Event Horizon

So this summer, as much with the last few summers, the comic book industry, the the big 2 in particular (Marvel and DC) have decided to do large event comics. In recent years, these event, which are usually miniseries, often have an unbelievable amount of tie-ins, which have come at great cost to the readers. However this year, we have something a bit different. In the Marvel universe, we Secret Invasion. Basically, an group of religious alien shape shifters believes that Earth is rightfully theirs and for the last few years, have infiltrated our society, and this is their first strike in their war. It involved the Avengers mainly, with 4 mini-series tying a majority of other big super-hero teams such as the Fantastic Four and X-men, some once shots and few new series launching out of the war. It will cross over in many books, and the main two Avengers titles, will not focus on the Avengers but on the back story leading up to the main mini-series. Now, while this does seem like a lot, it is much less than other years, and the two Avengers books as well as the min-series are all being written by the same writer, so it should be interesting. From what it looks like, certain charades will be found out to be skrulls, some skrulls maybe did not even know that they were skrulls, and some heroes will either be dead or have been in stasis for many years. It also looks like, that even if both teams of Avengers get their collective heads out of their asses, the new Captain America, Thor and Nick Fury will be the saviors of the day.


As for DC, they are basing their event on the recent Sinestro Corp War storyline in Green Lantern. This was a massive storyline that effected the DCU but only was in Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corp and had one other issue tie in. Their Final Crisis will be culmination of the 1986 Crisis on Infinite Earth, Identity Crisis by Brad Meltzer and Infinite Crisis by Geoff Johns. (If you couldn't tell Marvel likes the words 'War' and 'Secret' and DC likes 'Crisis') Here the idea is the for as long as we can remember, these evil and good gods have been fighting, and evil won. Every time our heroes have faced off against these gods, we had the good ones helping us, but not this time. This is the day evil wins in the DCU. The event has maybe 5-6 total issues of tie-ins, 3 mini-series and 4 one-shots. Almost all of mini-series or off shoots are being written by 3 writers, all of whom worked together on the landmark weekly mini-series called 52. And maybe the most exciting part of this, is that it looks like the savior of the DCU might be the same character who was their first official saint, the one who died in the original Crisis on Infinite Earths, running so fast to blow up a devastating weapon that he became one with the universe. Barry Allen is back, to deliver one of those nick-of-time saves.

Now I grew up on Marvel and I love the recent Captain America book, enjoy the Avengers books and am looking forward to Secret Invasion and the new Captain Brittain and MI:13 books, Marvel, at times, reeks of arrogance. Forever they put their universe in a few hands, who were capable but always thought of themselves as the best. Joe Quesada, especially has shown this, especially of late when he decided to reverse 30 years of history by taking away Spider-Man's marriage. He didn't want this perennial hero to be divorced, so he rather him make a deal with the devil for the world to forget his marriage.....huh?

DC on the other hand, has of recent years, made plenty of mistakes (Countdown being one of them) but has done a more humble, more team approach to their books, and SCW and Crisis being a signal of it, have done more for the fans in not making their event book being something in which you have buy 80 comics to understand.

And let's face it, with Marvel we might get back ape-like Beast or might find out that Hank Pym has been skrull, and you might get Fury and the classic Avengers beating back an invasion, but DC just brought back Barry Allen for one of those nick of time saves....And as the show Firelfy once told us:

Mal: Well look at this. 'Pears we got here just in the nick of time. What does that make us?
Zoë: Big damn heroes, sir.
Mal: Ain't we just.