The History of the Skrulls

Secret Invasion Saga (Marvel, April 2008, free)
This freebie context setter would have been useful while reading New Avengers: Illuminati and Incredible Hercules #120—and will be useful to anyone exploring or revisiting the Secret Invasion event from a decade ago. Written by John Rhett Thomas based on research done by Jeph York, the 32-page synopsis incorporates exposition in the form of a briefing compiled by SHIELD's Maria Hill for Iron Man, combined with reproduced art from the original comics.



The text is laid out in pretty horrible computer typography, but it's still interesting reading. The issue covers most of the history of the Skrulls, at least in terms of how it relates to the Secret Invasion storyline. The artwork, a mix of new and old—with some original work for the framing introduction—has been edited and recolored, so it's not entirely true to the original publications. Artists range from John Byrne to Jim Cheung, with plenty of creators in between.

Similar in style to Marvel Saga, this kind of approach to a forthcoming event is an interesting idea, akin to best-of books like Wolverine Vs. the Marvel Universe.


The narrative draws on five decades' worth of Marvel publications related to the Skrulls, including Annihilation Prologue; Annihilation #1-6; Annihilation: Super-Skrull #1-4 and Annihilation volumes 1-3; Avengers #89-97, 133, 258-261, and 345-347; Avengers Annual #14; Avengers West Coast #80-82; Black Panther #31-34, Captain America (1968) #398-401; Captain America (1998) #4-7; Captain Marvel #2-4 and Marvel Masterworks: Captain Marvel Vol. 1; Fantastic Four #2, 18, 32, 37, 90-93, 204-214, 256-257, 262, and 358; Fantastic Four Annual #18-19 and Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne volumes 5 and 7; Iron Man #278-279; Marvel Premiere #35-37; Marvel: The Lost Generation #1-12; Mighty Marvel Westerns: Kid Colt and the Arizona Girl; Mighty Avengers #7; New Avengers #16, 18, 27-32 and New Avengers volumes 1-7; New Avengers: Illuminati #1-5 and New Avengers: The Illuminati; Nova #25; Quasar #32-35; She-Hulk #23; Silver Surfer #1-31 and Essential Silver Surfer Vol. 2; Skrull Kill Krew #1-5 and the trade paperback; Thor #142, 445-446; Uncanny X-Men #137; Wisdom #1-5 and Wisdom: Rudiments of Wisdom; Wonder Man #7-9; and Young Avengers #9-12 and the trade paperback.

Say, that's not a bad checklist for Skrull completists!

Availability: While this one shot has not been collected, we recommend Secret Invasion and Avengers: Kree/Skrull War.

This issue comes from the Henry's Green Cape collection of comics. Thank you for your donation!