New Avengers #41

March 22, 2024 Nick Peron

This story takes place during the events of Secret Invasion #2….

Now

The Skrull invasion of Earth has begun and the New Avengers and Mighty Avengers are in the Savage Land face-to-face with heroes that just emerged from a Skrull ship. The real question is: Which of these heroes are real, and which ones are Skrull impostors?[2] Before the heroes can duke it out they are ambushed by a rampaging tyrannosaurus rex. As the heroes deal with this new threat, Spider-Man (Peter Parker) gets flung by the massive lizard into the nearby jungle.

Recovering from his rough landing, Spidey is found by Ka-Zar, Shanna the She-Devil, Zabu, and an army of Savage Land locals. At first, Spider-Man thinks they are Skrulls and tells them that he is not falling for it.[3] Ka-Zar and Shanna tell Spider-Man that they are under siege and fighting for their lives. Seeing how serious everyone is, the wall-crawler decides to stop and hear what they have to say.

A Few Months Ago…[4]

Shanna was returning home to her husband Ka-Zar after a three day hunt. She is about to bed down for the night when they hear the sound of gunfire off in the distance. The couple take Zabu with them to investigate the situation. What they come across are a bunch of SHIELD Agents who are enslaving Savage Land locals and forcing them to dig Vibranium from the ground. This is poaching due to international law, but Ka-Zar can’t believe that Nick Fury would do this to him.[5] After watching a SHIELD agent execute one of their slaves, the pair decide to do something about it.

When Shanna knocks out a sentry, she strikes the woman with enough force to kill her. They are shocked when she suddenly changes into a green-skinned alien. Ka-Zar recognizes it as a Skrull.[6] Shanna then changes into the woman’s SHIELD uniform to get in for a closer look. She happens upon someone who appears to be senior SHIELD agent Valentina la Fontiane discussing the possibility of being discovered. She assures her subordinate that the only people who come to the Savage Land are the X-Men and the Avengers. More over, they have an operative who has infiltrated the new team, so they will be able to monitor their movements.[7] Shanna’s cover is quickly blown when the SHIELD agents ask for a report from the sentry she replaced. She then has to flee for her life. Luckily, Zabu races onto the scene to help her deal with her attackers. This allows Ka-Zar to steal a jeep which they use to flee the area.

Once they are safely away, they come to the conclusion that they can’t trust anybody from the outside world. By the time they have recruited an army to repel the invaders, they see that the New Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Spider-Woman, and Luke Cage) have arrived on the scene. Moments later, the SHIELD Helicarrier arrives and blows the illegal mining operation to smitherines.

Now

Spider-Man remembers this incident because he was among the New Avengers at the time. Peter recalls how before his death, Captain America suspected that SHIELD had gone rotten from the inside. Now, hearing Ka-Zar’s side of the story, it is suddenly starting to make sense. However, he is not able to trust him because things aren’t adding up. That’s when Peter’s spider-sense begins going off and Zabu becomes aware of an intruder. When they turn to look they are shocked to see that it is Captain America himself and he is poised to attack!

… This story continues in New Avengers #43

Recurring Characters

New Avengers (Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Ronin), Ka-Zar, Shanna the She-Devil, Zabu, Sauron, Mighty Avengers (Ms. Marvel, Wonder Man, Ares, “Spider-Woman”, the Sentry), “Captain America”, (in flashback) SHIELD (“Countess Valentina la Fontaine”), New Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine)

Continuity Notes

This issues cover pays homage to Avengers #11.
This tense stand-off began in Secret Invasion #1 and continues through the this issue 2 and 3 of that series. At the end of the day all of the “retro” heroes are Skrulls as well as Spider-Woman. The details and why these individuals would sow confusion
- First of all, we saw last issue that the woman who has been masquerading as Spider-Woman was a Skrull named Veranke. Next issue we will learn that she took the place of the real Jessica Drew’s place in Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.
- We have a version of Wolverine wearing his original costume, first seen in Incredible Hulk #180. Okay, not going to lie, not entirely sure what the motivation is for having a Skrull disguise himself as Pre-X-Men Wolverine.
- We have a Luke Cage wearing his classic silk shirt and tiara from Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1. In New Avengers #32, Wolverine raised suspicions by pointing out the real Luke Cage had just had a kid (The Pulse #13) and got married (New Avengers Annual #1), believing that these moves were out of character for him.
- Hawkeye: Because Clint Barton was dead for a period of time, starting in Avengers #502. However, he was resurrected during the House of M reality warp as seen in New Avengers #26. He then took up the Ronin identity in issue #29. Wolverine cited this as reason to suspect Clint.
- Iron Man in his iconic Model 4 armor (first seen in Iron Man #85). The real Tony Stark has been suspected of being a Skrull because he supported the Super Human Registration Act in Civil War #1-7 and became SHIELD Director in New Avengers #25. His former teammates suspected him of being a Skrull for actively treating those who did not register as outlaws.
- The Vision: The OG Vision was killed during the Scarlet Witch’s rampage in Avengers #500. His body will remain damaged until Tony Stark gets around to repairing him in Avengers (vol. 4) #19.
- Phoenix, as she appeared in X-Men #101. This is because the real Jean Grey had died in New X-Men #150. She will return in Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #1-5.
- Captain America: Because Steve Rogers was seemingly killed in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. However, he was actually struck down by a chronal bullet and is currently living his life in a loop. He will be trapped like this until Captain America: Reborn #1-6.
- The White Queen, as she first appeared alongside the evil Hellfire Club in X-Men #129. Emma has basically been reformed since Uncanny X-Men #316.
Spider-Man laments that one of the Skrulls took on the form of him in his younger years when he had stylized spider webbing on the under arm of his costume, as seen in Amazing Fantasy #15. These “web-pits” come and go depending on the artist drawing Spider-Man’s classing red and blue costume. However, they are best known for being very prominent during Steve Ditko’s run drawing the character.
This flashback occurs during the events of New Avengers #3-6.
Ka-Zar states that Nick Fury wouldn’t do this to them. Which is correct, by Fury was AWOL at the time of this flashback. See Secret War #1-5.
Ka-Zar mentions the Kree/Skrull War which spilled over onto Earth back in Avengers #89-97. He previously encountered the Super-Skrull in Namor the Sub-Mariner #14-18. It’s odd that Shanna doesn’t recognize what a Skrull is since she was present during that encounter, but hey, with all the myriad species that live in the Savage Land, I’m sure its hard to remember one green dude you met once.
This flashback takes place shortly after the New Avengers were formed (New Avengers #1-2) and mentions how the old team had disbanded (Avengers #500-503/Finale #1.

Secret Invasion Reading Order