Every Wednesday we take turns to delve into our trusty longboxes, pluck out a dusty back issue, and give you our thoughts. We’ll also try and place it in the context of the time it was originally published.

With the Secret Invasion event wrapping up, it’s worth reflecting on the change in Brian Bendis’s writing style the crossover has necessitated. After the mixed success of House of M, Mark Millar was brought in to write the core book for Civil War, with his explosive writing style seen as being more appropriate for the bombast of an all-guns-blazing crossover. Given the care with which Bendis has seeded the invasion, however, there was little option but for him to take the reins himself. However, as this issue makes clear, the venture has been considerably distant from his comfort zone as a writer.

After “Spider-Woman” abandons the team and removes the Skrull Electra’s body, the outlaw Avengers are at something of a loss, with the implications of the conspiracy beginning to sink in. Meanwhile, the attempted sale of a stolen SHIELD cyborg heralds a shakeup in the super-powered underworld. The issue flicks between the two settings fairly evenly, with the auction scenes adding some much-needed drive and energy to counteract the slow onset of paranoia during the team’s debates. Bendis’s understanding of Peter Parker is used to great effect here, as the character’s comic quips serve as a perfect way of articulating what the rest of the cast are thinking. The writer takes some elementary but sensible steps to build intrigue, keeping glimpses of the Hood to a minimum while having his “representative” do the talking, making the reader as much a victim of his sales pitch as the villains attending the auction. Jessica Jones’ ignorance of the doppelganger plot is used for a brief recap, and even niggling issues such as where Hawkeye acquired the combat skills now on show are tied into the ongoing development of the Marvel Universe. Everything feels so polished and coherent that it’s impossible not to get drawn into the wider world that the writer is crafting.

The final section of the book plays to Bendis’s strengths perfectly. With such a large cast, it makes perfect sense that one of them would go looking for trouble, and the writer picks the right character for the job. Wolverine’s confrontation with the Hood makes clear that the auction scenes are directly relevant to the arc, and leaves the reader intrigued as to how this new plotline will intersect with the larger Skrull story. Returning to the issue a year later, it’s hard not to miss the gradual progression of events which have characterised the author’s work. Irrespective of the weaknesses of the Secret Invasion’s structuring, Bendis is one of the industries brightest talents, and a return to his home turf is eagerly awaited.