Sep
17
2008
It must be seeing all the Secret Invasion books on the shelves that has me going through my back issue collection reading all the super-heroes-fight-alien-invaders comics, like DC’s Invasion! and Marvel’s Kree-Shiar War. Happily, that gave me an excuse to re-read Peter B. Gillis and Brent Anderson’s Strikeforce: Morituri, an excellent super-hero comic and a good science-fiction story.
Strikeforce: Morituri is more than just a super-hero book, more than just an alien invasion book. It is an analysis of what it means to be a hero and a patriot, and a story about what drives people to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. A number of things make it a book worth hunting down: Brent Anderson and Scott Williams’ excellent and expressive artwork, the rich cast of characters, the originality of the concept, and the intelligence of the writing. Continue Reading »
Sep
06
2008
With Marvel currently in the middle of their Skrulls-invade-Earth Secret Invasion cross-over event, the timing is perfect to go back and revisit DC’s 1989 alien invasion cross-over, appropriately titled Invasion!, and see how they handled super-heroes facing seemingly impossible odds defending the planet. DC also seems to think that this is the right time to bring the main limited series into the spotlight: they have finally released it as a trade paperback, amusingly with the new tagline, Secret No More. What rascals to trade on their competition’s big event! It is high time Invasion! was reprinted, as it is one of the better limited series connected to a cross-over event to come from either company.
Alien invasions are a common storyline in science-fiction, and the Earths of the Marvel and DC Universes get invaded on a regularity rivaled only by the Earth of the Doctor Who Universe. Despite the idea being nothing new, Invasion! is worth hunting down either in the back-issue bins or in the new trade. Continue Reading »
