Brian Reed (1) (1973–)

I've read bits and pieces of the Illuminati in various crossover tie-ins. The group has intrigued me since I first came across them: a secret council of genius superheroes including Dr. Strange, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Charles Xavier, Namor and Black Bolt. Black Panther declined to join. After coming across so many pieces, when I reached Secret Invasion I decided to see if there was a collection of the Illuminati- and found this.

The book opens with the Illuminati making the unilateral show more decision, in light of the Kree-Skrull War, to go to the Skrull homeworld and threaten them to never attack Earth again. Unfortunately, they are captured and researched until they manage to escape. This one event will have far reaching repercussions. Next up, Reed Richards decides that the Illuminati should assemble the Infinity Gauntlet by finding all the gems, in order to keep it out of the wrong hands. Only, are their hands the right ones? Next, the group confronts the danger presented by the Beyonder, a supremely powerful being that Xavier believes is a mutant altered into an Inhuman. Who will of course just leave the universe because his King, Black Bolt, orders him to. Right? The penultimate story was my favorite simply because it includes the group grousing over their problems with women before they get down to the business of deciding what needs to be done about Noh-Var, a recently arrived Kree who wants to conquer the Earth. Only, he's already in prison. Still, the Illuminati must intervene. The last story is the one directly related to the Secret Invasion crossover as Stark brings the body of Skrull Elektra before the group (who had disbanded during Civil War because they couldn't agree) and they become suspicious of one another - with very good reason.

Though I enjoyed all the stories collected here, the book also had the unexpected result of making me see these heroes in a very negative light. This is especially true for Xavier and Strange, who I would have thought above this level of arrogance (as T'Challa was). The hubris displayed by them - that they alone know what is best for humanity and are its greatest protectors - is unparalleled. All of their actions also result in unforeseen, dangerous consequences that could have been avoided if they hadn't meddled. Overall, this was an excellent collection that showed a very different side to some famous heroes. Highly recommended. show less

The Front Line trades show Marvel crossover events from the ground-eye view of common people, via intrepid report Ben Urich. Usually, it shows how the normal people are seeing the superheroes. This Secret Invasion tie-in is a little bit different.

Since superheroes often die and come back, the impact of death for them is minimized on the reader. This trade reinforces that war is ugly and brutal, especially for "non-combatants". When NYC is attacked, some people are trapped in Stark Tower, and show more a Skrull starts killing them one by one - leaving a traumatized teenager the only survivor. Meanwhile, a cabbie and a brave cop take it upon themselves to shepherd people out of the line of fire into the subway, only to be confronted with gang members who want to rob them. Through it all, even while recording the stories of these people, Ben thinks about his wife Doris. He can't reach her and doesn't know if she's alive or dead. There are a couple of pages where Ben stumbles upon our usual superheroes engaged in battle with the Skrulls, but for almost all of the book they are absent. This story reminds us that these heroes are supposed to be in the "real world" and there are real causalities in war.

Overall, this is an excellent tie-in to the crossover which gives the war a more visceral meaning. Though it does not expand the big picture for Secret Invasion, it does reinforce that the stakes are incredibly high for our heroes, and for the civilians they try to protect. Highly recommended. show less

I remember an episode of Babylon 5 where the show followed major events from the point of view of two repairmen on the station. "Embedded" is like that. The protagonists are Ben Urich, a reporter from Front Line and a cameraman, Will Stern. These two head to Chicago to write a story on the devastation caused by Volstagg's conflict with The Hood (arranged by Norman Osborn & Loki). What follows is an action-packed road trip as the two travel with Volstagg toward Broxton/Asgard and learn of show more Osborn's efforts to spin the conflict his way by having embedded journalists on site to report what is happening, in a flattering manner toward Osborn.

The story was interesting, though absolutely unnecessary to the Siege event. The point of Embedded appears to be showing the horror of war first hand, and just how ugly it is for regular people and superheroes alike, but also the slightly more ominous truth that the media is not some neutral party to world events. Though Urich is presented as more unbiased because he supports the real heroes, he also emphatically wants to bring down Osborn. He is hardly neutral.

Overall, this was a worthwhile but very short read that reveals more of how Osborn was manipulating events. However, it isn't essential to readers as part of Siege. Recommended, if you can get it cheap or from the library. show less

Neat idea.

A series of short stories, taking place in the background of well-known Marvel storylines. The Illuminati are a group of leaders in the Marvel Universe made of Black Bolt, Iron Man, Professor X, Namor, Doctor Strange, and Mister Fantastic. And like the name implies, they get involved in some secret operations that they tell nobody else about, to protect other Marvel characters and the universe.

My favorite story had Mister Fantastic attempting to acquire the gems of the Infinity show more Guantlet with the help of everyone else, it was pretty neat to see him be tempted by the power.

I think it would have been better to be more familiar with Marvel lore, every story drew upon a lot of stuff that I wasn't entirely familiar with. And despite the collected volume here, these stories are very separate, and occur at very different points in time, particularly the last one which seems to take place after Civil War.

The book also has a bunch of "revalations" that have far-reaching consequences, namely that certain characters that were acting particular ways were being impersonated by shapeshifters, and may have been the entire time. A big old collection of retcons.

Still, the art is nice and the stories are cool and (mostly) self-contained, in that while they allude to large events in the Marvel universe, the plot of any particular book is resolved by the end and never referenced again. I never quite understood why Namor was one of these Illuminati, he seems almost completely useless. Nobody cares about you, Namor, you're just Marvel's Aquaman.

Overall, a fun book, I recommend it, but keep your wikipedia or Marvel wiki handy. show less