I’m going to start with Invaders, because it delivered such a punch that I needed to get it down while my thoughts are whirling. So, here’s my review/recap.
Okay, in previous issues of Invaders we learned that a very young, very green Charles Xavier, when he was first out looking for other mutants, met returned WW2 veteran and PTSD stricken Namor and then roped him into a road trip.
At one point Xavier and Namor encountered another mutant who was turning cats and dogs into people, because he was lonely. The police open fired and shot this other mutant right in front of Xavier and Namor, and Namor got agitated and started throwing cop cars around.
Xavier then did something to Namor’s mind. He took a memory of a soldier that had served with the Invaders, a guy named Tommy, and placed him in Namor’s head to serve as a quasi therapist, to help Namor recover from his PTSD.
At least that’s what Xavier CLAIMED was “Tommy’s” purpose. “Tommy” is actually a murderous dick-head who’s been steadily breaking Namor’s mind down over the decades.
All of which culminated into today’s issue of Invaders #5.
See Namor has bombs and he wants to take out humanity. And Steve, Jim, and Bucky have been trying this entire run to stop the production of the bombs before they were ready, and reach out to their friend and brother-in-arms, Namor, who they know is not well, and they thought they could talk down from all this.
Except “Tommy”, after decades of being in Namor’s head, is the stronger voice right now. And he had Namor rip Jim’s head-off and fire missiles at humanity.
And that is where the newest issue of Invaders ends. Goddamned cliff hangers. Ugh.
The blue guy with the red hair, there, is “Tommy”.
And this is why I’ve been internally screaming all morning. Mr. Zdarsky, I’ll be sending you my therapy bill, thank you.
That said, a story is supposed to engross, supposed to draw you in, supposed to make you concerned for the characters. This one does it in spades, so even though I’m devastated right now, and I want issue #6 like yesterday, the storytelling here is amazing. Seriously, if you aren’t already reading this book, I definitely recommend it. It’s one of the best books out right now.
