Because you didn’t get enough of it the first time — SKRULLAPALOOZA!

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In case you missed Marvel’s last major event — and by last I mean most recent event, and not final event — Secret Invasion is back in a slew of trade paperbacks so you can finally join in on all the talk around the water cooler about the series that lead to the current state of affairs in the Marvel universe with Norman Osborne in charge.

“We’re very appreciative of the unprecedented support from retailers, fans and the press for Secret Invasion,” said David Gabriel, Marvel Senior Vice President of Sales & Circulation. “With the recent announcement of Secret Invasion Black Panther and Runaways/Young Avengers making the New York Times Graphic Books Best Sellers List, we thought this would be a good time to remind fans of the affordable packages we have available for them to catch the stories they might have missed, while also alerting new fans of a way to discover what led to Dark Reign.”

Sixteen trades are already available, with fifteen more on the way between now and June. Take the jump for the complete list, so you have all the background you need (hint: the Earth wins).

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War of Kings Sells Out

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I bet you were through with Secret Invasion, but behold true believers, Secret Invasion: War of Kings has sold out at Diamond Comic Distributors!  This has prompted the House of Ideas to send the issue back to press with a variant cover…yada…yada…yada.

And yes, War of Kings is a new even that will headline many upcoming titles including War of Kings; Darkhawk #1

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Marvel Sneak Peek: Secret Warriors #1

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With Dark Reign’s effects being felt throughout Marvel’s 616, who will be willing to fight back?  Nick Fury may have the solution as he has assembled an all new crew of Secret Warriors in the form of the sons and daughters of super villains.  Marvel has sent Major Spoilers a sneak peek of Secret Warriors #1 that arrives in February, but if you want even more information on the series, and what else is going on in the Marvel Universe, check out the Agent of Nothing website (www.agentofnothing.com).

Nick Fury has been leaking some information all throughout the Marvel Universe and if you click over to www.agentofnothing.com and use the password “eagleeye” you’ll discover his secrets! There are additional passwords hidden in Marvel comics all throughout January, so keep your eyes peeled for even more special exclusive content!

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Marvel Sneak Peek: Secret Invasion: War of Kings #1

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And you thought Secret Invasion was over.  Not with the release of this week’s Secret Invasion: War of Kings One-Shot from Marvel Comics.  The company has sent Major Spoilers a massive sneak peek of the issue, that you can read after the jump.

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Review: Secret Invasion #8 (of 8)

Or – “Setting Up The NEXT Big Crossover…”

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Marvel has sent us from crossover to crossover in the last few years, from House of M to Civil War to World War Hulk to Secret Invasion, with the overall effect being that there is no longer a status quo to upend.  Since the entirety of their publishing plan seems to be “Everything you know is wrong,” this makes for a somewhat tempestuous relationship with books like this.  Now, Secret Invasion is ending, and the question we all have to ask is:  How long a timeframe have these stories all taken place in, anyway? 

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Marvel Sneak Peek: Iron Man: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #35

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War Machine is mad as hell and packing heat.  Not just because Terrance Howard is out of Iron Man 2: Electric Boogaloo, but because of those damn dirty Skrulls.  It gets intense in Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #35, and Marvel has sent Major Spoilers a sneak peek.

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Secret Invasion #8 Gets Two Week Delay

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Marvel has just announced the final issue of Secret Invasion will now arrive in stores on December 3, 2008.  Seems the extra pages and the hectic schedule were just too much for Leinel Yu.

“Anybody who pored over the artwork from #7 a week ago can easily see how he and Mark Morales have been putting their all (and then some) into every page and every panel, and that effort has finally caught up with us. Hopefully, retailers and fans will forgive us these extra two weeks as we make sure that everything is in the shape it should be in for the extra-sized climax—and from there, it’ll be smooth sailing straight into DARK REIGN,” said Executive Editor Tom Brevoort in a prepared statement.

Considering the size of the Secret Invasion event, spilling into almost every other Marvel title, I’m impressed Marvel was able to keep the schedule going for this long. Considering many Comic Wednesdays were flooded with Marvel titles (not necessarily a result of Secret Invasion), many local comic shops were overwhelmed, and I’m sure there were many fans who had to make a choice between what issues they could afford that particular week.

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Review: Secret Invasion #7 (of 8)

Or – “And We Still Have Almost NO Idea What’s Going On…”

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The art of the big crossover event has changed over the years.  The first one, (in my memory, anyway) Secret Wars, was done almost entirely outside of the regular titles’ continuity, with the individual heroes stories jumping forward a few weeks in time, while the miniseries played out separately for the rest of the year.  Crisis on Infinite Earths took place everywhere at once, causing for weird moments where characters we expected to see in one place turned up in another.  Civil War annoyed me with it’s tendency to put the home titles in low gear or idle while we waited to see what played out in the main title.  Secret Invasion has done a little bit of all of these, in that the Avengers titles have been indefinitely suspended in favor of Skrully Flashback Theatre, whereas Spider-Man’s home books completely ignore that anything called Skrullapalooza even happened, except for that “Mary Jane vs. Sinister Six Super Skrull” miniseries, and both Fantastic Four and X-Men have done their crossover bits as separate from their regular minis.  Last issue, our heroes rallied, banding together for the big fight…  What happens this issue?

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Embrace Change

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If you didn’t get a laugh, or at least appreciate what Marvel is doing with its Embrace Change commercial that ran this week on ESPN2, I’d encourage you to check out the video, or take a look at the still images from the spot.  If you think Marvel is missing out by promoting the Secret Invasion story now, I have a feeling, the Skrulls aren’t going to be off Earth by the end of issue #8.

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via Marvel

Review: Secret Invasion #6 (of 8)

Or – “Has It Been Ten Years Already?”

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As a long-time comics fan, I have found that certain bigs of comic lore tend to keep recurring every few years…  Phoenix is reborn!  Spider-Man’s life will never be the same again!  A foe strong enough to defeat Superman!  A new headquarters for the Justice League!  And, most germane to this situation, the founding Avengers return to action!  I remember a conversation with my co-worker Dusty around the time that Kurt Busiek relaunched the Avengers post-Heroes-Reborn, wherein he opined that Captain America, Iron Man and Thor ARE the Avengers, and everybody else isn’t what he reads the title for.  Apparently, Marvel editorial agrees, and this is the issue that proves it…

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