Editor's Note: New Avengers #44 arrives in stores tomorrow, August 27.

This issue of New Avengers continues the trend of unevenness that has made Secret Invasion and its tie-in issues such a mixed bag, balancing out the mediocre story that can be found in this week's Mighty Avengers with a genuinely compelling tale which explains exactly how the Skrulls managed to lay their hands on the technologies that allowed them to infiltrate the superheroes of the Marvel Universe undetected. Those who were paying close attention to the last issue of the core Secret Invasion book will recall an enigmatic line spoken by Reed Richards, with Mr. Fantastic claiming that "They used my brain to start this war." Well, this issue explains exactly how that happened.

An effective opening scene kicks the story off, showing a discussion between the members of Marvel's "Illuminati" that takes more than one twist as it sets up the premise for the issue. Without giving too much away, the story involves the Skrulls' use of the genetic material that they procured in the first issue of the Illuminati miniseries to create a duplicate of Reed Richards, in order to make his intelligence work for them by coming up with a more effective way to disguise themselves as human superheroes. It's a clever concept that sees the Skrulls smartly taking advantage of the inevitability of the Earth superheroes' resistance to their invasion, and turning their own resourcefulness back on them. However, Bendis doesn't make things too easy for them, providing several obstacles that the Skrulls must overcome if they're to succeed with their plan (I love the idea that even the Skrull telepaths can't unlock the information from Reed's brain - because it's too complex for them to even understand).

Bendis' writing of the issue seems more focused than usual, driving the plot forwards with a logical progression of ideas without getting sidetracked by unnecessary details. The plot provides a perfect combination of science-fiction ideas with more emotional, character-based elements, with an overriding sense of inevitable doom created by the fact that we readers know that the Skrulls will ultimately succeed in their plan. The writer's dialogue is sharp - particularly the opening banter between Iron Man and Namor, which adds levity to a serious scene without undermining it completely. Sometimes Bendis' banter works for me and sometimes it doesn't, but it's an enjoyable part of this issue.

The script is fairly dense and fast-paced, especially during the opening scene, which features several two-page sequences that feature a multitude of panels that depict the conversation between the various Illuminati members. There's a welcome immediacy to the pacing of the issue that means that a single conversation doesn't have to last for half an issue in order to move the plot forwards. Billy Tan copes well with the demands of his writer, as these multiple small panels don't feel neglected or rushed - and the bigger moments really shine, with a high level of detail and definition. Tan is occasionally called upon to lift imagery from earlier issues of the book, too (such as Steve McNiven's first shots of the Illuminati in issue #7, or Jim Cheung's shots of the Skrull scientists from previous tie-in issues), which he pulls off well, evoking the earlier scenes without feeling like he's simply aping those artists.

The manner in which the Skrulls eventually extract their required information from their clone of Reed's brain is suitably cynical and manipulative, showing an increasing understanding of human nature on the part of the Skrulls and reinforcing the concept of the Secret Invasion event by reflecting the idea that stealth and infiltration can make for a far more effective way to undermine human society than an all-out attack. All in all, this is the kind of tie-in story that I would have like to have seen a lot more of throughout the Secret Invasion event, as it binds emotional character beats to an intelligent, logical premise that plays an important part in the storyline's bigger picture, but probably wouldn't be worthy of an in-depth examination in the core title. Definitely one of the best Avengers tie-in issues yet.

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