Avengers/Invaders #2
Battlefield Brooklyn
The Invaders have somehow been transported from World War II to the present day. When word reaches SHIELD and its director, Tony Stark (aka Iron Man), he calls a meeting with Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) of his Mighty Avengers team to discuss the situation. Carol realizes that the Invaders being in the present could have dire consequences to the timeline if they aren’t put back where they belong. She insists that they need to capture them and put the legendary heroes in quarantine until they can find a way to send them back to their own time.[1]
Carol can tell that Tony that seeing the younger version of Captain America (Steve Rogers) is making him blame himself for present day Cap’s death.[2] She reminds him that it wasn’t his fault, but Tony refuses to accept that.
Soon Tony and Carol meet with the rest of the team — the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Wonder Man (Simon Williams), the Black Widow (Natasha Romanov), Ares, and the Sentry (Bob Reynolds) - to tell them the situation. Iron Man reminds them that the longer the Invaders remain in the present day could wipe out existence as they know it. Ares bluntly notes that this would also erase the recent civil war. Carol tells him not to blame the war on Cap and the Avengers are quickly deployed.
Meanwhile, the Invaders — Captain America, Bucky (James Barnes), the Human Torch (Jim Hammond), Toro (Thomas Raymond), and the Sub-Mariner (Namor) — have spent the night in the city subway system trying to figure out their situation. They know that they are in New York City and apparently in the future. However, they aren’t entirely certain that this isn’t some kind of Nazi trick. At daybreak, they return to the surface in Brooklyn, still trying to make sense of their situation. The Human Torch reminds them that they fought a group of superhumans called the Thunderbolts, the connotations to the Nazis are not lost on them.
That’s when Iron Man’s team arrives and orders Cap and his group to stand down. Convinced that these are more Nazi attackers, Captain America gives out the Invaders’ battle cry and they attack. Bucky tries to shoot the Sentry with his machine gun and is shocked to see the bullets bounce off harmlessly. That’s when Ms. Marvel swoops in smacks Bucky down for calling her a dame. The Human Torch then punches Wonder Man in the face and is shocked to see that he Simon has shrugged off his fiery blow.[3] Meanwhile, Toro is downed distracting the Torch long enough to be knocked out as well. All this while the Sub-Mariner locks horns with Ares.
Captain America confronts Iron Man,[4] who tries to stop him by magnetically attracting Cap’s shield. Being yanked up into the air doesn’t even phase Cap, who begins whaling on Iron Man in mid-air. Not wanting to hurt Captain America, Iron Man is at a disadvantage and is slammed into the ground. Recovering from the fall, Iron Man pleads with Cap to start fighting. This causes Steve pause, and is just long enough for the Wasp to fly into his ear and incapacitate him with one of her stings. The only Invader left standing is the Sub-Mariner who has managed to wrest Ares’ battle axe. Seeing that he can’t win the battle, he tosses the weapon at Iron Man, causing a distraction to get away. This scene is photographed by Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) on the job for the DB! newspaper. Photographing Namor as he flees, he spots Spider-Woman following after him.[5]
The photos make the front page of the DB!,[6] and are later seen by the present day Captain America (James Barnes), who notes that his younger self (aka Bucky) is among the Invaders trapped in the present. Meanwhile, Paul Anslem — a soldier from World War II trapped in the present along with the Invaders — has looked up his future self in the phone book and tracked down his apartment. When he knocks on the door, an old man answers and Paul asks him if his name is Paul Anslem.\
By this time, Steve Rogers wakes up in a holding cell in the brig of the SHIELD helicarrier. He is greeted by Iron Man who is standing at the door to his cell. He begins explaining to Steve how he and his team are contained but not in any danger. All he can say is that they aren’t Nazis and they need to figure out the danger posed to the world by their presence in the present day.
At the same time, the elder Paul Anslem has invited his younger self into his apartment and introduced him to his grandson.[7] The young Paul wants to know everything that has happened in the decades since the war. His older self decides to oblige him since he’s already in the present.
Back at the helicarrier, the Human Torch finds himself trapped in a room with sprinklers to prevent him from flaming on. However, he is able to keep the palms of his hands dry enough to heat them. When a SHIELD agent enters the room, Jim uses his flame to try and incapacitate him, only to discover that he is some kind of mechanical life form like himself. As it turns out, this “SHIELD agent” is a Life Model Decoy (LMD) sent in to interrogate him.[8] In a lab nearby, Toro wakes up to find himself in some kind of examination chamber. He has been drugged and struggles to get free. Unable to do so, he can over hear the scientists examining him and their theory that he might be a mutant.[9]
Meanwhile, Bucky finds himself imprisoned in an ordinary cell. James is unsurprised that their jailers don’t consider him a threat and that the Invaders have planned for such a misconception. As it turns out, Buck has the materials to construct a bomb using plastic explosives hidden under the skin of his left arm and under his thumbnail. Setting up the explosives on the door to his cell, he blasts it open and heads off to find Cap.
At that same time, Spider-Man has called a meeting with the rest of the New Avengers — Ronin (Clint Barton), Luke Cage, Wolverine (Logan), Iron Fist (Danny Rand), and Echo (Maya Lopez) — to tell them about the situation with the Invaders. They all agree that they need to break into the SHIELD helicarrier and free them all.
Recurring Characters
Mighty Avengers (Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, Wasp, Wonder Man, Black Widow, “Spider-Woman”, Ares, Sentry), New Avengers (Ronin, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Echo) Captain America (Barnes), Invaders (Captain America (Rogers), Bucky, Human Torch, Toro, Sub-Mariner), Paul Anslem, SHIELD
Continuity Notes
Ms. Marvel and Iron Man theorize possible reasons for the Invaders being brought forward in time:
They mention both Kang and Immortus, who are technically the same guy. Kang is a time traveler and Immortus is his future self. Both are long time adversaries of the Avengers starting in Avengers #8 (for Kang) and 10 (for Immortus). They have a long history of manipulating the past, and the Avengers destiny in particular.
Carol also mentions the Black Panther’s “Time Frog”. She is referring to the brass frogs of King Solomon. These sentient artifacts are can often transport people through time and space and often act on their own volition and are known tricksters. They were first seen in Black Panther #1.
2. This story happens in the fall out from the superhero civil war which took place in Civil War #1-7 where the government passed the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA), a law that required superheros to register with the government. This split the community in half with Captain America being against the law and Iron Man in support of it. Iron Man’s side ultimately won, but this victory was punctuated by tragedy when Cap was seemingly assassinated in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. What our heroes don’t know yet is that Cap was shot with a chronal bullet and is living his life in a loop. He will remain trapped in this purgatory until Captain America: Reborn #1-6.
When the Human Torch asks what Simon is, he says it’s complicated. Not really. Simon is empowered by ionic energy, as explained in Avengers #9.
Captain America wonders if Iron Man is a new Iron Cross. Iron Cross was an armor wearing Nazi whom the Invaders first fought back in Invaders #35.
The woman everyone believes to be Spider-Woman is actually a Skrull impostor named Veranke, as revealed in Secret Invasion #3. As revealed in New Avengers #42, she took the place of the real Spider-Woman circa Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1 as part of a coming invasion of Earth, as we’ll see in Secret Invasion #1-8.
There are a number of headlines in the DB! that are references to other things going on in the Marvel Universe at the time. These items are:
The mayoral race that was going on in New York at the time the prime candidates being William Hollister and Randall Crown. This race would go from Amazing Spider-Man #546 to 590. Ultimately, J. Jonah Jameson will win the election, as seen in issue #591 of that series.
It also mentions Bill Hollister’s daughter Lily and how she is in a relationship with a drug addict. This is in reference to the man everyone thinks is Harry Osborn. Harry struggled with drug addiction as we saw way back in Amazing Spider-Man #96-98. In fact, between his last appearance in Spectacular Spider-Man #200 and Amazing Spider-Man #545, Harry is said to have been in rehab.
In reality, the real Harry Osborn died in Spectacular Spider-Man #200. The man claiming to be him now is actually a clone that was created as part of an elaborate revenge scheme from beyond the grave. See Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 5) #73.
Mention is made of an internet sensation named Screwball. She had just recently become active in Amazing Spider-Man #559.
The idea that Paul Anslem could still be alive in the Modern Age has become near impossible due to the Sliding Timescale and the ever widening gulf of time between the Modern Age and World War II. At least not without a means of slowing, stopping, or extending the natural human life span. As of this writing (September, 2024), Marvel has yet to provide an explanation for his longevity. I have posited a theory on how it might be possible in my index for issue #1 of this series.
The revelation that the Life Model Decoy might be sentient life is later revealed to be a ploy by Ultron, as revealed in Avengers/Invaders #7. Ultron’s code managed to infiltrate SHIELD’s computers back in Mighty Avengers #6.
It was once theorized that Toro might be a mutant, starting in Invaders #22. It is later determined that his powers were the result of inheriting Inhuman genes from his parents, as will be explained in All-New Invaders #8.
Topical References
There are multiple references to the present day taking place in the year 2008. This date should be considered a topical reference. Likewise, the number of decades between World War II and the present should also be considered topical. This is because the Modern Age of the Marvel Universe operates on a Sliding Timescale that slowly pushes it forward through time. This, in turn, expands the gulf of years between it and the war. The dates and measurement of time are relative to the date this comic was originally published.