Is Tony Stark a Skrull?

The question on every Marvel fan's mind since "Secret Invasion #3" came out on Wednesday is whether or not Tony Stark has been a Skrull all along.

And, to Brian Bendis' credit, he wrote a fantastic scene fueling the speculation. So, what is the answer? Let's take a look.

Evidence against Stark:
- The Skrull Queen told him so last issue.
- In the second issue of "Secret Invasion," Stark says the way he will save himself is by doing the one thing a Skrull can't emulate — using his mind. Well, in issue #3, he was struggling to re-build his armor with that mind.
- Tony Stark has made some VERY questionable choices in the past couple of years, mainly during the "Civil War" saga, and (like Queen Skrull said) has somehow positioned himself at the center of the Marvel Universe.
- Spider-Woman is a Skrull, even though Bendis spoke volumes about how heroic a character she is and how much he loves her. Why is this important you ask? Because he has also flat-out said the Tony is no Skrull. Can he be trusted now?

The Evidence supporting Stark's humanity:
- Mark Millar and Marvel swore up and down that Tony Stark was by no means villainous during "Civil War," in their opinions.
- If Tony is a Skrull, why would Jarvis be needed as a Skrull?
- Bendis said Tony would not be revealed as a Skrull ... for all that's worth.

It looks pretty damning for Tony, eh? Well, here's the kicker folks — Iron man is not a singular character anymore. He's a franchise. He has two ongoing monthly books right now, three other mini-series, and a movie doing darned fine sales at the box office. For as much as I love a good reveal in the comic book world, I cannot see Marvel endangering their property by revealing all these Iron Man stories have not been the real Tony at all. So, Game, Set, Match, Tony is going to be Human, despite Bendis' best efforts to fool us.

The thing is, though, the more I think about it, the more I want Tony to be a Skrull. I know, I know, I was at first in the pool of angry fans who, when first hearing about "Secret Invasion," thought this whole Skrull thing was just being put into place to undo evil Tony from "Civil War." I can understand why you all out there would be unhappy about this. But when is the last time comic books have given us a truly dramatic and shocking moment that had been building for some time and turns everything on its ear?

The one time I ever agree with Joe Quesada is when he says a singular issue cannot be judged until you know the whole story. Sure, he was talking about "One More Day" most of the times that he said this, but how great would it be if all this Marvel crap over the last few years ("The Illuminati making poor choices, getting rid of Hulk, starting Civil War, the prison in the Negative Zone), all of it was one massive Tony Stark Skrull storyline? Frankly, I think "Civil War" would be a much stronger story if Tony's insanity had this explanation.

Maybe I'm just too big a fan of slow-roasted comic book stories, but I think Tony Stark turning out to be a Skrull would be one of the greatest moments in comic book history. Too bad it won't happen.