I decided, out of the pure goodness of my heart, to provide an analysis of the issue, and give you some of my theories and predictions. Just so you know – this is not a review. My review can be found elsewhere (for those who don’t read Hebrew, here’s a quick translation – it rocked!). So with that said, let’s get on with the analysis (naturally, there are spoilers here – so if you haven’t read the book, come back later).

Yu Da Man!

Many, including myself, have criticized Leinil Francis Yu’s pencil work. His art is very “messy” and in issues of New Avengers he’s been inking himself, which doesn’t look all that good. Secret Invasion is Yu’s claim to fame. He absolutely rocks on this book. Don’t believe me, check out this gorgeousness:

Let us list the possible turnoffs of Skrullectra:

• She’s green. That’s not a “human” color.
• That chin, it’s odd.
• She’s an alien species. A shape-changing alien species. Who’s to say that’s not a dude?
• She’s dead. And has been for at least a week or so (the flow of time is wonky in comics, for those just joining in).

Having said that, Skrullectra looks almost, dare I say it, beautiful in that panel.

Still not sold? Check out some of Yu’s “special effects” (i.e. things getting blown up):

On the left you see the Baxter Building getting sucked into the Negative Zone. The small image doesn’t do it justice, as the effect, on page, looks amazing. Filmed movies haven’t accomplished this effect as well as it looks here. On the right, is S.W.O.R.D., being blown to smithereens. Granted, the majority of the props go to colorist Laura Martin, but she had to have something to work off of. And that’s a damn good looking explosion.

It’s in the Eyes!

I think I may be on to something here. But take a look at these revealed Skrulls:

For those who don’t immediatly recognize the pictured persons, from left to right: Jarvis, Sue Storm, Hank Pym. Notice something funny about these three?

Yep, all three have clear, near ice-blue eyes. Is this a coincidence? Am I reading to much into the issue? I would think so, except the issue include so many shots of eye close-ups, you’d think you’re watching an episode of Lost. So my theory is this – the Skrulls may be master shape-shifters, but they have one weakness, one flaw – for some reason, they can’t do eyes. No matter what shape they take, they’re stuck with these blue eyes.

If this is indeed true, and the blue eyes are a Skrull marker, then a run through the issue reveals the following as possible skrulls:

Yep, that’s a big one. Tony Stark, a.k.a Iron Man. Could one of the biggest heroes in the Marvel U. actually be a Skrull? He is the biggest target, and there are about 3 close-ups on Stark’s baby-blues throughout the issue.

Ah, Generic S.W.O.R.D. Agent #552, how deceptive of you. Ok, this has absolutley no effect on the actual story, but it doesn’t it just look like Generic S.W.O.R.D. Agent #552 is speaking to Skrull-Skrull Dugan rather than Agent Brand? And G.S.A #552 could have helped Skrull-Skrull Dugan sneak a ginormous bomb on board…

This one’s important, as it’s another clue to the Blue-Eyes thing. Those reading Ms. Marvel‘s own series (or following up on interviews) know that Ms. Marvel is a Skrull. Or at least one them is, apparently there’s more than one walking around. If someone can get the eye-color of the other one, it may help…

So Songbird‘s a Skrull. Makes sense – seeing how she’s been on the Thunderbolts since day one. A good way to keep tabs on the most dangerous team currently operating in the Marvel U.

That’s Wolverine. He’s the only character in the book to get more eye-attention than Iron Man. And we’ll get back to him in a bit. Just, hold that thought.

The 70′s aren’t dead…

My basic theory is that some of these heroes are the real deal, while some are Skrulls in disguise. What I would guess is that wherever the Skrulls kept the heroes, they threw some undercover folks as well, and when the good guys escaped, the Skrulls came with them, to keep tabs on them and cause more confusion. Alright from left to right:

• Emma Frost, the White Queen – My guess is this is the real deal. I never bought Emma’s sudden change from villain to good girl. And she sure managed to snuggle her way up to a cozy position in X-Men leadership.
• Spider-Man – Skrull. No way this is the real Peter, as not only does it throw the recent One More Day out the window, but any Spider-Man story in the last 30 years or so.
• Luke Cage – This could go either way. I’m leaning towards Skrull, cause Bendis has a man-crush on Luke Cage.
• Beast - The real McCoy. Horrible puns aside, Marvel has been talking about reverting Beast to his ape-like form for years. This is the perfect oppurtunity to do it. Plus, Beast is a great candidate to replace, as he is in the center of X-Men affair, while not being in the forefront as much as characters like Cyclops or Wolverine (hang tight on that one…).
• Thor - Skrull. The return of Thor is way to important for the Thor running around over there to not be the real Thor.
• Wonder Man – Skrull. There’s no reason to replace Wonder Man, he’s a C-list character at best. And the two Wonder Mans shown even look the same – that’s like doppleganger 101.
• Sue Storm – Well, we did see a Sue-Skrull earlier in the issue, but that Skrull took another shape before switching to Sue. Why not just waltz into the Baxter as Sue? I’m still on the fence on this one.
• Jean Grey – Ok, allow me to indulge in fan-service. I want Jean Grey back. I really do. So I’m gonna hope this is a real deal, even though I wouldn’t be willing to be on it.
• Iron Man – Skrull. Sure we had the blue-eyes thing. But if Tony was a Skrull, he wouldn’t expose so many people to Skrullectra. Unless he wanted to sow confusion among the ranks of earth’s super-heroes. Still, Tony’s too big to be replaced, and it kinda throws Civil War and the Initiative out the window…
• Hawkeye – Ah, Clint Barton. Bendis’ whipping boy. Bendis has killed Hawkeye once, brought him back only to kill him again, and then brought him back. On the one hand I’m thinking – enough is enough. On the second hand – Bendis does seem to enjoy fu**ing with Hawkeye. I’m gonna guess real deal for now.
• Scarlet Witch – This one carries a lot with it. The whole House Of M was the result of the Scarlet Witch’s power. Can that power really be duplicated by a Skrull? The Skrulls would want to decrease the mutant population, but I doubt they can duplicate the reality-changing powers of the Scarlet Witch. After all, if they could do that – why not just say “No More Heroes” and be done with it? So – Skrull.
• Vision – It’s a Skrull. The Vision was a robot. The Vision still is a robot. That’s just dumb, replacing a robot with a living being.
• Jewel – This character is unique in that she was created by Bendis. Plus she’s been acting wonky latley, and the baby. My guess is this is the real deal.
• Mockingbird – Let me be honest with you, I started reading when this character was long dead. So frankly, I haven’t the foggiest.
• Captain America - Skrull. Do you really think the whole “Death of Captain America” was for nothing? Fat chance Marvel would throw away one of their greatest stories ever (still is, by the by).
• Captain/Ms. Marvel – Skrull. There are already 2 Ms. Marvels running around, I don’t think they’re both skrulls, what’s the point of doing that?
• Wolverine – Just a little bit more, we’re getting to that.

A Glance into the Past

I re-read New Avengers #1-6, House of M and Avengers: Disassembled, and I have to admit – there really are clues to Secret Invasion in those stories. In New Avengers #3 or 4, Wolverine joins the team. How does he join? He just shows up out of nowhere, in the middle of the Savage Land. When asked what he’s doing there, he replies with some cock-eyed reply. At the time, I just accepted it, but reading it now – it really reads as a lame excuse. Couple that with the fact I have a copy of the X-Men Encyclopedia, which states Wolverine’s eyes as being brown – and you come to the conclusion that Wolverine is Skrull. I don’t know if there are two running around, or if for this whole time Wolvy was a Skrull, but I’m willing to bet on it. Mark my words – Wolverine is a skrull.

Another potential Skrull I discovered while re-reading the older stories – Wasp. First off – notice how she’s conveniently absent from Secret Invasion #1 – the only Avenger not to be shown? That’s… suspicious. Secondly, if she is a Skrull, then she is single-handedly responsible for both Avengers: Disassembled and House of M. How so? In Disassembled (Avengers #502), Wasp and Wanda, in a flashback, are sitting by the pool chatting. Wasp brings up the topic of kids, and follows with “And you [Wanda] thought you could have two”. This follows:

If that’s not being evasive – I don’t know what is. Granted, Wasp wasn’t supposed to talk to Wanda about the kids. But had the Skrulls wanted Wanda to snap – wouldn’t that be the best way to go about it? Thus, of course, causing deaths amongst the Avengers and the decimation of the mutant population. If this theory turns out to be true, that my hat is off for Mr. Bendis as his planning of this whole thing has been nothing short of masterful.

Well, that’s it for now, hopefully the second issue will be just as good (if not better) and provide another lengthy post.