knights 4, a spinoff of that superhero team's long-running title; and stories for Nightcrawler vol. 3; The Sensational Spider-Man vol. 2; and Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing.
In May 2008 Aguirre-Sacasa returned to the Fantastic Four with a miniseries tie-in to the company-wide "Secret Invasion" storyline concerning a years-long infiltration of Earth by the shape-shifting alien race, the Skrulls,and an Angel Revelations miniseries with artists Barry Kitson and Adam Polina, respectively. He adapted for comics the Stephen King novel The Stand.

In 2013, he created Afterlife with Archie, depicting Archie Andrews in the midst of a zombie apocalypse; the book's success led to Aguirre-Sacasa being named Archie Comics' chief creative officer.

Reviews

[Mela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll start off by saying, I'm not a particularly big fan of the Fantastic Four. The only reason I read this is because I'm trying to a complete view of the major events in Marvel, and this trade was one of the many at my library.

This was pretty good. Not great, but not bad either. I liked that it was Sue-and-Reed-lite (as the two of them bore me to no end).

I would say that there are two types of people who should read this: people who LOVE the fantastic four, and those who, like me, are completionists. Really this story has no bearing on the overall Secret Invasion story; it's completely irrelivant. It serves only to answer the question of "But where were Johnny and Ben during all this?" If that's a question you need answered, then this is the book for you. Otherwise? Probably don't bother.

[Terry Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

A dull aside to the main storyline with neither a tale to tell nor an ounce of inpact.

There's no need to read this even if you're a completionist. There's no need to read this of you're a fan of the Fantastic Four.

There's no need to read this.

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading New Avengers for some reason and got up to the Secret Invasion storyline and said, “Hey, I have the Mavel Unlimited app, why don’t I just read the entire Secret Invasion storyline? I’d be really interested because I know that the MCU is going to come out with a movie pretty soon.” Great idea, right?

Ugh, that thing is 99 issues long and just starts to d r a g in the middle as Marvel tried to cash in by incorporating as many titles as possible. But I was committed, and I read every single issue. Was it worth it? Absolutely not. Am I glad I read it? I’m not sad, but I wish that Marvel had done a better job writing with concise storytelling. Or that I had not made the decision to read the whole blamed thing.

But, you know, in for a penny, and for a pound. And it’s red and I will never have to read it again and I can enjoy the movie when it comes out. So I’m just going to copy and paste this review in every single trade paperback that contains the secret invasion, storyline and call it a day.

if anyone reads this review, I recommend you just read the essential story itself without all of the side issues.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't even know where to start...

I'm not a huge FF fan anyway besides enjoying the Thing and Johnny, so I figured this would be a lot of fun as it centers on them. The first half of the book is entertaining because it tells of how they got back from the Negative Zone, but it doesn't really do much to further the Secret Invasion plot and just ends. And then it goes into a history of Johnny's romance with Lyja that is so full of extreme melodrama that I can't even. It was helpful to have the summaries of their history but I didn't think the classic comics were necessary, especially since the Secret Invasion comics were so abrupt and it felt like it didn't go anywhere. Odd and just strange.

For: fans of superheroes/comics; readers wanting a comic with a focus on romance.

Possible red flags: manipulation; characters in peril; violence; conspiracies; references to sex and sexual situations; cheating and affairs; mentions of pregnancy; death--sort of.

[Adam Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, if a little short, prelude to the Secret Invasion: a Skrull from the Fantastic Four's past traps The Baxter Building (with The Thing, The Human Torch, and Franklin and Val Richards) in The Negative Zone.

Is this yet another opening salvo of The Secret Invasion, or is this another Skrull on the side of angels? Does it matter? They're trapped in The Negative Zone without Mr. Fantastic or The Invisible Woman.

For maximum clarity, read the second half of this volume first, as it shows the origin of the Skrull who factors into the first half of the story.

If you're a fan of either the Fantastic Four or the Secret Invasion storyline, this is for you. I've yet to be let down with Aguirre-Sacasa book.

[Andrew Garvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the Secret invasion tie-ins that (largely) plays out in the early part of the overall story, the three issue arc focused on Ben Grimm doing heroic things and Johnny Storm (and Johnny's former lover, the Skrull Lyja) is a decent enough story but is greatly overshadowed by the rest of this collection. In Fantastic Four #300 (from 1987) Johnny marries Alicia Masters and in #357 and #358 (the latter a bumper-sized thirtieth anniversary issue), discovers she's actually a Skrull named Lyja. As a collection, it all ties together well, even if there's more Johnny-Lyja backstory talked about than is actually here.

[Chris Greensmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Reed Richards. Sue Richards. Benjamin Grimm. Johnny Storm. When their rocket ship was bombarded with Cosmic Rays they were transformed into the greatest heroes in the world... Mister Fantastic! The Invisible Woman! The Thing! The Human Torch!"
The art was OK, just as you would expect in a comic real...2 🌟
The story was good, focus on Johnny Storms relationship with his ex-Skrull girlfriend. I got a real 80's film vibe from this comic. it fitted in nicely to the whole even, like a missing jigsaw puzzle...2 1/2 🌟
Relevance to SI, 2 1/2 🌟 So overall for this TPB 2 1/2 🌟

[Jimbo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first of the of the Secret Invasion books that felt different. It was almost personal with Lyja getting back at Johnny. Their misunderstandings. How it played out and her story in older issues being told within the pages (FF Vol. 1: Issue 300, 357 and 358) It made a nice collection and we hope to see Lyja again (I am very far behind on FF books).

[Mickey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a lot of affection for the FF, but much like in his full run on the team, RAS has nothing interesting to do with or say about these characters. It's also yet another filler nothing story to go into the Secret Invasion pile of filler nothing stories.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, not great. The Thing's banter was the best part.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't expect to like this, but it was much better than I thought. The first issue was pretty boring and by-the-numbers. But 2 and 3 were great.

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really more a story of the Fantastic Two, but it's still a decent tale, more enjoyable than limited series connected to crossovers often are.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty breezy and insubstantial. Great art, though! The classic issues were great but wish they’d swapped out the wedding issue for something more Lyja focused.

[J'aime · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Secret Invasion crossover has been less than epic compared to other Marvel events, and this is especially noticeable when reading the tie-ins. Only the first third of this trade actually covers material from Secret Invasion, the rest is filler.

During the main event, the top of Baxter Building disappeared with Johnny, Ben and the children inside. This story explains how and why that happened. It's an interesting story that lets readers see a bit more of Sue & Reed's children "in action" and how the FF really is a family. Sadly, it is very short and the rest of the book, nearly two thirds, is taken up with a 1980's Fantastic Four story. Granted, the story is about the Skrulls but I just wasn't interested in it. I'm not a fan of comics pre-2000's because I don't care for the art and overly wordy dialog boxes. And it really had no bearing on the current event.

Overall, I wish Marvel had collected the various Secret Invasion tie-ins into one larger trade because the filler in the smaller trades just makes them less worth the purchase. Recommended for completests only.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPOILERS


I wish there was more to this story than we were given. The strongest part of this book involves Johnny Storm's relationship with Lyjs, the Skrull sleeper agent that posed as Alicia Masters and married Johnny.

I always felt the writers played short shrift with Lyja as a character after her reveal as a Skrull. The idea of an agent falling for her intended victim is a common trope, but killing her off right afterwards in a noble act of self sacrifice is as well. It would have been far more intriguing then to have kept her as a recurring character and watch her and Johnny work through their differences.

This book hints at a reconciliation, but then pulls back at the last moment. It's disappointing and could have been a very strong contender for a major storyline in Secret Invasion but is left to sit there.

[Brad · Rating 2 out of 5]

This three-issue series explains what the heck happened when the top of the Baxter Building disappeared near the beginning of Secret Invasion. It's weird that the Fantastic Four have such a small role in this crossover, given that the Skrulls are FF villains. The action starts out fast in this book, but once the top of the building disappears, it starts slowing down. The Thing and the Torch run into one of their Skrull friends, but the moments that close out the book don't make much sense.

[Ernest · Rating 2 out of 5]

Even within the Secret Invasion storyline, this story arc involving the Fantastic Four was distinctly average. That this story linked within the larger plot was not a surprise, but I was disinterested in Lyja’s and the Tinkerer’s role in the story, the Tinkerer’s largely as it didn’t seem to mesh with his previous portrayals and his change was far too sudden. To be fair, a large part of it would have undoubtedly come from only being a casual fan of the Fantastic Four and that half of them were, effectively, missing in this arc. I enjoyed the inclusion of the old story arc of the wedding between the Human Torch and Alicia Masters.

[Trey · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a waste of three issues. While the Secret Invasion is going on, a skrull takes the Baxter Building into the Negative Zone... and by the end, the Human Torch and the Thing bring it back to New York. Great. This in no way advanced the primary Secret Invasion story line, and didn't have enough going on to make up a full trade paperback. At the end, it reprints a few old issues giving the back story of the skrull that hijacked the Baxter Building. Ugh.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main story is OK, mainly for its good use of Lyja who had been neglected for years previously [6.5].

The reprints definitely make some sense given the focus on Lyja and the small count of the mini-series itself. The marriage in issue #300 by Roger Stern is a slow but original take on superhero weddings [6]. The two-parter by Tom DeFalco that follows is a very interesting game-changer, but having Lyja (apparently) die really wasn’t the most interesting path to take [7].

[Holden Attradies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was by far the best of the Secret Invasion tie ins that I've read. It was classic FF at their best, full of action and comedy and relationship drama. And the art work was superb. The facial expressions especially were great.

And it was nice that they chose to double the size of the volume by including choice back issues that tell the story of Lyja.

[Sylvester · Rating 3 out of 5]

I understand why everyone is giving this volume hate, it was simply a pretty far fetched addition to the main event but it did tie in with the larger plot of the Baxter building being transported to the negative zone. But Lyla and the Tinkerer were completely ridiculous, it made no sense at all other than to show Reed and Susan have been replaced.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little aside with 2 of the Fantastic Four and their 2 kids. Interesting to include the character of the Tinkerer and Lyla the skrull. You know, the one Johnny Storm dated, so nice character bits.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

For clarity, only the first 1/3 to 1/2 of this volume is part of the Secret Invasion storyline. The rest of the book is a reprint of the FF's past stories with the Skrull, Lyja. So, 3.5 stars for the Secret Invasion stuff, minus a half star for the filler.

[Oliver Hodson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, unnecessary.

[Dwayne Keller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Incomplete stories; come on, if you're doing a trade, finish the story.