New Avengers #46

March 22, 2024 Nick Peron

One Month Ago

A badly beaten SHIELD agent wakes up in a warehouse tied to a chair surrounded by the Hood (Parker Robbins)’s gang. The gang is freaking out about bringing him here because this might bring Tony Stark down on them.[2] The agent tells them they are all under arrest. Ignoring this, Parker asks the agent to tell him everything he knows about the Skrulls…..

One Day Prior

Madame Masque (aka Whitney Frost) had been apprehended with some of the gang during their recent clash with the New Avengers.[3] As she is being brought to an interrogation room she tries to fight free and is tasered into submission.

When she wakes up she is restrained in the room and the SHIELD agents begin demanding to know everything she does about the Hood’s new gang.[4] When she won’t talk, they threaten to remove her golden mask so they can get a good look at her horribly scarred face.[5] Before they can, the Hood appears in the room and shoots two of the SHIELD agents and subdues the other. That’s when Whitney tells Parker to look at the men he just shot as they revert back to their true forms, that of Skrulls. Seeing this for himself, Parker thinks it would be a good idea to get the gang together.

One Day Later

When hearing the question about the Skrulls, members of the Hood’s newly formed gang come to the conclusion that this gang is a joke. The Wrecker and Thunderball being the most vocal because it members of the Wrecking Crew were pinched along with Whitney when the New Avengers took them down. They find the idea that space aliens being involved too far fetched to believe and begin mocking both the Hood and Madame Masque. Whitney gets fed up and shoots the SHIELD agent in both legs. When this doesn’t do anything she threatens to shoot him in the head. That’s when the Skrull finally gives up and reveals his true form to the entire gang proving the story to be true.

They then begin demanding to know how many Skrulls are in SHIELD, but the alien doesn’t know. He tells them that the Earth will be theirs, but he doesn’t know every part of his queen’s plot.[6] He does tell them that they have been infiltrating every power system on the planet and that they hadn’t anticipated the formation of the Hood’s gang. Their plan was to switch out Madame Masque with a Skrull. This causes the gang to become paranoid about the idea that there could be Skrulls anywhere, even among themselves. That’s when Doctor Demonicus suggests that Parker use his magic to figure out if everyone is who they appear to be.

For a moment, the Hood’s eyes begin to glow, allowing to see his gang for their true selves. He tells them that everyone checks out. But, as he turns to walk away, he suddenly whirls around and shoots the Slug right between the eyes. When he drops to the ground, everyone is shocked to discover that he was a Skrull![7] He then orders everyone to torch the entire warehouse. Once the deed is done, the Hood tells everyone to lay low until he can figure out what’s going on and that he will call when he does. This doesn’t sit will with the Wrecker who thinks the Hood has no damn idea.

The Hood returns to his home and looks in the mirror, he demands the entity that gave him his magical powers to reveal all its secrets or he will toss the cloak in the river he found it in.[8] He starts by demanding to know who the demon is. It complies to Parker’s request and reveals himself to be Dormammu. He then offers Parker with the full powers of the Dark Dimension he rules over.

Recurring Characters

Hood’s Gang (The Hood, the Answer, Blackout, Blood Brother, Centurious, Chemistro, Crossfire, Cutthroat, Deathwatch, Doctor Demonicus, Griffin, Jigsaw, Living Laser, Madame Masque, Mandrill, Razor-Fist, Scarecrow, Vermin, the Wizard, Wrecking Crew (Wrecker, Bulldozer, Piledriver, Thunderball)), Dormammu

Continuity Notes

This cover pays homage to “Bring on the Bad Guys: Origins of Marvel Comics Villains”, which was a Fireside paperback book that reprinted various villain origin stories.
At the time of this story, Tony Stark had been the Director of SHIELD following the events of New Avengers #25. He will maintain that role until Secret Invasion #8.
That was in New Avengers Annual #2, in case you missed it. Here one of the SHIELD agents remarks that he didn’t know that her real name is Whitney Frost. That’s partially correct. Her birth name was Giulietta Nefaria. She is the daughter of the villain Count Nefaria and she was placed with the Frost family at a young age and her name was legally changed as explained in Iron Man #8. She did not find this out until she was an adult and despite this, she has kept her adopted name.
At the time, the Hood just recently formed his gang in New Avengers #35.
Per Iron Man #18, Whitney’s face was horribly disfigured while fleeing SHIELD and her escape crash crashed. She has worn this golden mask on her face ever since.
The Skrulls are planning their invasion of Earth because their home galaxy was decimated as we saw in New Avengers #40 and 42.
Per the Slug profile in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #10, it is unclear when the real Slug was replaced by a Skrull.
For more on how the Hood came upon his magical items, see The Hood #1-6.

Secret Invasion Reading Order