Why Earth should rival the Kree and the Skrulls

The short two word answer: Reed Richards.

There are other myriad examples, sure, but perhaps Fantastic Four #37 offers up the best of 'em. Upset by the death of her father by the Skrulls (FF #32), Sue Storm convinces Reed to do up an interstellar journey of VENGEANCE! Of course, there's the problem of how a lowly Earth vessel can traverse some two million light-years to the Andromeda Galaxy! Wait, did I say "problem?" Heh. Reed Richards knows not the meaning of the term! To get to the Skrull Throneworld, Reed merely outfits a Saturn V rocket with a new "thrust-drive mechanism" based on his new "power ray device" -- a device which "draws energy from an unknown source from somewhere beyond the confines of our solar system and converts it into raw, usable power!"

Oh, is that all?

Richards remarks that NASA, the American space agency, was "anxious to test" Reed's thrust-drive. So, given that it was a total success, why didn't the agency make use of it? Why wasn't a feet of Earth vessels constructed and outfitted with Richards' drive not only to challenge the Skrull and Kree empires' encroachments into our solar system, but for basic -- interstellar -- exploration?

The obvious answer is that comics' "suspension of reality" can only go so far. What makes (made, actually) Marvel Comics so great is that the incredible operate within the credible. Making Earth an interstellar empire to rival the Kree and Skrulls makes for a cool "What If?" yarn (like in What If? volume 2 #19), but not for an ongoing comics universe. The next answer is that Richards might have been invoking a sort of "Prime Directive" -- that the fruits of his vastly superior intellect not interfere with the natural course of human development. Unlike the Kree and Skrulls, Earth doesn't even have a world government. How a "united Earth" space fleet would operate is problematic at best. Reed certainly wouldn't want a situation like that pondered by Starhawk in an early Guardians of the Galaxy tale (Marvel Presents #3) where he says "The humans have beaten the Badoon. It remains to be seen whether they will triumph over their basest emotions." In other words, humanity isn't ready to journey the stars just yet.

(Of course, this doesn't address the fact that the Kree weren't ready to journey the stars either when they acquired advanced technology -- acquired from the Skrulls, as a matter of fact. See Avengers #133, panel at above left. Modern humanity is considerably more advanced than the Kree were when they overcame their Skrull masters millenia ago.)

The third -- and probably best explanation for comics' sake -- is that Richards and the US (and others') government(s) had (have) his advanced inventions in reserve -- in secret -- for whenever needed for the planet's defense. (And all the while using them behind the scenes to advance humanity as quickly as feasible.)

Just some friendly ponderings ... !