Secret Invasion vs. Final Crisis: A Comparison

This past week, both Secret Invasion and Final Crisis happened to be landing in my hands in the same week for the first time in a while. That being said, I think that it’s time to take a look at what both books have brought to the table thus far. While I understand that neither book has reached it’s end yet, there’s really no better time than now to talk about some of each series’ hits and, more importantly, misses.

The Story

With Secret Invasion, the story took off right away. The opening pages of the book immediately piled on mounds of awesome and didn’t stop. With each issue that followed, more and more action, explosions and twists followed by more battles than you could possibly shake a stick at ensued leaving dead Skrulls and even some dead heroes in the rubble that followed. Sure, some issues seemed to be running around in circles but, for the most part, I’ve been pretty happy with what I’ve seen.

Final Crisis, on the other hand, took a couple issues to get going and, even as of issue #4, the story has finally just starting to take shape. The first issue featured a horribly constructed death. The second issue featured the return of a character, as cool as he may be, that the DCU already has far too many of. Issue three showed the consequences of the Anti-Life Equation on humanity. The fourth issue, which was released this past week, featured the return of Darkseid… who’s been dead for a whole 3 months.

Advantage: Secret Invasion

The Art

I was pretty rough on Leinil Francis Yu during his work on New Avengers a while back but his work on Secret Invasion has really impressed me. I think it really has a lot to do with the inks and colors but, regardless of that, Yu’s work has definitely improved over the past little while.

JG Jones has been pretty impressive since his work on 52 a while back. When I heard he was coming on board for the Crisis, I was pretty optimistic and he hasn’t really let me down yet. It’ll be interesting to see just how much damage his departure in the final couple issues will do on the story but, in the meantime, I’m going to try to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Advantage: Final Crisis

The Crossovers

Both titles have been pretty horrendous with the crossovers but Secret Invasion obviously takes the first prize for total amount of crossover books. With all the Avengers books, Ms. Marvel, Iron Man and not to mention all the miscellaneous one-shots to name a few, it’s pretty clear that the event has reached “out of control” status.

Dan Didio, despite telling people that Final Crisis would be pretty self-contained and not include too many tie-in books, has tacked on quite a few tie-in book. While it’s nowhere near as many as the complete takeover of the Marvel U that’s taking place during Secret Invasion, DC’s still getting a little out of control with their Crisis tie-ins as well.

Advantage: Final Crisis

Overall Impact On Their Universes

Secret Invasion, right off the hop, changed things in the Marvel U that will probably have some pretty severe effects on the entire roster of Marvel heroes. While I don’t always agree with events that are so big they require you to hear about it constantly in every book under the company’s banner, Secret Invasion has done one hell of a job breaking stuff in a pretty intriging way.

Final Crisis has seemed almost like it was in it’s own little world for the better part of… well, always. With everything else going on in the DCU like Green Lantern’s Blackest Night, the Batman R.I.P. storyline and Trinity, it’s very difficult to see, if any, changes to the DCU post-Final Crisis.

Advantage: Secret Invasion

Final Tally

So, after looking at all the pros and cons, there really isn’t any clear winner. Hmm… that was a dud. I’m really hoping that Crisis fires up in the next couple issues and becomes somewhat more comprehensible. As for Secret Invasion, it would be nice to see an ending that didn’t involve something ridiculously stupid like Sentry losing to the Hulk or Captain America dying.

Is it really so much to ask?

What’s your take on Secret Invasion or Final Crisis? Leave a comment and let me know or, better yet, leave a comment in the brand spankin’ new Panels of Awesome forums!