Broken Frontier

There’s quite a bit of Secret Invasion stuff going on this week. But first we take a trip to the Ultimate Universe, where the secrets of Nick Fury are revealed…

Ultimate Origins #4 clears up a few continuity points and raises more questions, as we learn how Nick Fury—a former criminal and survivor of the experiments that led to Project: Rebirth, and created Captain America—became the head of a project intended to recreate Rebirth, under the guiding hands of scientists Bruce Banner, Hank Pym, Richard Parker and Franklin Storm, using samples of the super soldier formula from Fury’s own blood.

The experiment goes awry after Banner (aided by the youthful Pym) tests the formula on himself, becoming the monstrous Hulk-and kills Richard and Mary Parker. The infant Peter Parker is rescued by Fury.

How all this ties in with the various details of the characters histories previously established will take some working out, but it does cleverly mirror certain aspects of their mainstream Marvel counterparts histories back on Earth 616: the young Hank Pym effectively takes the place of Rick Jones in the Hulk’s origin, while Fury’s participation in Project: Rebirth eliminates the need for the Infinity Formula (the serum which keeps the ‘real’ Fury young) by making the Super Soldier Serum the secret of this World War II veteran’s unnatural longevity.

It also makes this version of Fury effectively Earth 31916’s answer to Isaiah Bradley, the ‘black Captain America’! And it establishes that until comparatively recently, Fury still had a full head of hair, clearing up the apparent continuity clashes between his Samuel L. Jackson inspired current look and his early appearances in Ultimate Marvel team-Up. All this is told in flashback, of course. Back in the present day, the Ultimate Fantastic Four are investigating a mysterious alien artifact at Project: Pegasus—a ‘Watcher’, which warns that it has come to witness ‘the coming devastation’…

Continuity: The Infinity Formula, the serum which keeps the mainstream Nick Fury youthful, was first mentioned in Marvel Spotlight #31(1976), though the Ultimate explanation is more elegant. The concept of the US government using black soldiers as experimental subjects for Project: Rebirth first came up in The Truth: Red, White & Black #1 (2003), which introduced Isaiah Bradley.

The Ultimate Fantastic Four have more problems in Ultimate X-Men/Ultimate Fantastic Four Annual #1, in which a group of X-Men from a Sentinel dominated future travel back through time to find the man responsible for their fugitive status and the persecution of mutant kind-Reed Richards! Just make matters worse, the most bloodthirsty of these future X-Men is one Franklin Richards, the son that Reed Richards does not yet have. The story concludes in Ultimate Fantastic Four/X-Men Annual #1, on sale in two weeks.

Continuity: Franklin Richards as part of a fugitive group of X-Men in a Sentinel controlled future clearly echoes the ‘Days of Future Past’ storyline from the classic Uncanny X-Men #141-142 (1981).

Back in the ‘real’ MU, meanwhile, events have taken a decidedly nasty turn in Secret Invasion: Inhumans #2, where a sinister Skrull scientist is on the point of dissecting the captive Black Bolt when an easier method of ensuring his co-operation occurs to him-using Black Bolt’s son, Ahura, for leverage! Meanwhile, in the besieged city of Attillan, Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Lockjaw and Triton prepare to take the fight to the Skrulls in order to retrieve their missing monarch. Leaving mad Maximus to defend Attillan, presumably…

Continuity: Maximus usurped the throne of Attillan in Inhumans: Silent War #6 (2007). Whether this was before or after Black Bolt was replaced by a Skrull has yet to be determined.

Marvel’s teen heroes are still fighting the Skrulls on another front in Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways # 3, as heroic Skrull Xavin tries to save heroic half Skrull Hulkling (AKA Prince Dorrek) from the clutches of the murderously non heroic Skrull Commander Chrell. The defeat of Chrell is only the start of the Young Avengers’ participation in Secret Invasion, though, as Hulkling, Wiccan and Speed still have to link up with their teammates Patriot, Hawkeye and Vision-last seen involved in the fighting in Times Square in the pages of Secret Invasion itself. The Runaways, meanwhile, are off into the pages of their own new series…

Secret Invasion: X-Men #2, meanwhile, sees the mighty mutants battling to save San Francisco from the Super Skrull hordes—though not very successfully! Even with the assistance of new arrivals Northstar, Aurora and Husk and the re-emergence of Warren Worthington’s berserker Archangel persona, the team have clearly lost the early advantage they seemed to have last month, and are now back to fighting a guerilla war again. Still, that has always been their preferred method of operation…

Continuity: Warren ‘Angel’ Worthington apparently gained the ability to become the metal winged Archangel in times of stress last month in X-Force #6, though it’s still rather unclear how he manages this or indeed is able to.

Ms Marvel #30 is another Secret Invasion tie-in, with Carol taking on the most dangerous Super Skrull of all at the deserted superhuman prison ‘the Raft’, and saving the life of old enemy Tiger Shark in the process. Luckily, the hideously mutated creature is ultimately more annoyed at its fellow Skrulls for what they’ve done to it than it is at the human enemies it was created to fight.

Continuity: Ms Marvel first encountered Tiger Shark way back in Ms Marvel Vol I # 15-16 (1978), though he had rather more to do that time around and was not in need of her help.

Wade Wilson becomes involved with the invasion in Deadpool #1, though, as usual where the Merc with the Mouth is concerned his response to it is far from predictable. Outnumbered and outgunned, he gains access to the Skrull commander…and promptly offers his services to the invaders! Has Deadpool betrayed the human race, or is this all part of a cunning plan? Does even Deadpool know? It seems we’ll just have to wait and see…

Jumping to another part of the Marvel multiverse, Amazing Spider-Girl # 24 finds a bemused Mayday Parker confronted by another Mayday Parker, while on yet another alternate Earth, Sabretooth takes on the Exiles evil counterparts in New Exiles #11—including Slaymaster, who is still out to eliminate every version of Psylocke in the multiverse. Japanese superheroes Big Hero 6 return in (fairly obviously) Big Hero 6 #1, and the true history of Magneto (this week, anyway) begins to unfold in Magneto: Testament #1. Amongst other places…

Continuity: the history of Magneto (now revealed to be one Max Eisenhardt rather than, as was previously believed, Erik Magnus Lensherr) is a difficult one to unravel, and the stated intention of Greg Pak to make this his definitive origin story could be said to be slightly undermined by the somewhat contradictory view of these events depicted in House of M: Civil War #1, also out this week. Although to be fair, that could be said to be allowable as the latter story takes place in an alternate universe. Or not. Oh, I give up…

Panel of the Week

Marvel Illustrated: The Three Musketeers #4

And now for something completely different; treachery and intrigue in The Three Musketeers #4.