COMIC NEWS: FTN reivews All-New Invaders #1

Writer: James Robinson

Art: Steve Pugh

Colors: GURU-eFX

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Since it was announced that Marvel was bringing back the Invaders I have been really excited to see what they were going to do with this team in 2014.

The Invaders originally appeared in 1969 in Avengers #71 and were comprised of Captain America and his sidekick Bucky, the android Human Torch and his sidekick Toro and Namor the Submariner. Their adventures where flashback stories taking place in WWII where the team went up against the Nazi forces. These were great stories and I wondered what could they do with the team now?

Well as seen in Marvel Now Point One, the Kree Empire is after missing pieces of a device that is said can control a god. The Kree Supreme Intelligence has sent Tanalth the Pursuer to retrieve these pieces which were hidden at the end of the war by the Invaders and the first Invader she seeks out is Jim Hammond also known as the Original Human Torch.

I felt this was perfect for issue one as it allows newer readers to become familiar with the original Human Torch character. Most people who hear that name will probably right away tell you it’s Johnny Storm, however Jim Hammond who originated the name debuted twenty two years earlier in Marvel Comics #1. So to start out this new series seeing Hammond and what he is currently doing was a welcome sight because most would think they would start off with Cap. However by doing this you also set up what is to come and by bringing the Human Torch back out of obscurity was in my opinion the right move.

This first issue gives us what we would expect from a book about the Invaders, we get fantastic battle scenes of both the Torch versus Tanalth with the Torch’s fire burning brighter than ever. We also get a flashback to the Invaders during a battle against the Nazi’s and the Asgardian Goddess Hela in World War II. Though you will quickly notice that the flashback, or as it actually is in this issue a deep hidden memory of the Torch, there is something very wrong. Namely Toro is missing and there is a character known as Major Liberty instead of the good old Captain. Hopefully in future issues we will learn what this memory is and how it came to be inside the Torch and if it is a result of the many times he was deactivated or his brainwashing at the hands of the Descendents.

I could not think of a better way to bring back one of the most iconic teams in Marvel history. James Robinson wrote an opening salvo that was brilliant and really makes this reader want to know what happens next. Bringing all these characters back together is fantastic and the fact that the Winter Soldier is here makes it all the more special. It would not be an Invaders book if Bucky was not by Caps side. The question though is will we see some of Toro in future issues?

The highlight of this issue however has to be the art from Steve Pugh and GURU-eFX. The title page alone is a work of art but what really makes this issue spectacular are two splash pages within that truly blew my mind. It is so fantastic that I wish Marvel would sell them as prints because these need to be added to my wall. The colors, the hues everything is spot on and just makes the all around story of this first issue all the more special.

So make sure you pick up this issue of All New Invaders because really it is the start of what is sure to be a fantastic series.

So from Spin to all of you I give this book an Invading

4.5 out of 5 nerds