Marvel

Preview art by Cary Nord

By Kiel Phegley For months, readers have followed the infiltration of the Marvel Universe by shape-shifting Skrulls. From the replacement of high ranking Avengers to a systematic disassembling of the Initiative, the nasty green guys have seemed to have their wrinkly hands in a little bit of everything. Now, the conflict has broken into full out war, and on August 13, an army of X-Men breaks out the big guns for the all-action four-issue limited series SECRET INVASION: X-MEN, from creators Mike Carey and Cary Nord. Proving he has the mettle and military mindset to craft a tale utilizing nearly every mutant still standing in the Marvel U, Carey considers his own personal boot camp to be the blockbuster 'Messiah CompleX' crossover where the fourth-week shipping spot for his X-MEN title made action his watchword: "If you think of it as a three-act structure, I was finishing off each act," Carey reminds. "So I did a lot of really big epic battle scenes: the X-Men versus the Marauders, the New X-Men versus the Purifiers, everybody versus Predator X, and so on, which was a real blast to do. [Editor] Nick [Lowe] was pleased with how I handled that stuff and asked if I wanted to tackle it again on an even bigger canvas with SECRET INVASION: X-MEN. I jumped at the chance. It just seemed like it'd be pure fun and adrenaline."

Preview art by Cary Nord

To prepare fans for the blistering battle ahead, Carey shares the X-Men's rules of engagement for stopping the Skrulls' threat to their new home of San Francisco from the surprise team-ups to the telepathic shadow war raging behind the scenes. Rule #1: Build an Unexpected Corps While the Super Skrulls seen in SECRET INVASION draw their powers from pre-established line-ups of Marvel super teams, expect the X-Men to counter by mixing up their lineups. "They absolutely don't stick to their groups," promises Carey. "Basically Cyclops has to play the role of general here, and he has to build specific teams for specific tasks, taking into account their strengths and weaknesses. He has to try and keep the Skrulls off guard—to hit them hard and fast and then get out. "We do see some quite unusual groupings," the writer adds noting that the limited series' lineups will also reflect the history of the X-Men's interpersonal dynamics. "At the same time, it was fun to bring together people that have history. There's a scene in which Angel and Husk are fighting side by side, and there's a little bit of flirtatious chatting at the same time."

Preview art by Cary Nord

Rule #2: Recruit New Soldiers The number of mutants in the world might not be what it used to be, but with nearly every single mutant on tap for this battle, plenty of former X-Men will take the fight to the front. "The cast has shrunk in on itself post-HOUSE OF M so there are fewer of those surprises you can pull, but we have a few characters who appear out of nowhere," vows Carey. "I was able to bring the Beaubier twins—Northstar and Aurora—back, who we haven't seen since the year before last. It's a mixture of the core teams and some surprising left fielders." Rule #3: Keep the Element of Surprise The X-Men might be new to the Bay area, but what they lack in knowledge of the terrain, they make up for in pure shock value, as Carey explains: "A lot of what we're doing [in the first issue] is from the Skrull point of view, and from the Skrull point of view, San Francisco is easy pickings. They're not expecting to meet concerted super hero resistance on the west coast. They're expecting some, but they're not expecting the X-Men. There's a string of very unpleasant surprises for the Skrulls in issue #1. Unfortunately, things don't all go the X-Men's way because the Skrulls have got some very big guns in their army."

Preview art by Cary Nord

Rule #4: Contact Your Allies SECRET INVASION: X-MEN represents just one front of a global war, but the hardest part for the mutant team could be understanding what's going on elsewhere. Keeping in contact with the Avengers, including their teammate Wolverine, will prove even harder as the team's telepaths struggle to win a war of the minds. "The Skrulls have imposed a complete communications blackout as we've seen in the main Secret Invasion storyline," says Carey. "In SECRET INVASION: X-MEN, we learn that blockade, that communications embargo, extends to even telepathic communication. The Skrulls have something called 'Thoughtwall' which stops telepaths from communicating across large distances. So the X-Men are fighting in the dark. They don't know if the war as a whole has been lost or won. All they can do is fight their own front." To follow the action on the front lines, pick up SECRET INVASION: X-MEN #1 August 13! And for more work by Mike Carey, head over to Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.