I was a kid who love comics, but in my teenage years I took a break. I returned to comics for Civil War and then Secret Invasion, the latter becoming one of my favorite storylines in comics history. So revisiting the story with Paul Cornell‘s Secret Invasion prose novel adaptation was a no-brainer. While it will never live up to the experience of reading Brian Michael Bendis‘ original comic arc, it was a grand time diving back into who you can trust.
The shapeshifting alien race known as the Skrulls have infiltrated every branch of the Marvel Universe, from S.H.I.E.L.D., to the Avengers, and even interplanetary defense force S.W.O.R.D.
As the New Avengers watch leader of the Hand, Elektra, transform into a Skrull after her death, they come to realise that an attack is coming, one that has been planned for many years. From heroes to villains, anyone could be a Skrull in disguise. Uncertain of who to trust, the team tries desperately to unite against an unseen foe. But it is too late.
The invasion has begun. A crashed ship in the Savage Land. A prison break at the Raft. Thunderbolts Mountain under attack. And an armada of Skrull ships approaching Earth. Scattered and hopeless, heroes and villains alike must team up to fight a war they never saw coming, the fallout of which will change the face of the Marvel Universe as we know it.
Like all major story arcs and events for Marvel Comics, a good knowledge of the Marvel Universe is needed to grasp most of the characters in this story. However, what made this story so great was the vast number of different characters from both past and present involved in this story. Cornell takes a bit of liberty and expands what happens in the comic series, but it fit well within the overall plot as well as help tie things up a bit more in the end. As this story is likely written to be a stand alone, not expecting most to dive into the next chapter in Marvel Comics history.
As I have said in past reviews of prose novel adaptations of comics is that one of the reasons I enjoy reading comics is the mixture of good storytelling as well as the visual aspects of floppy comics, from the covers to the panels and more. This, of course, is missing from a prose novel, but Cornell is able to at least describe and set the tone for the story in his writing. Cornell immerses us in the Secret Invasion storyline without the need for visual storytelling.
Cornell does a fantastic job adapting the eerie and unsettling feeling of who you can trust. This is the core aspect of this storyline and Paul got the task at hand, delivering a story that lives up to the original material. Who is a Skrull, who is trying to help, and who is trying to attack? It’s a feeling that hits on nearly every page and really makes you think.
With Secret Invasion being one of my favorite stories in comics, having a prose adaptation available for those looking to read the story outside of comics is always a bonus. This allows those who don’t want to pickup the trade paperback of this story and dive into the written tale or even audiobook a place to get this outstanding story in a new format. Allowing more people to consume what was originally created by Bendis.
This all being said, the artwork in the original event for Marvel Comics by Leinil Francis Yu is truly spectacular and needs to be seen. You get a glimpse of said artwork with the cover of this book, but the visuals make the story sink in a bit more. I understand you can never really accomplish this with a prose novel, but Cornell does a good enough job to allow you to understand what is going on. Still, take a gander at the comic series.
The Secret Invasion prose novel adaptation by Paul Cornell is a strong and worthwhile return to one of Marvel’s most amazing storylines. It may not replicate what Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Francis Yu crafted in the original comic run, but it does capture the paranoia, scale, and tension that made the event so memorable in the first place. It was fun revisiting the story in a new format, allowing more readers to experience a fantastic superhero tale.
The original hardcover was released in 2023, but the paperback of Marvel’s Secret Invasion Prose Novel hits bookstores everywhere on November 3, 2026 from Titan Books. The audiobook, narrated by Sean Patrick Hopkins, is available via Libro.fm!
