Editor's Note: The Mighty Avengers #16 arrives in stores tomorrow, July 16.

Paul Brian McCoy: 2.5 Bullets
Erik Norris: 2.5 Bullets

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Paul Brian McCoy: 2.5 Bullets

Prepare for spoilers, people. I can't really explain why I disliked this so much without giving stuff away, so either skip to the next review or man up and plow onward.

Way back when The New Avengers spent about six months fighting ninjas, I seem to remember people asking when Elektra became the leader of The Hand. Well, now we get our answer: several months before several months ago. And what was the occasion? Was there some sort of intrigue or crazy adventuring involved?

Nah. She just chopped a dude's head off. You know, after being replaced by a Skrull.

And was there any intrigue or crazy adventuring involved in that, you ask?

Nah. She just killed a few Skrulls but then got beat up. That's that.

And that female Skrull that was later killed, revealing to our heroes that there was an invasion going on? The Queen's lover. But, dude, she's really a dude. I don't know why he/she stayed female when he/she was killed, but at least it allows for a sexy (not) girl-on-girl kiss in this issue.

No, seriously. It is not hot whatsoever. And I usually like that sort of thing, mind you.

Khoi Pham is given the thankless task of illustrating what may be the sloppiest tie-in issue yet. Pham is good, don't get me wrong. But there's something about the way he draws Elektra that just makes her look haggard and maybe a little inbred. And if the Queen wasn't referred to by title, I wouldn't have guessed she was supposed to look like Spider Woman. She looks a little like Kitty Pryde, though.

The action sequences are confusing and I don't know if it's the script or just Pham's interpretation, but there are a number of questionable artistic choices made. For example; Why does a Skrull with various X-Powers (including Cyclops' eye beams and Nightcrawler's teleportation skills) dress like Daredevil? I assume it's to "catch her (Elektra) off guard?" It would have been nice to see a little of them trying to trick her before getting all stretchy and laser-eyed.

There is one nice panel where Elektra kills Skrullektra (version 1.0) that is a lift of the famous panel where Bullseye killed Elektra back in the day. It was clever, but really only served to make me remember how good that story was and emphasize how crappy this issue is.

But then the real problem with this issue is the script. There's literally nothing going on for this entire book. We "find out" that it was Skrullektra who hired Electro, before we flash back to see Elektra fight a Skrull. There's a caption box that sets the scene as Osaka, Japan, but then after the fight, in the middle of a page we have a scene shift. It was night, now it's day. The buildings are nondescript and could be anywhere. Is it still Japan? Who knows. But for some reason Skrull Daredevil and Skrull Wolverine are facing off with Elektra on a rooftop. Somewhere.

It's possible that the big building with the circular window with a bunch of lines across it is supposed to be Doctor Strange's Sanctorum, but it really doesn't look like his house, and the window is all wrong. So maybe it's still Japan and it just looks kind of like Doc Strange's house? I just don't know.

Anyway, after big-ass He-Man Skrull with Fantastic Four powers beats the living snot out of Elektra (is she dead? Who knows? There's a lot of blood, that's for sure), he changes into Skrullektra (version 2.0) and goes to suck face with the Queen. Gender-bending Skrullektra has a special mission, you see.

She's supposed to die, so that the humans will know there's an invasion going on.

Whazzihuh?

So then he/she chops off the head of the leader of The Hand and everybody else bows down to him/her. The end.

That's it. Nothing special here. Just Elektra fighting a few Skrulls before getting beaten up herself. Then Skrullektra kissing the Queen and shortly thereafter chopping some unnamed guy's head.

Why isn't this just a recap page? Why isn't there some story here? Why does next issue promise to reveal "The TRUTH about Hank Pym?" Are we now going back and filling in missing story in our stories that filled in missing story? This issue was a huge disappointment. Luckily, it's one of the few real missteps in the Secret Invasion so far, but it's a doozy.

I still can't figure out if Skrullektra was really a dude or not.

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Erik Norris: 2.5 Bullets

This month’s issue of Mighty Avengers continues its Secret Invasion tie-ins with a spotlight on Elektra. You know, the one responsible for starting this whole invasion mess? It seems like forever ago when the New Avengers discovered she was a Skrull during their rescue mission of Echo, but here, finally, we get some concrete answers.

First things first, this issue takes all of three minutes to read. This is due to the issue being comprised of a series of brutal brawls with little to no dialogue. They pretty much exist to prove how bad-ass Elektra is. But as an avid comic reader, I understand how much of a turn off quick reading comics can be. The irony is that comics that dedicate themselves to giant fight scenes are, by far, the most boring thing possible for the medium.

The issue begins by rewinding the clock to the beginning of the New Avengers volume. Remember when Electro met some mysterious shadowy figure who told him to make the diversion on the Raft prison? Well guess what? It was Elektra. However, many avid comic fans that constantly check websites for previews might be in for a surprise with how this scene plays out. See, everyone cried foul when Marvel released a preview for this Mighty Avengers issue, saying they ruined the surprise reveal of this shadowy, mystery figure before the book even hit stands. But trust me, the story plays out much differently, which was a welcome surprise. Yes, Electra still becomes a Skrull by the book's conclusion, and the seeds are planted for what eventually happens in New Avengers, but not in the way you expect.

Assisting Bendis on the art side of the coin is Khoi Pham. An unknown artist to this reviewer ended up surprising me with some great panel transitions for the many fight sequences that take place throughout this book. One in particular has Elektra catching a knife thrown at her, only to whirl around and chuck the thing right back at her opponent, making a direct hit, sinking the villain’s battleship. It was expertly choreographed and drawn crystal clearly by Pham; only needing a single page to pull off. There was only one sequence that caught me off guard and made me wonder what the hell I was looking at. It was yet another fight between Elektra and some Skrull. However, this issue shows the Skrulls employing the appearance and power-sets of a lot of Marvel heroes and one in particular, a Skrull impersonating a Elektra/Ghost Rider combination really sent my mind on a loop. I just couldn't figure out what I was looking at and was really confused. It would have been nice for Bendis or Pham to indicate what I was looking at a little better since I'm not a die-hard Marvel fan. I just felt out of the loop during this particular moment.

The reason for the 2.5 bullets rating is mostly due to the quick read time this issue requires. When you are dropping three dollars on a single comic book, it's easy to feel cheated unless the book takes over ten minutes to read while leaving you with a great lasting impression. Mighty Avengers #16 accomplishes none of these. While it's cool to see the genesis of the Skrull invasion--as well as where along the line Elektra got body-snatched--the price of admission is too steep. Bendis should have thrown a little more meat on the bones of this issue, and I would have been much happier.

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