What It All Boils Down To: This being Bendis, the issue is mostly tough guy talk, which Bendis loves. It works well, for the most part, though you'd think the Hood would be a little humbler now that the Avengers have kicked his ass once already. Like most of these Secret Invasion flashbacks, it's solidly entertaining. And I still have faith that the eventual wrap up of the invasion will be worth the years we've waited for. Read Full Review

In the interest of full disclosure, if you've been unimpressed with the vast majority of the Avengers tie-ins, you can probably add this one to the bunch. But I found myself interested in the crime syndicate's involvement, and if you're got similar inclinations there's a development or two that makes this issue worth a look. Read Full Review

A great story arc for Marvel's Secret Invasion. If you're into the invasion or just a fan of villains, this book is worth it. Read Full Review

Those complaints aside, this is a decent enough Secret Invasion tie-in that provides a good showcase for the artist who will be handling New Avengers for the foreseeable future, and provides a reasonably entertaining story with a couple of well-handled moments of Skrull-exposure (and that sounds a lot dirtier than I meant it to). Of course, you could question whether this kind of story belongs in an Avengers title at all (again, no Avengers actually appear here - maybe the book really should be retitled Not Avengers?) but the time for griping about that is long past. If you're still reading this book, you're presumably happy with the format - which I personally think is a decent way of handling big event comics and their tie-ins. It's just a shame that they have been so choppy and inconsistent in terms of quality. Read Full Review

I actually enjoyed reading the issue and, while another 'fill in the blanks' tiein by Bendis, it actually gave us something new and intersting to chew on, whereas other tieins read like an entire issue devoted to being told being what the heroes had for breakfast before Skrulls replaced them. The reveal at the end has lots of storytelling promise and it will be interesting to see what part, if any, it plays in Secret Invasion's conclusion or the postSI world. Read Full Review