New Comic Review: New Avengers: Illuminati #5

This mini-series was probably the best thing to come out of all the Initiative books that in turn had already spun out of Marvel's Civil War event. For those who may have passed on these five issues, the simple version is that way back during the Kree-Skrull War, several major players of the Marvel Universe quietly came together as a group known as the Illuminati to monitor and influence potentially catastrophic situations (and persons). The members were Black Bolt of the Inhumans, Doctor Strange Master of the Mystic Arts, Iron Man of the Avengers, Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four, Professor Xavier of the X-Men and Namor the Sub-Mariner. Not a group to be sneezed at by any means!

Throughout the mini-series we've been treated to the Illuminati's early warning to the Skrull Empire (back to this in a minute) in the wake of the aforementioned Kree-Skrull War, their encounter with the Beyonder from Secret Wars, their recovery of the powerful Infinity Gems, etc. The final issue follows up on recent events within the Marvel Universe, from the discovery that Earths superhuman community has been infiltrated by Skrulls, who are perpetrating a massive invasion of the planet, to Captain America's death and the fallout from World War Hulk.

Just as in the New Avengers title, where Elektra was found to be a Skrull, yet another stunning "reveal" occurs in this issue. Jim Cheung's art has been a real highlight of the series and Brian Michael Bendis finally makes good on most of what he's been teasing about over the last couple of years.

Pick it up. You'll be glad that you did.