Marvel NOW steps into a new arena with All-New Invaders. For those in the dark, The Invaders originally came into being in 1969 by Rob Thomas and Sal Buscema – a team featuring The Original Human Torch, his sidekick Toro, Captain America and Bucky Barnes. Over the last few decades, The Invaders have enjoyed multiple adventures, and even a reboot or two. As Marvel begins to unfold the next evolution of their characters with the NOW series, The Invaders return for more excitement.
Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch, is hiding out in small town America. Having been both a hero and betrayer, Hammond is wrestling with his own guilt over what he’s done. To make it worse, he’s not exactly human and he’s not quite an android. Trying to find peace in his existence, Hammond has become a small town mechanic in a rural area. He can vanish in this town, disappear and never be discovered.
Wrong. An alien named Tanalth The Pursuer shows up in Apple Pie America and slaughters Roger, Hammond’s boss, who had also become a good friend. Needless to say, Hammond goes super nova and the slap out begins. During the fight, Tanalth hits Hammond with a power that transports him back in time. He’s not part of what he’s seeing, but more an outsider looking in.
The memory Hammond’s watching is of an attack on a Nazi camp, one with Namor, Bucky, and Torch, but not Toro and instead of Captain America, the Invaders come strapped with Major Liberty. Even more bizarre, Bucky and Namor are also watching this weird memory from afar, much the same way Hammond is. When he returns to reality, Hammond finds himself about to be beaten by Tanalth, when suddenly Bucky and Captain America show up.
Having left DC’s Earth 2, James Robinson steps right into this new slant on The Invaders. While not as bombastic as Earth 2, All New Invaders is an interesting read. So much history flows through the team that creating a new adventure is akin to rebooting them. Who better to do that than Robinson, the man behind the insanity of Earth 2? Not enough happens in this inaugural issue to tell if the whole series will be good, but Robinson has All New Invaders off to a good start.
Where Robinson had the amazing talents of Nicola Scott on Earth 2, he is sadly stuck with the adequate abilities of Steve Pugh. Nothing Pugh does is awful, it just doesn’t crackle with any real life. The line work is soft, so while the detail is strong, there is no gravitas to the visuals. Most of what works within the art comes from the strong colors done by Guru-eFX. Even with Pugh’s light lines and rather ho-hum inking, Guru-eFX makes the colors pop, which really helps in the fight scenes.
All New Invaders #1 opens up some interesting doors for the long-standing team. Let’s just hope a more pronounced artist is handed the reigns.
(4 Story, 2.5 Art)
