Secret Invasion Front Line #3 (OF 5)

Frontline should be dead as a concept, mini-series, whatever you want to call it. The last two, that revolved around big event books Planet Hulk and Civil War, were awful in every respect- the art made Ben Urich look like a pudgy Woody Allen and the writing was, hmmm ... horrible?

This ain't your momma's Frontline.

From the few things I've read by Brian Reed I'm becoming a fan and this continues his streak of solid books. Frontline isn't perfect but, perhaps, when held up against its earlier incarnations it feels that way. The premise of the book is finally met and we get into the lives of very normal people in New York on the first day of the Skrull invasion. People die- people we spend some time with in the book and start to know. The Skrulls are as they ought to be, scary and completely, unpredictably deceptive. Superheroes fly in and out of these "regular" people's lives in a way that makes them feel important but also far too absent for those citizens who are in desperate need. This latest issue gives us a glimpse of Nick Fury/Skrull face off from the main book but then bounces into more personal dilemmas like a cop who takes his life into his own hands to distract wandering Skrulls from attacking escaping passengers on a city bus.

I don't have a great grasp on art style but this seems more of the computer generated school of things, a bit stiff and absent a certain energy. But I don't hate it and it tells the story well enough for me to enjoy the book. Thumbs up Frontline. Thumbs up Brian Reed.