The return of Nick Fury, The beginning of the new Howling Commando’s, could you ask for anything more…

It just didn’t seem right for me to post up the review for Secret Invasion #2 and not put up the review for Mighty Avengers #13 as well. For some reason, maybe because Bendis is writing both of them they seem like they go together like peanut butter and jelly. Mighty Avengers seems to be the backdrop for Secret Invasion. Bendis has all but transported the Mighty Avengers out of the Mighty Avenger series and focused it on Nick Fury and this new Rag Tag team of legacy super-hero’s. This is told in flashback as Nick Fury’s return and his new Howling Commando’s occurs 6 months prior to Secret Invasion #1.



As a side-note I don’t know how long that idea has been brewing in Bendis’ head for this compilation of this new team from the children of former Avengers, but it definitely feels a lot like Justice Society of America, just sped up in an extremely compressed way. Yeah I am going to start reviews for the JSA soon, but if you go back and read issues of that you will look at Bendis’ work in Mighty Avengers #13 with questions of where did that idea come from? Yes, I am sure it has been done before.

Furthermore, since these are new characters in the Marvel Universe and there exist no card support for them as of yet, from here on out we will have a Mighty Avengers VS Reflections that will be based on these legacies; we are going to call this team The New Howling Commando’s. Expect that this weekend with a VS Reflections Thor as well.

This issue picks up where Mighty Avengers #12 leaves off. Nick Fury is out of hiding after being attacked by the Skrulls and he is fully aware of the situation and trying to deal with it in his way. I love Nick Fury. In Mighty Avengers #13 we get an explanation for why he disappeared and where he has been and how he has stayed hidden for so long. Shortly after coming out of hiding in Mighty Avengers #12 he recruits Jessica Drew to covertly get back in S.H.I.E.L.D.; in this issue he gets Daisy Johnson a.k.a. Quake, whom we haven’t seen since the Secret Wars story to help him recruit his new Howling Commandos.



First up Daisy and Nick hash out some entertaining past times in Bendis fashion, while Nicky Fury is looking very “Ultimate-like”, probably a nod to the Iron Man movie. Then Daisy is off to recruit these new Howling Commando’s.

She tracks down the Son (J.T.) of the Original Ghost Rider, The Phantom Rider, can’t wait to see what this guy can do.

The Son (Alex Aaron) of Ares, Phobos, who has the power to instill fear in people, I wonder how Ares will like that when he finds out about it. Even more important is how Phobos is a little kid who doesn’t know he has powers, especially when he once carried a blade that killed Gods. If you don’t know what I am talking about read the Ares, Mini-series which takes place just before he joins the Mighty Avengers.

The Daughter (Yo Yo Rodriguez) of the Griffin is an interesting little speedster. The Son of Doctor Druid who is absolutely looking for help and is obviously a bit touchy, he is also unnamed for some reason.

Daisy also recruits another (Jerry Sledge) who Bendis gives no information on, I don’t know why, it could be that with every recruit the time spent on that recruit gets shorter and shorter in the issue and thus there is no time left, or maybe this is supposed to be a surprise. What we do know about him is he has a temper problem, is very muscular and beat up some cops. Daisy bails him out of jail after apparently witnessing him beat the snot out of the cops. I’m thinking Frank Castle was dropping kids off somewhere. Over on Comicbookresources.com some people are linking him to another, possibly a Deviant.



If you don’t know what a Deviant is, then you probably have little information on the Skrulls, Eternals and Celestials. With the Eternals series beginning in June it may very well crossover into the Secret Invasion and has some impact so read up on Neil Gaiman’s powerhouse series. Just a hint of information, the Skrulls is an off-shoot of the Deviants enemies of the Eternals.



All of these recruits are “caterpillars” as Nick Fury refers to them, children of villains and superheroes that have powers that no one else knows about and recruiting and training them is the best he can do against the Skrull invasion because he has no clue who to trust of the existing Heroes.



Daisy also tried to recruit Layla Miller, who was very insightful. Keep in mind that all of this is 6 months prior to the invasion. In Layla’s panels it says she was X-Factor HQ.



Layla tells Daisy that she can’t accompany her as she has something more important to handle, but not to worry that she will live through all of this even though some will die. I don’t know if this is Pre-Messiah Complex or Post-Messiah Complex as Alex Maleev makes Layla look older and Bendis makes her sound wiser. Could be either or, either way we got a group of new Howling Commando’s under Nick Fury’s leadership.

We also know that Mighty Avengers #14 is going to continue following Nick and this rag-tag group of Howling Commandos, the issue is also due out later this month. Overall the issue was done extremely well, I am not a fan of the artwork, but some people probably are that’s why it is called art. Bendis does a far better job on this than he does on the Secret Invasion #2 story.

Even better I noticed at the end of the chapter at Nick Fury’s place there is a collage of Heroes, some circled. This was in Mighty Avengers #12 and could be a hint at heroes who may be Skrulls. I’ll include scans of it later.

The revealed Skrulls thus far are; Elektra, Blackbolt, Cobalt Man and the original Cyclone, Edwin Jarvis, Henry Pym, Mar-Vell and the leader of the Liberteens, the Revolutionary. The Mar-Vell Skrull somehow believes himself to be the real Mar-Vell and is fighting against the Skrulls which furthers the story in Secret Invasion #2 and my premise that not even the Skrull impostors really know they are Skrulls. There was a Ms. Marvel Skrull that was captured. Dum Dum Dugan is revealed to be a Skrull agent as well. A Skrull takes the form of Susan Storm in order to send the Baxter Building to the Negative Zone, whether Susan Storm is actually a Skrull agent is yet to be seen.

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