Weekly Comic Book Review

By Brian Reed (Writer), Adriana Melo (Pencils), Chris Sotomayor (Colors), Mariah Benes (Inks), and Paulo Siqueira (Artist for pages 23 & 24)

The conclusion of the “Battle of Manhattan” Secret Invasion tie-in is a quick, but ultimately satisfying read that shows why Ms. Marvel is clearly one of the best female characters in the Marvel universe.

The action once again takes front and center, as Ms. Marvel is pushed to the absolute limit facing off against a rampaging, animalistic Super-Skrull that has the ability to change powers instantaneously. While that is pretty much it for the plot, there is a nice little twist near the end that definitely makes me look forward to where the series will go from here.

As for the technical stuff, it pretty much is business as usual this month. Brian Reed continues to do good work in his handling of Ms. Marvel by showing what effect the Invasion has had on both her personality and her mindset, while the art team continues to make Ms. Marvel one of the best looking books on the stands. My only nitpick is that the direction of some of the action seems a bit off at times, but it does little to diminish the overall quality of the artwork. Also, I must mention that Adriana Melo draws an absolutely incredible Ms. Marvel and suitably ferocious looking Super-Skrull.

Had this tie-in been set to go on for another month, I would have mentioned that things were dangerously close to becoming stale. Instead, I get to say that the “Battle of Manhattan” has been one of the best Invasion tie-ins, and it does a nice job of setting Ms. Marvel up for the future. (Grade: B)

-Kyle Posluszny