Brand New Secret Invasion Part Two

Recap

Spider-Man is in the Savage Land fighting off dinosaurs[1]. He apologizes to the readers that he’s a little busy but gets everyone up to date on what happened last issue. He explains that the planet Earth is under invasion by the Skrulls. In New York, Jackpot went to the DB! to have them retract a story that is damaging to her reputation and was in a meeting with Dexter Bennett, Joe Robertson, and Betty Brant when a Skrull with the power of six of Spider-Man’s greatest foes attacked the building. Watching the alien arrive, Vin Gonzales and his partner rushed inside to help. While in Soho, Harry Osborn and his girlfriend Lily Hollister is trying to find cover from the Super-Skrulls that are landing all over the city.[2]

Meanwhile, in New York….

Vin Gonzales is rushing up the stairs to the DB! offices as the newspaper staff evacuate the building. Once he enters the bullpen he is shocked to see Jackpot fighting a Super-Skrull with the powers of Venom, Sandman, the Lizard, Electro, the Scorpion, and Hydro-Man. Still in the newsroom are Dexter Bennett, Joe Robertson, and Betty Brant who are also trying to flee the scene.[3] Knocking Jackpot aside, the Super-Skrull turns its attention to the others who are fleeing. Vin pulls his gun and shoots the Skrull twice in the head. However, the bullets do nothing but anger the alien invader. Before it can attack Vin, Jackpot pushes past him, picks up the officer and carries him as she leaps down the stairwell. When Vin complains about dropping his gun, Jackpot points out that it wasn’t doing him much good. As Betty, Dexter, and Joe rush downstairs, Betty suggests that they head to the Brooklyn Emergency Office. That’s when Jackpot rushes past them, ordering them to get a move on as the Skrull is following them behind.

Meanwhile, in Soho, Harry Osborn and Lily Hollister are trapped in an alley between two Super-Skrull invaders. Pulling Harry close, Lily pulls him out of the path of one of the Skrull’s blows and it hits the side of the alley, punching a hole into the high-end car dealership. Rushing inside, Harry and Lilly search for a car that has its keys in the ignition as one of the Skrulls go in after them. They find keys in one of the sports cars and drive through the showroom window and out onto the street. When Lily wishes Spider-Man was there, Harry curtly tells her that they don’t need Spider-Man and decides their next stop should be the police station as he hopes Vin or Carlie Cooper can tell them what’s going on. At that same moment, Joe Robertson has led the others to his car which is parked in the DB!’s parking garage with the Super-Skrull still hot on their trail. When the creature catches up to them, Jackpot rips off the bumper off the back of Joe’s car and smacks the alien in the face. She feels entirely out of her league, thinking about how if Spider-Man ever found himself in front of Galactus he’d call for back-up instead of trying to fight the world devourer. When Vin suggests that he should drive due to his police training, Joe used to street race in Brooklyn when he was a teenager. Having heard the legends about “Rocket Robertson”, Vin allows him to take the wheel instead. They quickly take off, with Jackpot riding on the outside of the car. Unfortunately, they are unable to shake their pursuer, prompting Jackpot to suggest they head to the Baxter Building for help.

They quickly discover that their chance of salvation is a dead end when they arrive outside the Baxter Building and discover that the upper floors have been sucked into a strange portal.[4] When Dexter tells Betty that she had better remember of this because he’s expecting it for a story in tomorrow’s edition. That’s when Betty shows that she has been taking everything down on her smartphone. By this time, the Super-Skrull that has been following them has caught up and ambushed Jackpot. It demands to know where Spider-Man is since he can smell the web-slinger on all of them. That’s when Joe rams the alien with his car and they make a quick getaway.

Elsewhere, Harry Osborn is lost and still trying to escape from the Skrulls that are on the street. When he tries to call Carlie on his cell phone, Harry is shocked to discover there is no signal. After trying to avoid a Skrull warrior by driving on the sidewalk, Harry ends up crashing the car, and the pair bail out just before the Skrull blows their vehicle up. Unable to find Lilly, Harry runs for cover while the Super-Skrull that destroyed their getaway car goes on a rampage. Moments later, the villain known as Menace flies by on their goblin glider and fatally gores the Skrull with an ax.[5]

By this time, Jackpot has had Joe drive her to Avengers Tower, which is also locked tight. The Super-Skrull following them then lands on the back of Joe’s car, sending Jackpot landing in its arms. It then throws her through a window of a nearby building. Recovering from the throw, Jackpot then leaps back out to stop the Skrull who is now terrorizing Joe, Vin, Betty, and Dexter. That’s when Menace arrives and grabs Jackpot by the throat. The villain has decided that killing Spider-Man’s “girlfriend” will be more fun than killing aliens. At that moment, the Super-Skrull has peeled back the roof of Joe’s car. Since the entire thing reeks of Spider-Man, the alien has deduced that one of them must be Spider-Man and demands that they reveal themselves.

Recurring Characters

Jackpot, Skrulls, Menace, Harry Osborn, Dexter Bennett, Joe Robertson, Betty Brant, Vin Gonzales

Continuity Notes

1. At the time of this story, Spider-Man is trapped in the Savage Land along with the other Avengers as seen in Secret Invasion #1-8.

2. I shouldn’t have to tell you this all happened last issue.

3. The narrative states that Joe Robertson is the former editor-in-chief of the DB!, at the time of this story he had just recently quit the paper in Amazing Spider-Man #561 over ethical concerns. Joe came to the DB! last issue to complain about Dexter Bennett still putting his name on the paper.

4. The Skrulls attempted to remove the Fantastic Four and their inventions off the board by dumping their headquarters into the Negative Zone as seen in Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1-3.

5. If it’s not abundantly obvious, Lily Hollister is secretly the Menace as we’ll learn in Amazing Spider-Man #584-588.

Topical References

• There are political advertisements for comedian Stephen Colbert’s fake campaign for the 2008 Presidential Election. This should be considered a topical reference for obvious reasons.

• Outdated technology: Betty is using a Blackberry to document everything. Blackberrys were ubiquitous in business, particularly in journalism at the time of this story. However, with the advent o smartphones, Blackberry has mostly moved out of the cellular phone business.