About two weeks ago, the Marvel Universe was reintroduced to the Invaders, the World War II era team of superheroes that fought alongside the Allies consisting of Captain America, Bucky, The Sub-Mariner, the original Human Torch, and more, in the new All-New Marvel NOW series ‘All-New Invaders’. The first issue primarily focused on Jim Hammond, who had settled into a nice life in a small town far from his legacy as the Human Torch and superheroing. However, a mighty Kree warrior named Tanalth the Pursuer came knocking on his door in search of a weapon that controls Asgardians known as the God’s Whisper. Together with Cap and the Winter Soldier, the three heroes defend the small town and get to the bottom of this attack.

Whereas in the last issue we focused on the Torch, this issue brings the former Bucky front and center. The majority of this chapter saw things from the Winter Soldier’s point of view and showed us how he and the Sentinel of Liberty got involved in the scuffle in Blaketon. Being a big fan of the character, it was great to see the former sidekick join in on the action. With the rest of the world believing him to be dead, he doesn’t pop up often these days, but now that he’s involved in this story, I’m glad to have the opportunity to see his face more often. I’m sure that it helps that he’ll be starring in a major motion picture later this year as well, but any excuse to get more Winter Soldier is okay by me.

However, there were a few things about him that bothered me. Not often, but there were some instances where James Robinson made him talk like his former sidekick self. Bucky has come into his own as a character and he’s a badass in his own right, so the sidekick talk is a little unnecessary. But then again, whenever he teams up with Cap, I could see how he might revert to some of those speech patterns despite being a hardcore brooding assassin.

Another thing about Bucky is that Steve Pugh draws him very similarly to his teenage counterpart from the war. Maybe it’s the haircut, but Winter Soldier looks younger than he has in past storylines like ‘The Death of Captain America’. This might add to the kiddie perception that I’m seeing on the character in this book, but it really is a tiny thing to be nitpicky about.

Regardless of all of that, the second issue of this series really answered a lot of questions for me. One of my queries from the first issue was about timelines and why the Kree were attacking them so soon after ‘Infinity’ since the Avengers fought side by side with them against the Builders. At various points in this issue, they addressed that part of the story and put everything into perspective. The writer really did a good job of keeping up with continuity in a way that didn’t bog down the story. Stuff like that is very appreciated when all of these books are supposed to be happening in the same universe at the same time.

Now that the threat in Illinois has been dealt with and the team has an idea of what they’re up against, the Invaders are determined to rescue their teammate from the clutches of the enemy. I look forward to catching up with Namor and seeing how he’s getting through this whole ordeal while he’s being held captive. This impending reunion is something that I feel this series does really well because it’s using just the right amount of nostalgia to fuel something new and exciting that has payoffs for old and new fans alike. Hopefully, they keep it up and make me want to keep coming back for more.

Final Score:

atoms_3.5

 

 

ALL-NEW INVADERS #2
Written by James Robinson
Art by Steve Pugh & Guru-eFX
Cover by Mukesh Singh