Secret Identities #7 Review

Writers: Jay Faerber, Brian Joines / Artist: Ilias Kyriazis / Image Comics Whoa! If you were like me, you missed the secret memo that due to sales numbers Secret Identities would be ending sooner than expected. Scripts were written for issues #8 and #9, but the series needed to wrap up, so Faerber and Joines had the choice between stopping mid-story or jamming the content of issues #8 and #9 into a final conclusion for issue #7. I’m sure it was a hard reality, yet an easy choice — canceling the comic mid-story wouldn’t help anyone. And so the result is a double-stuffed 40-page finale to the series that was great to read, even if understandably rushed. Issue #6 paved our road to the conclusion with Recluse finally catching onto Crosswind’s betrayal, validating his long-time suspicion, at the same time that an army of alien juggernauts return to destroy the world. The plot is spit between the two crises — the final reveal of Crosswind’s evil leading to his final confrontation with Recluse, and the world literally on the brink of destruction with the Frontline as its only defense. It’s an interesting and awesome fight as Crosswind and Recluse go back and forth between trying to kill one another while saving the lives of random civilians falling victim to the alien invasion. I expected Crosswind to be completely sociopathic after turning on his heel and no longer having to play the hero, but to my surprise he steadily took breaks to temporarily team up with Recluse before going…