Avengers/Invaders #3
Homefront
Trapped in the present day, the Sub-Mariner (Namor) has fled capture and retreated back to Atlantis. There he is horrified to discover his homeland is in ruins.[1] He wonders what became of his people and his next move. That’s when he notices something about the currents being swam by a pod of sharks and realizes he might not be alone after all.
In Washington, DC, the New Avengers —Ronin (Clint Barton), Luke Cage, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Wolverine (Logan), Iron Fist (Danny Rand) and Doctor (Stephen) Strange — meet with their former teammate Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) at the Lincoln Memorial.[2] She makes no apologies for going to Iron Man (Tony Stark) with the Skrull corpse they recently discovered.[3] However, she has agreed to meet with them because she wants to help Ronin and the others rescue the time displaced Invaders that are being held aboard the SHIELD helicarrier. Strange warns them that if they don’t return the Invaders back soon, the magic he is using to preserve the timeline will no longer hold and history will be changed, potentially erasing them all from existence.
Meanwhile, Paul Anslem — a soldier who has become trapped in the present along with the Invaders — has tracked down his future self and find out what happens after the war.[4] The elder Paul takes his younger self to Fort Washington, because it hasn’t changed much in all the years since the war. The two talk about the point in time that the younger Paul came from, the battle at Monte Cassino in 1943. However, Paul would end up going home and marrying their sweetheart, Annie. Sadly, Annie passed away ten years prior. However, they had a daughter Jane, who gave them their grandson Andrew. Andrew was named after one of Paul’s buddies who died in the war. When asked who else survived, Paul tells his younger self that none of them did.
At the same time, Namor is continuing his search for his people in this era. As he swims through the Atlantic, he thinks back to his own past. He remembers how he was the son of the Atlantean Princes, Fen, and a human explorer named Leonard McKenzie. That their union and Namor’s birth was viewed as an unspoken pact between their two races. The Sub-Mariner has come to view this pact as the motivation for him joining with the Allied Forces to fight the Nazis. Now it all seems lost with Atlantis destroyed. Eventually, Namor comes upon the wreckage of the Titanic. When he calls out to the Atlanteans hiding there, he is greeted by his older self, who is now king of Atlantis.[5] The younger Namor tells his older self how his allies in the Invaders have been captured by the “Nazis” of this time and asks for assistance in rescuing them.[6]
The elder Sub-Mariner remembers this trip to the future and tells his younger self that he will not be waging war with the surface world. In fact, he says that there is a lot about diplomacy and peace keeping that his younger self has yet to learn. When his hot headed younger self insults him, Namor decides to teach him a lesson. The two fight, but unfortunately, the younger Sub-Mariner proves the stronger fighter. After knocking his future self out, the young Namor tells the gathered Atlantean warriors to prepare for war.
Back aboard the helicarrier, the Human Torch examines the LMD that he incapacitated and realizes it was a machine. This reminds him of his own creation and how he burst into flames after his inventor — Phineas Horton — first activated him during a press conference.[7] Detecting that the LMD is self aware, he takes pity on it, as the humans just want them to be unfeeling machines. He is unaware that this conversation is being watched by other Life Model Decoys through the security systems. The LMD in his cell then asks Jim to help liberate his people.
Elsewhere, Bucky is still searching for Captain America’s cell when the alarm begins to sound. Right on cue, SHIELD agents rush to Cap’s cell to make sure he is still secure. This allows Bucky to ambush them and get the code. Inside the cell, Steve has been counting down how long it has taken for Bucky to free him and is impressed when the lad does it in 23 seconds. The two decide that the best course of action is to escape and regroup. They grab weapons and race outside where they discover that they are aboard a helicarrier that is high above Washington. This pretty well confirms to them that they are indeed in the future. Moments later, they are swarmed by Life Model Decoys that have been sent to contain them. When they discover that they are fighting androids, the two soldiers don’t have to pull their punches.
While Steve handles the brunt of the soldiers, he tells Bucky to go and find the others. Entering the helicarrier, Bucky is confronted by Tony Stark. Tony is not wearing his armor and has come with Captain America’s shield in the hopes he can convince Bucky to stand down because they are only trying to help. James pretends to comply so he can get close and then opens fire with his machine gun. While Stark blocks this with his shield, the force of the bullets cause him to slam into a nearby wall, knocking him out. Picking up Cap’s shield, Bucky says that there is only one person who has the right to carry the shield.
Recurring Characters
New Avengers (Ronin, Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange), Invaders (Captain America, Bucky, Human Torch, Sub-Mariner), Iron Man, “Spider-Woman” Sub-Mariner (present day), SHIELD, Paul Anslem
Continuity Notes
“Atlantis” is the general name for the kingdom of the Atlantean people. Many cities have gone by this name. The specific name that the 1940’s would be visiting is also known as Thakorr, named after his grandfather. This distinction was first made in Marvel Atlas #2. This city was laid to waste by Destiny in the 1950s, as seen in Sub-Mariner #1.
The woman who everyone thinks is Jessica Drew is actually a Skrull spy named Vername, as revealed in Secret Invasion #3. Per New Avengers #42, Veranke took the place of the real Jessica Drew circa Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1. This is ahead of a planned Skrull invasion of Earth that will take place in Secret Invasion #1-8.
At the time of this story, the New Avengers had just discovered that the woman they thought was Elektra was actually a Skrull, as seen in New Avengers #31. “Jessica” took the body and fled her teammates in the following issue and then delivered it to Stark in Mighty Avengers #7.
Due to the Sliding Timescale, it becomes increasingly impossible for Paul Anslem to still be alive in the Modern Age without some means of extending his life. As of this writing (September, 2024), Marvel has yet to provide an official explanation. I have posited a theory in my index entry for issue #1.
Namor eventually becomes the longest running ruler of Atlantis. His past self actually became temporary ruler of Atlantis when his grandfather, Thakorr was rendered comatose in Sub-Mariner Comics #1, but will resume his rule upon awakening from it following the war, as seen in Young Men #28. Namor will become the full ruler again in Fantastic Four Annual #1, a position he will hold consistently over the years. The reason why modern-day Namor and his people are hiding out near the Titanic is because recent political pressures from Atlantean sleeper attacks on the surface have forced them to go into hiding as seen in Sub-Mariner (vol. 2) #1-6. This will remain the status quo until New Atlantis is constructed under the mutant nation of Utopia in Uncanny X-Men #520.
The Invaders initially mistook Iron Man for Iron Cross in Avengers/Invaders #2, an armor wearing Nazi whom the Invaders first encountered with Invaders #35. Namor fled the fight after his teammates were captured, hence why he doesn’t know how his assumption isn’t correct.
The Human Torch was created by Horton back in Marvel Comics #1. 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.
Topical References
It is stated that the present day is occurring in the year 2008 and that World War II was a little over 60 years prior to this story. However, this should be considered a topical reference that is relative to the date of publication. The Modern Age operates on a Sliding Timescale that regularly bumps it forward in time. This has a consequence of widening the gap of time between World War II and the present.