Secret Invasion: Front Line #3

Nov 9

Nov 9 Secret Invasion: Front Line #3

Escape

Secret Invasion continues from Thunderbolts #123…

The Manhattan has been invaded by the Skrulls.[1] Ben Urich, who was covering a story at Empire State University Hospital when the invasion began, is now making his way to Times Square to see what is going on. He follows Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) who is flying by overhead, and comes upon a brawl between an army of Super-Skrulls and Nick Fury’s Secret Warriors![2] Writing about it later, Ben says he wanted to get fresh and raw feelings of what happened as it was happening. Unfortunately, he still doesn’t know what to make of that battle. Instead, he shifts to one of the many interviews he conducted during the invasion.

The first is with Melanie Crane, who starts by talking about how, 14 hours before the invasion, she had just learned that her parents were going to get a divorce. Her mother planned on moving to Los Angeles and taking Melanie with her. She skipped school the next day to try and talk reason with her father when the invasion began. Now that her father is dead, Melanie hopes that her mother is still alive because she doesn’t want her harsh words from the night before to be the last conversation she had with her mom.

About an hour into the invasion, Melanie and her father, Vincent, were trapped inside Avengers Tower after a Skrull computer virus locked the place down.[3] They, and others trapped in the building were slowly making their way down the emergency stairwell in the dark, with only their cell phones to light the way. Mel uses this time to apologize to her father about how immature she has been acting. Vincent is glad to hear his daughter is showing some maturity but says now isn’t the time to discuss the family separation. That’s when the others notice that one of their number, Jim, has suddenly disappeared. As they start to panic about what happened, Melanie hears something growling overhead. When they raise their cellphones to see what it is, they see a Super Skrull clinging to the ceiling with spider powers. Everyone flees in panic as the Skrull gives them chase. He then catches Vincent’s partner, Chris Colin.

Meanwhile, Office Bill Dawson and bystander Lisa Carter had gone to the aid of passengers left stranded on a city bus. However, before they could get people to safety, the bus is surrounded by Skrull invaders. Dawson notices that there is an emergency escape hatch on the floor of the bus. He decides to use it to sneak out and create a distraction while the others get away. As he is being helped down, Bill is formally introduced to Lisa and he wishes her luck as he doesn’t think he’s going to survive this stunt. Once he is outside, Bill confronts the Skrulls and begins shooting at them with his service pistol.

Back near Time Square, Ben Urich is fleeing the battle when he is knocked off his feet by an explosion and breaks his wrist. He is helped back up by taxi driver Jonathan Bryant. The taxi driver helps Ben get cover in the nearby subway station where others have gone for shelter. There, Ben tries a payphone again to see if he can call his wife. Unfortunately, the landlines are all down, just like there are no cell signals.[4] Ben then decides to get Jonathan’s story and learns that he has been helping people get to cover since the invasion started. However, he admits that the subway station isn’t the best hiding place. Ben agrees, and suggests that they use the subway tunnel to get somewhere safe, even leave the city. Whatever might be waiting for them down there could not be worse than what’s going on above ground. Jonathan certainly hopes not.

While in Avengers Tower, Vincent and his daughter flee onto one of the nearest floors in order to get away from the Skrull that has been hunting them and the others. While Vincent tries to block the door, Melanie discovers that one of the security shutters blocking the windows has malfunctioned and she can see outside. Vincent shoots down the idea of using this as an escape, since they are still at least 30 floors up and wouldn’t survive the fall. He then tells her to help him push a couch in the way of the door to the emergency stairs. However, Melanie refuses to help because that would trap the others in the stairs with the Skrull. As they argue over their next moves, the Skrull smashes through the door, grabs Vincent and yanks him into the darkness. Moments later, the Skrull bursts into the room and gives Melanie chase. The girl, begins running for the open window.

Outside, Bill has run out of bullets and now the Skrulls are beating on him. However, they soon lose interest in the wounded officer when they see one of Earth’s superheroes fly by and go after them. That’s when Lisa comes back for him and tells Bill that his distraction worked and everyone got to shelter at a nearby subway station. She then helps Dawson back to his feet and they make their way there.

Down below, Urich and Bryant are leading their group through the subway tunnels. When they come out at the Stark Tower subway station they bump into another group who blinds them with flashlights. These are members of the Rolling Sevens gang and they accuse Ben and his group of trespassing on their territory. While Urich urges caution, Jonathan isn’t scared of this threat after everything he experienced on the surface. That’s when one of the gang members shoots him in the chest. Ben goes to Jonathan’s side and promises to find some way out of this and get him help. That’s when the leader of the Rolling Sevens, brandishing a knife, tells the reporter to not make promises he can’t keep.

… Secret Invasion continues in Deadpool (vol. 4) #1

Recurring Characters

Ben Urich, Jonathan Bryant, Vincent Crane, Melanie Crane, Bill Dawson, Lisa Carter, Chris Colin, Ms. Marvel, Secret Warriors (Nick Fury, Quake, Druid, Hellfire, Phobos, Slingshot, Stonewall)

Continuity Notes

The main story of the Skrull invasion is told in Secret Invasion #1-8.
The battle that Ben Urich comes across is depicted in more details in Secret Invasion #4.
This virus was used to compromise all Starktech on Earth, as seen in Secret Invasion #1.
Ben will not learn the fate of his wife until Secret Invasion: Front Line #5.

Topical References

Characters in this story are depicted using “flip” style phones that were popular when this comic was published in 2008. These types of models have since fallen out of common use thanks to the invention of the smart phone. Its depiction here should be considered topical. The ones trapped in Avengers Tower use their cellphone screens as make-shift flashlights. Back then, it was uncommon for cell phones to have a built in flashlight function. The vast majority of them do now, so the method in which they use their cell phones to illuminate their way should also be considered topical.