This story runs concurrently with New Avengers #34…

Tony Stark is rudely awoken by an intruder in the room. It is the outlaw Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) who has brough him the corpse of a Skrull dressed up as Elektra.[1] Jessica is incredibly paranoid about this discovery and will only talk to Tony if he agrees to shut down his armor and not record this conversation. Tony lies, and lets his armor scan and cross-reference their entire conversation. Believing Tony, she tells her how she and the New Avengers went to Japan to rescue Maya Lopez from the Hand. When Maya killed the woman they through was Elektra, the Hand leader, it changed back into its true form, that of a Skrull.[2][3][4]

Jessica then tells him her suspicions that the Skrulls are planning some kind of secret invasion of Earth that has been going on since the formation of the New Avengers. Tony finds that preposterous and that’s when Spider-Woman tells him that the other New Avengers think he has been replaced with a Skrull as well. Tony finds that hard to believe, pointing to the fact that his body was recently hijacked by Ultron and if he had been a Skrull, that incident would have exposed him.[5] Jessica isn’t entirely sold on that idea because neither Wolverine, Spider-Man, or Daredevil were able to detect that Elektra had been replaced by a Skrull. She then explains that her coming to him was a way of finding out if Stark really was a Skrull, if she was killed that would prove the situation once and for all.

After thinking for a moment, Stark asks Jessica where Nick Fury is because he doesn’t know how to handle this situation and could use his expertise.[6] Jessica doesn’t know because Fury has seemingly abandoned her. So, Stark asks her to join his team. When Jessica refuses to register with the government, Tony tells her that this is bigger than the Super Human Registration Act. He wants her on the Mighty Avengers because if there are any Skrull spies on his team it will prompt a reaction and maybe they’ll try to make a move on her, thus exposing themselves. He is also glad she brought him the dead Skrull because now he can perform an autopsy and find a way to counter-act their anti-detection methods.

The next morning, Tony Stark holes a proper meeting of his new team — Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers), the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Wonder Man (Simon Williams), the Black Widow (Natasha Romanov), the Sentry (Bob Reynolds), and Ares — after they were interrupted and thrown into a battle with Ultron. He also commends them on the success of their first mission. Wonder Man takes the opportunity to propose a toast and thank him from recruiting him onto the team. However, this gets maudlin as he references the divisions caused by the civil war and they all have a moment of silence to mourn the recent loss of Captain America (Steve Rogers).[7] After. Tony has a surprise for them and reveals that Spider-Woman will be joining the team. While most are happy to see that Jessica is coming on board, both the Black Widow and the Wasp both believe that she is a spy for the New Avengers.[8] They all decide to trust Spider-Woman for the time being so the Wasp has Jarvis bring in some models to show off new designs she had in mind for Wonder Man, since she does not like his current outfit.[9]

As Wonder Man tries to argue that he doesn’t need a new costume, some astronauts in orbit are trying to repair Stark satellites that were destroyed during their recent battle with Ultron.[10] They don’t notice a strange orb filled with black liquid that zips past them as it makes its way down to Earth. It crashes through the roof of a bus. Soon, people all over New York are possessed by symbiotes and begin going on a rampage all over the city.[11]

Back at Avengers Tower, Tony scans the room and wonders which one of his teammates is really a Skrull. that’s when he is approached by Lindy Lee, the wife of the Sentry. She pleads with him to find a way to power down and kill her husband before he kills them all.[12] Tony is shocked by this, but doesn’t get time to respond as he gets an emergency call from SHIELD Deputy-Director Maria Hill about the symbiote situation in the city.

With that, all concerns and worries are put aside as the Avengers swing into action….

Recurring Characters

Mighty Avengers (Ms. Marvel, Iron Man, Wasp, Wonder Man, Sentry, Ares, “Spider-Woman)”, Symbiotes, “Edwin Jarvis”, Lindy Lee, Maria Hill, “Elektra” (corpse)

Continuity Notes

1. There is a lot going on here off the top, so let me break it down:

   • The woman that appears to be Spider-Woman is in fact a Skrull as well, as will be revealed in Secret Invasion #3. Per New Avengers #42, she took the place of the real Jessica Drew circa Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.

   • “Jessica” and the New Avengers discovered that Elektra had been replaced by a Skrull in New Avengers #31, with “Spider-Woman” stealing the corpse to take to Tony Stark in the following issue of that series.

   • At the time of this story, “Spider-Woman” is considered an outlaw as she and the New Avengers refused to sign on to the Super Human Registration Act that was passed in Civil War #3. This law will remain on the books until Siege #4.

2. Maya Lopez was recruited by the New Avengers to learn who was controlling the Japanese underworld in New Avengers #11-13. They then came to her rescue after she was compromise as seen in issues #27-31 of that series.

3. Iron Man’s armor pulls up records on Elektra, stating that she the former lover of Daredevil (Matt Murdock) and ex-assassin to the Kingpin (Wilson Fisk). For all that complicated backstory check out Daredevil #168-169, 174-181. It also mentions that

4. Tony’s armor does not register that Spider-Woman is lying, nor does it detect that she is a Skrull. This is thanks to information the Skrulls gathered when they captured the Illuminati years earlier (Which included Stark) back in New Avengers: The Illuminati (vol. 2) #1. This allowed them to make their spies virtually untraceable. See New Avengers #40.

5. This indeed happened in Mighty Avengers #1-6, and no, Start isn’t a Skrull.

6. Nick Fury had gone AWOL prior to this story after it was revealed that he staged an illegal coup in Latveria. See Secret War #1-5. Tony is asking Jessica where Fury is because she was working with him as a spy for both SHIELD and Hydra, as revealed in New Avengers #14-15. It’s later revealed in Mighty Avengers #12 that Fury didn’t know about the Skrull invasion until after he went underground.

7. As seen in Civil War #1-7, Captain America was the leader of the anti-registration forces. He ultimately surrendered when he discovered that the general public did not support him. However, before he could be brought to trail he was seemingly killed by an assassin in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, he was struck with a chronal bullet that has unmoored him from time and space and he has been reliving his life in a loop. He will be freed in Captain America: Reborn #1-6.

8. Here, “Jessica” reminds the Mighty Avengers that they tried to trick the New Avengers into thinking Captain America was still alive and being held prisoner. See New Avengers #28-30 for the details on that rotten trick.

9. The man who appears to be Jarvis is also a Skrull spy, as revealed in Secret Invasion #1. He took the place of the real Jarvis prior to New Avengers #1.

10. Ultron was using these satellites to cause extreme weather patterns all over the Earth. They were trashed by Wonder Man and the Sentry in Mighty Avengers #4.

11. As we’ll discover in Mighty Avengers #8, this “Venom Bomb” is the work of Doctor Doom.

12. The Sentry has had a history of mental health problems including an evil personality called the Void, as seen in Sentry #1-5, Sentry/The Void #1, New Avengers #7-10 and Sentry (vol. 2) #1-8. Lindy is freaked out here because Bob recently had a delusion where he thought she was dead, as seen in Mighty Avengers #4-6.

Topical References

• One of the businesses scene in New York is Bulldog Skates, a custom design skateboard company. It even lists their website, which went down in 2022. That said, this should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world business.

Secret Invasion Reading Order

New Avengers #31, Mighty Avengers #7, New Avengers #34, New Avengers: Illuminati (vol. 2) #5, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #25, 26, 27, Secret Invasion: Prologue #1, Secret Invasion #1, Mighty Avengers #12, New Avengers #40, Secret Invasion #2, Mighty Avengers #13, Captain Britain and MI-13 #1, Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1, Mighty Avengers #14, Incredible Hercules #117, New Avengers #41, Secret Invasion #3, Secret Invasion: Who Do You Trust? #1, Captain Britain and MI-13 #2, Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #2, Incredible Hercules #118, Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #1, Avengers: The Initiative #14, Mighty Avengers #15, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #28, New Avengers #42, Secret Invasion: Front Line #1, Captain Britain and MI-13 #3, Secret Invasion #4, Mighty Avengers #16, X-Factor (vol. 3) #33, Incredible Hercules #119, New Warriors (vol. 4) #14, Avengers: The Initiative #15, She-Hulk (vol. 2) #31, New Avengers #43, Thunderbolts #122, Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #3, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #29, Black Panther (vol. 4) #39, Secret Invasion: Front Line #2, Secret Invasion: X-Men #1, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1, Secret Invasion: Thor #1, Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #2, Captain Britain and MI-13 #4, Secret Invasion #5, Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #4, X-Factor (vol. 3) #34, Incredible Hercules #120, Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #1, New Warriors (vol. 4) #15, Nova (vol. 4) #16, Avengers: The Initiative #16, Mighty Avengers #17, She-Hulk (vol. 2) #32, Black Panther (vol. 4) #40, New Avengers #44, Thunderbolts #123, Secret Invasion: Front Line #3, Deadpool (vol. 4) #1, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #2, Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #3, Secret Invasion #6, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #30, Secret Invasion: Thor #2, Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #5, Mighty Avengers #18, War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #33, Deadpool (vol. 4) #2, Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #2, Nova (vol. 4) #17, Avengers: The Initiative #17, She-Hulk (vol. 2) #33, Black Panther (vol. 4) #41, New Avengers #45, Thunderbolts #124, Deadpool (vol. 4) #3, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #3, Secret Invasion: Front Line #4, Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #6, Mighty Avengers #19, War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #34, Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #3, Secret Invasion #7, New Avengers #46, Thunderbolts #125, Secret Invasion: X-Men #3, Secret Invasion: Thor #3, Nova (vol. 4) #18, Avengers: The Initiative #18, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #25, War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #35, Secret Invasion: X-Men #4, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #4, Secret Invasion: Front Line #5, Secret Invasion #8, New Avengers #47, Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1, Avengers: The Initiative #19