Secret Invasion: Home Invasion #1
Secret Invasion continues from New Avengers #40…
Kinsey Walden has noticed that her brother, who works at a science lab, has been acting out of character recently. Then, one day, she saw him change shape into an alien with green skin. Frightened, Kinsey fled to the bathroom and locked the door as her brother, tried to convince her to come out. He does so by claiming he was only playing a prank. When Kinsey opens the door, the Skrull posing as her brother hugs her as he drops his disguise once more, and tells her that He loves her. She pulls away to ask him what he means, and the Skrull’s disguise is back up.
Her questions get deflected back at her and she asks him why has has been acting so weird lately. That’s when she sees something weird sticking out of his backpack on the floor. It looks like a clarinet and asks him why he has it. When she bends down to pick it up, “Hank” tells her to stop messing with his stuff. As they struggle with it, Kinsey hits a button that lets off a flare of energy that burns “Hank’s” face, briefly causing him to revert back to his true form. Bleeding green blood, the alien pretending to be her brother vows to kill her as she grabs his bag and flees from her house screaming for help.
Down the street, Kinsey goes down to the home of her best friend Ali Starck. When her mother answers the door Kinsey tries to explain to Mrs. Starck what happened with her brother. Unfortunately, the teenager is too hysterical to clearly explain the situation. That’s when Ali comes downstairs and having hard part of the story dismisses it as gross. For a moment, she thinks that Ali has been replaced as well, particularly since she hasn’t heard from her best friend. However, Ali has been trying to call her for days, but the calls kept dropping. Kinsey believes this and is relieved to hear that Ali is still herself.
That’s when “Hank” comes knocking at the door asking to be let in. Not fully believing Kinsey’s story, Mrs. Starck to try and get him to do. She is promising to call once Kinsey has calmed down, but “Hank” suddenly hits her with a blast of black energy. That’s when the Starck family dog charges in and attack him. This allows both Kinsey and Ali to flee to the family car and get away. As they drive, Kinsey tries to call the police only to learn that her “brother” has compromised her cell phone. He tells her that the police can’t help her and that whatever happens next is all her fault. Frightened with no idea what to do, Ali begins to panic until Kinsey sees their high school and tells her to pull over.
As it turns out, tonight was the night of the big dance where she figures that he boyfriend Ethan will know what to do. They find him on the dance floor with Tina Klein and drag him away. Moments after they are gone, “Hank” arrives and shoves his way through the crowd.
Outside, Ethan apologizes for taking someone else to the dance, but Kinsey hadn’t been returning his calls and he thought she didn’t want to see him anymore. She tells Ethan to get into the car and they speed off. Soon they find themselves on a high sped chase with “Hank” who has stolen a school bus to chase after them. This is noticed by the police who give chase. However, when “Hank” sideswipes the squad car off the road, the cops set up a blockade ahead of them. This is just as “Hank” t-bones their car. As they come skidding to a hault, Kinsey uses the strange “clarinet” to blast the cop cars out of the way before they are sandwiched between them and the bus. Despite these efforts, they crash hard enough for Kinsey to black out.
When Kinsey wakes up, she is still in the wreck of Ali’s car, and alone. She quickly crawls out of the wreck to try and find her friends. Once she is free she sees bystanders looking up into the sky. When she does so as well, she is horrified to see a Skrull battleship high above the city.
… Secret Invasion continues in Secret Invasion #2.
Recurring Characters
Kinsey Walden, Ali Starck, Ethan, Skrulls (“Hank Walden”)
Continuity Notes
This story takes place during the Secret Invasion event. The primary tale is told in Secret Invasion #1-8, and the various crossover issues. See below for a full listing.
Topical References
The Starck family car is depicted as an early 2000’s model Vokswagen New Beetle, which were quite popular at the time. This model of vehicle was produced between 1997 and 2010. As this is a discontinued vehicle its depiction should be considered topical as this model of car will eventually be retired off the road.
Likewise, Kinsey is depicted using a “flip” style cell phone that were also quite common when this story was published in 2008. They have since fallen out of common use due to the invention of the smart phone.
The banner on the high school dance states that it is the year 2008. This date should also be topical as it is relative to the date of publication.
Secret Invasion Reading Order
Prelude:
New Avengers #31, Mighty Avengers #7, New Avengers #34, New Avengers: Illuminati (vol. 2) #5, Secret Invasion: Prologue #1
The Invasion
Secret Invasion #1, Mighty Avengers #12, New Avengers #40, Secret Invasion: Home Invasion #1, Secret Invasion #2, Mighty Avengers #13, Captain Britain and MI13 #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 MI13 #2, Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #2, Incredible Hercules #118, Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #1, Secret Invasion: Home Invasion #2, Avengers: The Initiative #14, Mighty Avengers #15, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #28, New Avengers #42, Secret Invasion: Front Line #1, 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: Home Invasion #3, Secret Invasion: X-Men #1, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1, Secret Invasion: Thor #1, Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #2, Captain Britain and MI13 #3, Secret Invasion: Home Invasion #4
Fighting Back
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: X-Men #2, 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, Secret Invasion: Home Invasion #5, 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, Secret Invasion: Home Invasion #6, Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #6, Mighty Avengers #19, War Machine: Weapon of SHIELD #34, Secret Invasion: Amazing Spider-Man #3, Secret Invasion: Home Invasion #7
The Final Battle
Secret Invasion #7, New Avengers #46, Thunderbolts #125, Secret Invasion: X-Men #3, Secret Invasion: Home Invasion #6, 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: Thor #3, Secret Invasion: Inhumans #3, Secret Invasion: Front Line #5, Secret Invasion: Home Invasion #8, Secret Invasion #8
Epilogue
New Avengers #47, Secret Invasion: War of Kings #1, Secret Invasion: Requiem #1, Secret Invasion Aftermath: Beta Ray Bill #1, Secret Invasion: Dark Reign #1, Avengers: The Initiative #19