Animorphs Graphic Novel #1: The Invasion Recap

 

The story begins in a quiet American town, not with a war or a battle, but with an ordinary evening. Jake, a normal teenager, is at the mall with his best friend Marco. The two of them leave together when the sky is already dark, carrying their backpacks, joking and wasting time the way friends usually do. They talk about video games and school, laughing as they walk, never expecting that this night will change their lives forever. Just outside the mall entrance they meet Tobias, Tobias is shy, the kind of boy who stands at the edge of groups and never seems to belong, but Jake greets him warmly. Tobias smiles, and for once he feels included, and after a short distance down the street, Rachel and Cassie appear and join them. Rachel is Jake’s cousin, confident and stylish, while Cassie is quieter, dressed in overalls from helping on her parents’ farm. By chance, all five kids end up together, and instead of splitting up to walk home alone, they decide to go as a group.

To save time, they cut through a place most people avoid at night: the abandoned construction site. It is full of half-built skeletons of buildings, piles of gravel, bent rebar, and the heavy smell of rust. The kids know it well as a shortcut, but in the dark it feels unsettling. While they step carefully across the broken ground, Tobias is the first to notice something strange.

He tilts his head to the sky and sees lights moving above them. At first he thinks it is only a plane or maybe a helicopter, but the lights dart sharply left, right, and up again with unnatural speed. Marco jokes that it must be nothing unusual, but when the lights hover in one place and then drop suddenly, they all realize that what they are seeing cannot be human. The lights grow brighter, rushing toward the ground, until they understand it is not just a ball of light but a huge ship from the stars.

The craft is smooth and curved, silver against the night sky, but it is clearly damaged. Flames trail behind it, and the sound of metal tearing fills the air. With a deafening crash the ship slams into the construction site. The ground shakes, dust clouds rise, and the kids stumble back in terror. But curiosity is stronger than fear, and they creep closer to the wreck.

From the broken craft comes a figure unlike anything they have ever seen. His body is blue and shaped partly like a centaur, with four powerful legs that support a strong torso. Two arms stretch from his upper body, while a long tail ending in a curved blade swishes through the air like a weapon ready to strike. His head is both alien and strangely human, with two main eyes and two more set on stalks that rise above, moving separately to look in all directions. The creature is badly wounded, his body burned and bleeding, yet he stands tall before them.

The kids gasp but cannot speak. Then, without moving his mouth, the alien talks directly into their minds. His words are clear inside their heads, this is their first moment with thought-speak, a kind of telepathy. The alien introduces himself as Prince Elfangor, a warrior from a race called Andalites. He tells them quickly that he is dying and cannot survive his injuries.

But more important, he warns them of a terrible danger already reaching Earth. The invaders are called Yeerks, and they are parasites. They look like gray slugs, but they crawl into a person’s ear, enter the brain, and wrap themselves around it. Once inside, they take total control of the body. The human remains fully aware, trapped and screaming silently inside, but unable to move, and these people are called Controllers.

The children shiver with fear and confusion, struggling to believe his words. But Elfangor insists that it is true explaining that the Earth has already been attacked in secret. Teachers, police officers, neighbors, even family members could already be Controllers. The Yeerks spread quietly, and if nothing stops them, they will soon enslave the entire planet. Help from the Andalites will not arrive for at least a year, and by then it will be too late.

Elfangor explains that his ship was destroyed in battle with the Yeerks, so he cannot fight any longer. Yet there is one thing he can still give, he tells them to go into the wreck and brings out a small, glowing blue cube which hums with strange energy. He tells them to place their hands on it, one after another, at first they hesitate, but finally each of the five presses a hand to the surface. A charge of energy flows into them, and Elfangor explains that this cube has given them the Andalite gift: the power to morph. Now they can touch any animal, absorb its DNA, and transform completely into that creature. But there are rules and the most important rule is never to remain in an animal body longer than two hours. If they do, they will be trapped forever, unable to return to human form. Morphing is both a gift and a curse.

Before the kids can fully process what they have received, more lights blaze in the sky. A second ship arrives, this one huge and undamaged. It belongs to the Yeerks, from its belly pour out monsters. Towering Hork-Bajir, with blades on their arms, legs, and heads, surround the area. Although they are naturally gentle creatures, the Yeerks control them and use them as soldiers. Beside them crawl Taxxons, giant red centipedes with long, segmented bodies and round mouths full of endless teeth, always starving and always ready to eat. Human Controllers step out too, their eyes cold with the knowledge that someone else lives inside their heads.

Then comes the most terrifying figure of all: Visser Three. He looks like Elfangor, with a blue Andalite body, but inside him lives a Yeerk. He is the only Andalite Controller in existence, giving him terrible power. He sneers at Elfangor, mocking his defeat. Elfangor shouts to the children to run, but fear holds them in place. With dark joy, Visser Three begins to morph. His body twists, grows, and changes until he becomes a monstrous predator from another world, huge and terrifying. In that form, he grabs Elfangor and devours him alive while the children watch helplessly.

It is their first vision of true alien cruelty, and it scars them deeply. Controllers search the construction site for witnesses, and orders ring out not to take the kids alive. Panic finally breaks their fear, and the five children sprint into the shadows, chased by monsters and men, but by luck and desperation they escape into the night.

The next morning, Jake wakes in his bed, sweaty and shaking, telling himself it was a dream. But when Tobias comes to his house, Jake realizes it was real. Tobias shows him proof by telling him he can morph into a cat. Before coming here, he picks up his pet cat, Dude, and then, concentrating, he begins to change. Fur sprouts, his body shrinks, his face elongates, and soon Tobias is no longer a boy but a cat. Jake stares in shock as the animal pads across the floor. After a few minutes Tobias demorphs, his body stretching and reshaping until he is human again. He explains that when you morph, the animal’s instincts are powerful, and you have to fight to keep your human mind in control. Tobias is excited and believes they must use this power to fight the Yeerks. He tells Jake that Jake should lead them. Jake argues that he is no leader, but Tobias insists. Then, to test his powers, Jake touches his dog Homer, absorbing the DNA, and then he morphs. His body changes into a golden retriever, and suddenly urges to bark and run and smell everything crash into him. It takes effort, but he controls it, just then, Jake’s older brother Tom comes to the door, and Jake is forced to demorph quickly.

Later Jake notices Tom has changed, Tom once lived for basketball, but he suddenly quit and now spends his time with an organization called The Sharing. He pushes Jake to join and Jake senses something wrong but cannot yet face the truth.

Soon after, the group gathers again at Cassie’s farm. Cassie has already tried morphing into a horse, and she calmly demonstrates how the change works, her skin rippling and stretching until she stands once more in her own body. Marco remains doubtful, as his mother is dead, his father is depressed, and Marco says he cannot risk his own life because his father needs him. Jake shows them a newspaper article about the “fireworks accident” at the construction site. The paper explains away the crash as kids playing with explosives. They realize this is how the Yeerks hide the truth.

As they talk, a policeman walks up. At first he seems friendly, but then he mentions The Sharing and looks carefully at Jake. The group understands with horror that he is a Controller. After he leaves, suspicion becomes certainty: the Yeerks are everywhere, even in the police.

At Jake’s house that night, Tom again pressures him about The Sharing. Marco puts the pieces together faster than Jake. Tom is a Controller. Jake resists the idea, but deep down he knows it is true.

The kids decide to see for themselves, so they attend a Sharing meeting on the beach. At first it looks like a normal club, with games and food. But then the full members are taken to a private area. Jake morphs Homer and secretly follows. In dog form, his ears catch whispers of what is really happening. The Sharing is a front, a way for the Yeerks to recruit new hosts. Chapman, their assistant principal, is there, giving orders, his voice the same one that shouted commands at the construction site.

Jake almost gets caught, but Cassie covers for him by pretending to look for her dog. The group meets again and agrees: The Sharing is a trap, and Jake’s brother is already lost inside it.

Desperate to learn more, Jake morphs into a lizard at school and sneaks after Chapman. He follows the man through a hidden elevator that leads deep underground. There he sees the Yeerk Pool, a vast cavern filled with cages. Human hosts wait for their turn while slug-like Yeerks swim in a large pool, feeding on Kandrona rays. Jake is horrified by the sight. When he returns, the others know they must attack, but they need stronger animal forms.

So they visit The Gardens, a local zoo, there, Marco acquires a gorilla, pressing his hand to the glass. Security catches him and Jake wandering too close, and in the chase they crash into the tiger pen. Cornered, Jake touches the tiger and gains its DNA. The animal stares at him with wild power, but Jake feels stronger. They escape barely in time, meanwhile, elsewhere, Rachel acquires an elephant.

Not long after, Cassie is captured by the same policeman-Controller. The others rush to save her, sneaking into the Yeerk Pool.

Inside they see Tom in a cage, proof of his slavery, the horror is almost too much. The Controllers discover them, and battle explodes. Rachel morphs into her elephant and smashes through enemies. Jake becomes the tiger, fierce and deadly. Marco morphs the gorilla, using raw strength to fight. Tobias, in the air as a hawk, helps free Cassie. Together they cause chaos, opening cages and releasing prisoners.

But the victory is short. Visser Three arrives and morphs into a huge creature with many heads that spit fire. Flames spread across the cavern, killing helpless humans. The Animorphs are forced to retreat, barely escaping with their lives. Jake tries to reach Tom, but his brother is dragged back before he can save him.

Back home, Jake lies in bed, crying quietly. He hears Tom in the next room, sounding normal, but Jake knows it is not really his brother anymore.

That night Tobias returns to Jake’s window. But something is different, Tobias has been in hawk form too long. The two-hour limit has passed, and now he is trapped as a red-tailed hawk forever.

Jake is crushed, blaming himself, but Tobias tells him he does not regret it, because he is free, not a slave. Jake promises they will go on fighting, no matter how afraid they are. They are only kids, but they are all Earth has. They are Animorphs now, and they will resist until the Andalites come.