Secret Invasion Prologue #1

Jun 2008
Brian Michael Bendis, Leinil Francis Yu

Secret Invasion Prologue #1 cover

Story Name:

(no title given)


Synopsis

Secret Invasion Prologue #1 synopsis by Rob Johnson
Rating: 3.5 stars
Several weeks after the assassination of Captain America there are lots of SHIELD Agents in a bar. 1 of them is mouthing off about how it's all Nick Fury's fault for going into hiding after his Secret War. If he was still around he would have stopped the Superhuman Registration Act. Civil War wouldn't have happened and Cap wouldn't be dead.

A fellow Agent tries to quieten him down because Fury's right-hand man Dum-Dum Dugan is getting drunk in the bar. But Dugan ups and leaves. He goes to a shack on the waterfront where he can mourn alone.

But he's joined by Contessa Val de Fontaine. She claims she's been in Madripoor looking for Nick. She gets Dum-Dum to confirm that Cap is really dead - it's not a trick to confuse some enemy. Then she asks him if he knows where Nick is. But Dugan was hoping he was with her - that they'd run off together.

Unfortunately this means that 'Val' has no more use for him. She extrudes claws like Wolverine and stabs him.

Then he sees that she is a Skrull, morphing from the Contessa into a copy of him. The Skrull promises that "He loves you".


 

Review / Commentaries


Secret Invasion Prologue #1 Review by (June 27, 2016)
This was a free online comic. It doesn't really feature Iron Man, but I wanted somewhere to put these comments.

This is the 3rd section of a pre-Secret Invasion timeline continued from my comments on SI Saga and SI: Who Do You Trust, based around the flashback revelations in Mighty Avengers #12-17 and New Avengers #40-46. This part begins with this very issue.

It probably isn't really several weeks after Captain America's assassination because the Marvel Chronology Project has it before the Fallen Son books with Cap's funeral.
There is a Skrull who has replaced the Contessa but this can't be her because she replaces Dugan here. There are 2 other Skrulls who have just *impersonated* Val, in flashbacks in MAv#12 and NAv#41, and they got killed.
The phrase "He loves you" refers to the Skrull sect's belief that their god wants all aliens brought into his religion. (And we'll find at the end of SI that the replaced chars haven't been killed.)

I now continue with a brief summary of further events leading up to SI.
Civil War: Initiative Ms Marvel offers Veranke (the Skrull replacement Spider-Woman) a chance to come in from the cold (but she won't take it). MsM also tells her that Cap isn't really dead.
MAv#1-2 multiple fbs Iron Man and MsM form the Mighty Avengers.
NAv#28fb,29fb(p4-13) V/SpW joins Luke Cage's fugitive NAv and tells them Cap's alive. They try to rescue him but he's a fake and it's a trap. They fight the MAv and escape.
Av: Initiative #1fb(p4-5) Criti Noll (the Skrull Henry Pym/Yellowjacket), Reed Richards and Tony Stark ceremonially start the building of Camp Hammond, the Initiative training ground at Stamford.

MAv#17fb(p1-22) CN/YJ calls for a meeting with V, but Skrull-Dugan turns up instead. CN claims that the Invasion is bound to fail. Dugan was expecting this - he's experiencing a Pym-like breakdown. Dugan has called in a SHIELD strikeforce to take him down, but CN/YJ doesn't go down easy.
A new Skrull takes over the Pym role, along with Criti Noll's memories (and so also takes on the name Criti Noll). He'll continue to run the Initiative.
SI:FF#3fb(p11) Skrulls bring Lyja back into the fold to help abduct the Fantastic Four.
NAv#27-31 NAv rescue Echo from the Hand. Echo kills Elektra which reveals her as Skrull Pagon. (This was planned to initiate paranoia amongst the super-community.)
MAv#3(p8-9) ~ MAv#17fb(p23) SHIELD take CN/HP to help with the latest Ultron problem.
MAv#4(p9) ~ MAv#15fb(p19) CN/HP brags about his particular expertise with his creation Ultron.
NAv#32 V/SpW steals the Skrull Elektra body to give it to Tony Stark. (Some of the NAv think *he's* probably a Skrull because of Civil War.)
MAv#4(p14) CN/HP learns how Ultron has taken control of Stark's Extremis tech.
MAv#15fb(p20) CN/HP tells other Skrulls that Ultron has shown him how to invade Stark Tech.
MAv#6(p22-23)-7 V/SpW delivers Pagon/Elektra's body to TS and joins the MAv. #7 was cover-bannered as SI: Infiltration.
MAv#8(p1) ~ MAv#15fb(p21) CN/HP gives Wasp the ability to grow as well as shrink. (At the end of SI he will use that to turn her into a giant bomb.) comicbookdb.com lists MAv#8 as part of the SI: Infiltration arc but the cover doesn't.
MAv#13fb NF sends trusted ex-SHIELD agent Daisy Johnson to recruit his Secret Warriors, and tells them about Skrulls.
Wisdom #1-6 John the Skrull works with MI-13. (He was earlier 1 of 4 Skrulls supposed to replace the Beatles but didn't. But Marvel's rolling timescale makes it difficult to place that.)

A:I#1 1 of the Initiative recruits is a Skrull replacement Thor Girl.
(Silent War)
SI: Inhumans 3(p20:3) A Skrull replaces Black Bolt.
(World War Hulk)
-- WWH#1 Hulk defeats Skrull BB.
-- WWH#4-5 Illuminati including BB have to fight in an arena.
Incredible Hercules #119fb(p2) Amadeus Cho is gassed by a Skrull who replaces his coyote pup.
Guardians of the Galaxy v2 #4-6 (somewhere around this time) (published with the Secret Invasion banner) 3 dead Skrulls are found in Knowhere, leading to suspicion and distrust. They turn out to have been hunting more Skrulls protected by Cosmo the Security Chief dog. These peace-loving followers of (dead) Princess Anelle are against an upcoming Skrull invasion of Earth. But the GotG can't leave Knowhere to help because of damage to the space station in a previous fight.
A:I#14fb(p3:4-3:7) ~ A:I Annual 1/4(p6:2-6:3) CN/YJ talks to the Skrull Revolutionary of the Initiative team Liberteens. They discuss progress of a plan to get a Skrull in every team. The Annual flies the SI: Infiltration banner.
A:I8fb(p6-21) A new Initiative trainee group includes the friendly but secret Skrull Crusader.
She-Hulk (2005) #22 Skrull Jazinda works with She-Hulk as a bounty hunter. Later we'll learn she's Super-Skrull's daughter on the run from her people.
NAv#38 Jessica Jones leaves the NAv and her husband Luke Cage to take their child Danielle to Avengers Tower for safety from Skrulls, unwittingly putting her within reach of V/SpW and Jarvis. Another SI: Infiltration issue.
NAv#39 is also in SI: Infiltration, where Echo and Wolverine fight a Skrull imitation of Daredevil.
MAv#18fbs NF puts his Secret Warriors through intensive training.

Captain Marvel (2007) #1-3 CM's Skrull persona fails to restore and he continues to believe he is CM. Disguised Skrulls try to capture him but he defeats them with the help of IM and Ms Marvel. comicbookdb.com considers #2-3 part of the SI: Infiltration arc but there's no cover banner.
MAv#19(p1-4:5) Kree Marvel Boy, secretly controlling the Cube prison, sees public news of CM's return. He's been trying to contact this universe's Supreme Intelligence, and wonders if CM has been sent to help him, or is here to oppose him.
MsM(2006)#25-27 MsM herself has to prove she's the real deal when a Skrull imposter tries to take her place. These belong to SI: Infiltration.
Young Avengers Presents #2 CM meets Hulking, 'his' son by Skrull Princess Anelle.
CM#4-5 CM realises he is a Skrull, but decides to continue fighting for Earth as CM. These issues have the SI: Infiltration banner.
Black Panther (2005) #38 Brother Voodoo is uncovered as a Skrull in Wakanda, leading later to a search for more Skrull spies there.
NAv#46 Hood rescues captive Madame Masque from SHIELD agents. Hood and his gang interrogate a captive but don't believe his story about Skrulls in SHIELD until MM tortures the Agent so that he reverts to his Skrull form. He says they wanted to replace MM to infiltrate H's gang. H uses his demonic powers to scan his gang, and discovers the Slug is another Skrull replacement.

The next event is NAv: Illuminati #5, but the following actions will be covered in the Comments for that issue.


> Secret Invasion Prologue comic book info and issue index

Elektra

Excelsioring your collection:
DIAMOND SELECT TOYS Marvel Premier Collection: Avengers Endgame Captain America Statue, Multicolor
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Leinil Francis Yu
Mark Morales
Laura Martin
Leinil Francis Yu (Cover Penciler)
Leinil Francis Yu (Cover Inker)
Leinil Francis Yu (Cover Colorist)


Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Nick Fury
Nick Fury

(Nicholas Fury)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)



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