Editor's Note: Secret Invasion: Front Line #1 arrives in stores tomorrow, July 2.

"Chapter One: The End of the World"

Steven Bari: 2.5 Bullets
Paul Brian McCoy: 3 Bullets

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Steven Bari 2.5 Bullets

Plot: The Skrull Invasion from street level. Follow New York cabbie Jonathan, business mogul Vincent, and Dr. Young of Empire State University Hospital as Ben Urich of Front Line recounts the end of the world!

Commentary: I never much enjoyed any of the Front Line series, as I really couldn't find anything gripping. Yet this comic provides a much-needed dramatic vantage point of the Secret Invasion: how are everyday people dealing with this alien invasion? In this respect Front Line instills appropriate fear and chaos to the streets of New York as straphangers and cabbies watch big green men invade their city.

Unfortunately, this doesn't happen until the second half of the issue. We are first introduced to Jonathan, a yellow-cab driver whose night before the invasion gets worse and worse. First, he finds out his woman is sleeping with another man. Then, the Menace and Spider-Man total his cab. And to top it all off, his recorded reaction to the invasion is erased by Urich for more important "commentary."

The story then jumps around, focusing on our eyes and our ears of the invasion: Vincent, a businessman who works for a merchandising company inside Stark Tower, and Dr. Molly Young, an idealistic emergency room doctor whose willingness to help may get her killed. Although these characters are relatable, they neither resonate emotionally nor visually to garner interest. They are the usual suspects as P.O.V.: Vincent the cynical everyman, Molly the saint, and Jonathan the man seeking vindication with a loved one. These aren't necessarily hackneyed archetypes, but they aren't original either.

As for the art, it is very good and certainly captures the hysteria of the invasion in the latter pages, but doesn't make use of individual character templates. I had to read the issue twice because I was trying to figure why Jonathan was suddenly working in Stark Tower, had a daughter, then came back to the cab company garage. Jonathan and Vincent look the same. So do Molly and one of her colleagues. Only Urich is distinct, and that's because he has glasses.

Nonetheless, Front Line is a obligatory perspective to this event. Again, I don't normally enjoy this series when it pops up (Civil War & World War Hulk), so I'm biased. But if I'm willing to give this series a chance, Brian Reed and the art team need to make Secret Invasion: Front Line far more appealing.

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Paul Brian McCoy: 3 Bullets

Another big Marvel event means another edition of Front Line; this time Brian Reed has been handed the reins, and he does a good job at orchestrating three different storylines following brand new characters during the initial Skrull landing. Is it just me, though, or has this battle been going on for months now?

As with the previous installments, Front Line's core is reporter Ben Urich, who is in the middle of interviewing a sexy doctor about treating gang victims in the ER, as the Skrulls attack. This storyline runs parallel with the stories of a cab driver who's having a very bad couple of days already, and a father and daughter who find themselves trapped in a locked down Avengers Tower (his offices are situated there).

There's a lot of drama in each situation before the actual Invasion starts, so I have hope that Reed will be able to keep them from deteriorating into cliches. I'm also hoping that the book doesn't demonstrate the hostility toward people that Jenkins' run seemed to develop. There were a few extremely misanthropic moments in World War Hulk: Front Line. Reed hasn't really let me down in anything I've read by him so far, but I haven't read a lot, to be honest.

Generally the art in this book is very good. Every character has a distinct look, the backgrounds and settings are very well defined and realistic, and there is only a panel or two where I was confused about just what was happening. The two-page spread of the Skrull ships appearing above New York is breathtaking and really helps to establish the giant pause for breath the entire city takes just before the chaos erupts.

My only real quibble with the art is that the sexy doctor, Doctor Molly Young, doesn't seem to be wearing a top under her white, doctor's jacket. Every other doctor character is wearing his or her coat open over their regular blouses, shirts, and ties. Except for Doctor Young, who keeps her coat buttoned tightly across her ample bosom as if she were wearing a dress-blouse combo. But she's clearly wearing a skirt under the coat/dress. The only justification for it that I can tell, is that she's supposed to be hot, and this shows off her chest, whereas a coat over a blouse wouldn't be as revealing.

It's a strange bit of cheesecake art in the midst of some rather serious situations (including an emergency medical procedure on a gang member who's been gutshot, and, of course, the aforementioned Skrull invasion). I keep expecting her top to burst open at a dramatic moment, like a female Nick Fury. And while in another context that might be something to look forward to, here it just seems out of place and unnecessarily exploitive. If the title of the book were Hot Action Doctors, she would be right at home.

The coloring team of Ciardo and Pinelli do a fantastic job throughout the book, with a soft, water-color style that really makes the book worth taking home on its own. Their use of light and shadow sometimes creates an almost photo-realistic sense of depth. At other times, a marbleized effect is used that gives the stones, streets, and walls believable textures as well as to create artistic backdrops in panels without detailed backgrounds. And you should see the skies above New York. The light filtering through the clouds is just beautiful.

All in all, the artwork gives this comic a very European style that we could use more of in American mainstream works. I'm a little confused by the crediting, though, as the first listing is for GG Studios and "team coordinator" Giuliano Monni. Then we get Castiello listed as penciler and the colorist credits, followed by the rest of the production team. Is this something new? I don't know if I've seen art credited to a studio before. Interesting.

Secret Invasion: Front Line is off to a nicely paced start with a fair-sized cast of interesting characters. And it's easy on the eyes, too. Even without Hot Action Doctor, this is a very good looking book, and yet another Secret Invasion tie-in that may end up being better than the main series.

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