Line #67 ComicBook/ScarletTraces


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6	%% The trope examples have been split into separate sections for the series
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8	Written in 2002 by Ian Edginton and D'Israeli, ''Scarlet Traces'' is the story of a post Martian invasion Great Britain. The first series is told roughly a decade after the invasion, and follows the exploits of former soldier, spy, and adventurer Robert Autumn and his valet Archibald Currie. Basically an AlternateHistory continuation of the novel by Creator/HGWells, the series deals with the CrapsackWorld that they live in, and the mystery they have to solve, which involves the highest levels of British government.
9
10	A fairly faithful graphic novel adaptation of the original ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' was written as a prequel in 2006.
11
12	''Scarlet Traces: The Great Game'' takes place years after the original series, with an elderly Autumn recruiting photojournalist Charlotte Hemming to travel to Mars, and find out why so few servicemen have returned from war...
13
14	It was followed by sequel series series serialized in ''ComicBook/TwoThousandAD'' including:
15	* ''Scarlet Traces: Cold War'' (2016-2017)
16	* ''Scarlet Traces: Home Front'' (2019)
17	* ''Scarlet Traces: Storm Front'' (2021)
18
19	----
20	!!Tropes:
21
22	* AdaptationExpansion: The trilogy starts with a basic telling of ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' and expands it into the socio-political ramifications such an event would have on the rest of the 20th century. The major difference is that the aliens only attack Britain [[spoiler:as being the dominant superpower, Britain posed the greatest threat, and the aliens could assimilate the humans and take over much of the world covertly.]]
23	* AlienSpaceBats: The Martians invasion actually happening, Great Britain remains a super-power, inter-planet travel is common by the early 30's, yeah, it's an alternate history alright.
24	** After the alien invasion of Britain fails, the ImportedAlienPhlebotinum allows Britain to become an even more powerful military superpower, meaning UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII never happen.
25	** Oswald Mosley becomes Home Secretary of Great Britain, and forms a version of the S.P.C. even more brutal than in our world.
26	** Haile Selassie is the Secretary General of League of Nations, and Abyssinia has never been taken over by Italy.
27	** Space travel has been developed to rocket level by the Thirties, though gravity cannons provided the first space travel device since 1908 and the first retaliation against Mars.
28	** By 1968, there are new and familiar nations such as the United Soviet Confederacy, the North American Republic, and the German Federation. The League of Nations is also still active during this setting.
29	* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The alien invaders, who seem to have no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
30	* AnArmAndALeg: Autumn looses his right arm in the end fight underneath Cairfax Abbey to a guard's heat ray gun.
31	* TheBadGuyWins: Davenport Spry and the Prime Minister gets away with feeding human women to a captive alien in return for gaining its knowledge to master Britain's advanced technology and launching their invasion of Mars. Arthur Currie is killed. Autumn loses his arm and he is rendered a drunk madman that no one listens to his ravings about Spry and the government's crimes.
32	* BattleButler: Archie was a sergeant alongside Robert in the Coldstream Guards, and as his accomplice in international espionage. Fights alongside Autumn and Ned Penny in the lair at Cairfax Abbey, and earlier against two government thugs.
33	* BritainIsOnlyLondon: Averted. While a large part of the action takes place in London in both books, the characters also make a trip up to Scotland, and the counties outside of London. However, London is the biggest and most modernist city in the country, thanks to the Martian tech used to rebuild.
34	* CassandraTruth: By the end of the first story Autumn is rendered a drunk madman screaming to people about the government's role in feeding Scottish girls to a captive Martian.
35	* CoolCar: Most of the cars shown are pretty cool. Great Britain does away with regular wheels, and converts them to multi-legged hansom cabs(Scarlet Traces) and black London cabs (The Great Game) and similar vehicles. However, one of the coolest are massive army trucks on Mars (most are so big they have catwalks circling them, and carry massive loads. [[FridgeBrilliance The low Martian gravity]] probably helps).
36	* CoolPlane: The flying wing that Robert, Archie and Archie's brother take to Scotland is large enough that they have fireplaces and private cabins and lounges on board. Also the RAF's jet fighter planes on Mars are pretty cool, with the addition of [[GatlingGood Gatling gun]] pods on them as well.
37	* CrapsackWorld: The British empire after the invasion is a nationalistic, paranoid nation that hides its darker core under a veneer of progress and modern technology. The North is basically under military law, with curfews and military actions against civilians. Meanwhile, the government is using the Martian war to direct public sentiment away from the domestic problems, and instill public support of the government.
38	* CruelMercy: Spry decided not to kill Autumn to cover up loose ends. Instead he released him, leaving him to become a demoralized drunk whose ravings about Spry and the government's crimes are disbelieved and ignored by the public.
39	* DeathRay: The Martian Heat Ray, vaporizes people on contact, and incinerates the surroundings.
40	* DieselPunk: While the story has some SteamPunk elements, most of The Great Game has more DieselPunk overtones, with cars most likely powered by gas, or having a Martian power source.
41	* DrivenToMadness: The fate of the captive alien who was smart enough to hermetically seal his tripod. [[spoiler:Or so he wants us to think.]]
42	* DrowningMySorrows: Autumn after he fails to stop Spry. He soon gets better in the second book where he meets Bernard Goldman, who helps him rehabilitated and return to trying to stop Spry and his collaborators.
43	* EnergyWeapon: Again, the heat rays.
44	* ElaborateUndergroundBase: The lair under Cairfax Abbey, the foundry room, and the Martian Hives all count as underground bases.
45	* ETGaveUsWiFi: The premise of the story is Britain was able to reverse-engineer the technology left from the failed alien invasion, allowing the British Empire to become a technologically advanced superpower in 1908. This was mainly because the British government had secretly captured a single surviving "Martian" and forcing it to help them in learning the technology in exchange in feeding it human blood drained from abducted Scottish girls.
46	* FatBastard: Davenport Spry, who is quite rotund. The spymaster general of Great Britain and future Prime Minister is a pretty much a heartless bastard. His treatment of our hero is pretty horrible, and his manipulation of events to create the war and the ensuing police state are all horrid as well.
47	* GovernmentConspiracy: The Prime Minister and Spry, as well as lesser soldiers and functionaries, all cover up the conspiracy of the missing girls.
48	* GrimUpNorth: The north of England and Scotland, where the alien tech is produced, suffer from massive unemployment and starvation thanks to increased automation.
49	* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Much of the British Empire turns [[strike:bad]] worse after decades of war with the aliens. The comparison between colonial imperialism and PlanetLooters was [[ShownTheirWork present in the original]] ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' but [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory ignored by most western adaptations]].
50	* HumanResources: Spry feeds the blood of young women looking for work to a captive alien [[spoiler: and the aliens themselves use humans as guinea pigs in their hybridisation experiments.]]
51	* HumansAreBastards: Pretty much any governmental character, though James Dravott is more of the "doing my duty" sort.
52	* ImportedAlienPhlebotinum: The Martian technology, though it was mainly captured and re-engineered by the British Empire, and used against them.
53	%%* InWorkingOrder: Averted.
54	* MechanicalHorse: In the first book, many cavalry have moved onto mechanical contraptions to get around, either shaped like mechanical versions of horses, or the more sinister Royal Articulated Hussars, who are only used to suppress trouble spots in the empire. It is shown that they massacred several protesters earlier during a demonstration in Scotland.
55	* NoodleIncident: Autumn angrily decries an incident involving Spry and several men left behind in the Crimea at some point before the story proper.
56	* OfficerAndAGentleman: Robert Autumn
57	* RayGun: The Heat Rays look like this in Scarlet Traces. The War Of The Worlds prequel comic (an adaptation of the original novel) instead has them as the invisible rays described in the novel.
58	* ShoutOut
59	** Prime Minister Cabal is a reference to John Cabal from the film version of ''Film/TheShapeOfThingsToCome.''
60	** The two thugs who kill Goldman are the Mitchell boys from ''Series/EastEnders''
61	** Two of the fighter pilots from Mars are from the ''ComicStrip/DanDare'' comics.
62	** Two characters in each of the books is made to resemble a friend of Ian Edgington and D'Israeli.
63	** A van is seen on the overpass during the ride to the Interceptor which says A. Jones Butcher (a reference to Jack Jones, the butcher/homeguardsman in ''Series/DadsArmy'').
64	** Another Dads Army reference is the Martian in the first book being captured by a local militia in the coastal town of Walmington-On-Sea, where ''Series/DadsArmy'' is located.
65	** The two government killers in the first series are based on Michael Caine's and Sean Connery's characters from ''Film/TheManWhoWouldBeKing''.
66	** In the first volume, [[Franchise/{{Tintin}} Tintin, Snowy, and Captain Haddock]] can be seen in the airport terminal.
67	** The suicide bomber from the Great Game who attacks the BBC is modelled on a friend of Edginton and D'Israeli who owns a comic shop in Aberdeen, Scotland. He returns (although obviously not as the same character) holding a Molotov cocktail made using tequila in Storm Front. He has also had cameo's in their other works (most obviously Stickleback and Leviathan), including his pet dachshund Captain.
68	** In the third story, among the League of Nations members are the [[Literature/TheMouseThatRoared Duchy of Grand Fenwick]] (their LN ambassador is even drawn to resemble Creator/PeterSellers) and the [[Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda Principality of Ruritania]].
69	* StatusQuoIsGod:
70	** By 1950, Britain's power is much diminished and has lost most of its empire, including India, and has thankfully become a bit less imperialist in the process.
71	** In 1968, Harold Wilson is the Prime Minister.
72	* SteamPunk: More prevalent in the first story than the second, but the use of hansom cabs as travel in the first, powered by Martian technology, miniature tripods to destroy pigeons in Trafalgar Square and more have the more Steampunkish atmosphere.
73	* StrippedToTheBone: What the heat-ray does to people when it hits them.
74	* TankGoodness: Tanks are developed several years ahead of their actual creation, and are much larger, and carry a reverse-engineered heat ray in their turrets.
75	* TripodTerror: The Martian tripods. They are more organic-looking than many depictions, and also more numerous as well. See the trope page for an image.
76	* ZeppelinsFromAnotherWorld: Airships are seen sometimes in the background scenes, but most of the technology seems to have lead to literal airships of the sky, huge jet liners that ply the skies.
77
78	!!Tropes in ''The Great Game''
79	* AncientAstronauts: The ruins of Mars were not only built by them, but their murals show that the solar system was once teeming with sentient life, all now [[YouWillBeAssimilated assimilated]] by the Martians... who aren't really from Mars, but from the now-destroyed fifth planet, known to humans as the asteroid belt.
80	* BioAugmentation: The Martians capture human soldiers to pick apart and study human biology. [[spoiler:This is so they can infiltrate the moon base and take over the magnetic rail gun, so they can bombard the Earth with meteors.]]
81	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The British expeditionary force defeated the Martians on Mars with modified Cavorite, but they couldn't stop the Martian-human hybrids from using the Lunar colony's magnetic accelerator to bombard southern England to kingdom come, killing eleven million people, and wiping out the bulk of the expeditionary force. Fortunately, the Commonwealth space fleet finished off the Martians and saving Earth. The British government collapsed with Spry, Mosley, and the entire Royal Family (except Princess Margaret Rose) killed from the bombardment, and is replaced by a more benevolent Parliament which reversed its predecessor's repressive rule while nations like India takes advantage of Britain's severely weakened state and successfully declared their independence from a dead British Empire. Charlotte, Bernard's sister Judith, and Autumn and his dog Archie survived to the very end of the story.]]
82	* BodyHorror: [[spoiler:The human/alien hybrids.]]
83	* BrickJoke: Autumn provides Charlotte a cup of hot Bovril and sherry to steady her nerves after surviving her encounter with Spry's hitmen. [[spoiler:After the destruction of southern England, Charlotte finds on her doorstep a basket of Bovril and sherry, thus learning that Autumn is alive and well.]]
84	* CannonFodder: Most of the soldiers left on the surface of Mars towards the end are this when [[spoiler:they hold up the Martians till the Cavorite weapon is released, resulting in the destruction of both the Martians and themselves as they float off into space from the Cavorite.]]
85	* AChildShallLeadThem: [[spoiler:Nine-year-old Princess Margaret Rose is the only survivor of the British Royal family who survived the aliens' mass driver attack and becomes Britain's heir presumptive to the throne. Within twelve years, she becomes queen.]]
86	* ContinuityNod: Several of the alternate history variation, including [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Law_Montgomery,_1st_Viscount_Montgomery_of_Alamein Monty]] commanding the forces in the Martian desert and an engineer named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnes_Wallis Barnes Wallis]] who develops a revolutionary type of bomb. There are also several [[CallBack callbacks]] to the original ''Film/{{The War Of The Worlds\|1953}}''.
87	* CurbStompBattle: Apart from the initial assault on Earth, the final battle of the war on Mars ends [[spoiler:with the destruction of most of the Martian forces being destroyed by the Cavorite bombs at the end. Also the destruction of the moon base by the combined British/Commonwealth fleets against the Martian infiltrators. Though they take severe losses, and most of Southern England is obliterated, they manage to destroy what may be the last vestiges of the Martians in the Solar System]].
88	* DaEditor: Charlotte Hemmings' boss is Bernard Goldman, the editor of The Interceptor. He is the one who initially meets with Charlotte about her mission to Mars. However, both are attacked by thugs and [[spoiler: he is killed by them, but Autumn kills them to protect Charlotte. His sister survives the destruction of London.]]
89	* DeadlineNews: The BBC broadcasting house is blown up in a suicide attack by a Scottish rebel on live television.
90	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Did the Brits really just gun down their own men in cold blood? [[spoiler: No, they didn't. They killed Martians who are disguised as human beings.]]
91	* GovernmentConspiracy: They cover up why so few servicemen have returned from the war out of several hundred-thousand recruits. [[spoiler:The government had discovered that the Martians have created Martian/human hybrids from abducted human soldiers and have planted them in their ranks. Thus, they restricted their soldiers from returning to Earth on the possibility the hybrid infiltrators will slip through and invade their planet. Unfortunately, the British failed to find them on the Moon base.]]
92	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Oswald Mosley is the Home Secretary [[spoiler:and is killed in the Martian bombardment]]. Bernard Montgomery leads the British expedition on Mars. Barnes Wallis is mentioned to be responsible for rediscovering [[spoiler:Cavorite and weaponizing it against the Martians]]. Haile Selassie is the Secretary General of the League of Nations who criticises Britain's handling in the war against Mars and later supports India's independence. Gandhi is seen giving a V sign in a newspaper photograph in response to India's independence. Nine-year-old Princess Margaret becomes the heir presumptive to the throne [[spoiler:after most of the Royal family are killed in the bombardment]]. Creator/GeorgeOrwell is one of Bernard Goldman's employees and is among the dissidents released from Dartmoor.
93	* IncompatibleOrientation: Bernard Goldman claims he would marry Charlotte if it weren't for the fact he was a queer.
94	* IntrepidReporter: Charlotte Hemming winds up in finding out why the British government is keeping thousands of their servicemen from returning to Earth while being targeted for assassination by Davenport Spry.
95	** Bernard Goldman was one as he began on the same investigation on the missing Scottish girls and ends up in becoming Autumn's friend and ally in going up against the repressive British government. [[spoiler:Unfortuantely, Goldman's journalistic criticism of the government and his and Autumn's investigation on the situation on Mars got him murdered by Spry's hitmen.]]
96	* KilledOffScreen: [[spoiler:Davenport Spry and Oswald Mosley are only mentioned to be among the eleven millions killed in the Martian bombardment.]]
97	* MagneticWeapons: The moon has been turned into a Magnetic rail gun, designed originally to shorten the time between travelling between the Earth and Mars from almost a year, down to a month at most. However, [[spoiler: Martian/human hybrids infiltrate the base, turning it into a giant gun, which flings, according to one character, "the equivalent of a Flying Scotsman hurled at the Earth every five minutes"]].
98	* MonumentalDamage: [[spoiler:The Marble Arch is the only visible structure left barely standing and recognizable in a heavily bombarded and desolated London.]]
99	* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Commander Dravott, son of one of Prime Minister Spry's government henchmen, doesn't condemn or condone Spry's motives for the invasion of Mars and goes along with silencing reporters and dissidents that would jeopardize the war effort, and he believes that war is the correct resort against the genocidal Martians.
100	* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler:Charlotte initially believed Autumn to be among the dead in the orbital bombardment of London and southern England after trying hard to find him to no avail. Fortunately, she learns that it is not the case as she finds on her front doorstep a basket of [[ChekhovsGun sherry and Bovril]].]]
101	* OrbitalBombardment: [[spoiler:At the climax, the Martian-human hybrids takes control of the Moon's magnetic accelerator and using it to fire moon rocks on England.]]
102	* PendulumWar: Neither side really gains much a victory on Mars, as both sides fight over Olympus Mons and other territories [[spoiler:before the final Cavorite attack]].
103	* ShoutOut: Dozens - see [[http://sites.google.com/site/scarlettracesannotations/thegreatgame here]] for a (mostly) complete list of those appearing in ''The Great Game''.
104	** Billy Bunter and several of the other boys from the [[{{Literature/Greyfriars}} Greyfriars]] group are seen in front of the museum where the group is being monitored by militarized bobbies, who resembles to the Judges from ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd''.
105	* SolarSystemNeighbors: The pictographs showing the original inhabitants of the solar system.
106	** Mercury: Mercurians from ''ComicStrip/DanDare''
107	** Venus: [[ComicStrip/DanDare Treens and Therons]]. The latter are feature prominently in ''Cold War''.
108	** Earth: [[Series/DoctorWho Silurians and Sea Devils]]
109	** Moon: [[Creator/MarvelComics The Watcher]] and [[Literature/TheFirstMenInTheMoon Selenites]]
110	** Mars: [[Literature/{{Barsoom}} Green Martians]], [[Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy Hrossa, Sorns and Pfifltriggi]]
111	* SpaceStation: One orbits the central operations on the ground on Mars, headquarters for Field Marshal Montgomery. Might also have elements of space elevator, as it seems to be connected to the ground in some way.
112	* SpiderTank: Used by the British during the first counter-attack against Mars, seen boarding the ships to Mars in the telecast.
113	* SuicideAttack: The Scottish rebel who blows up the BBC broadcasting house on live television, in the name of Scottish independence.
114	* ViolentGlaswegian: PlayedForDrama - Scotland has effectively been reduced to an industrial hellhole by the south, to the extent that the Scots are now participating in guerilla warfare, resulting in martial law throughout much of Britain.
115	* WeaponOfMassDestruction: [[spoiler:The Cavorite bombs used to destroy the Martians on Mars, and the accelerator cannon used to destroy London and Southern England at the end of the book. Both kill millions of human lives.]]
116
117	!!Tropes in the ''Cold War''
118	* AliensStealCable: Icarus has been watching and studying human film and TV transmissions in order to properly meet with humanity. Apparently, Icarus loves ''Series/CoronationStreet'' [[spoiler:and it is one of his many reasons that he wanted to stop the Martians from destroying Earth and the Solar System.]]
119	* BrainUploading: [[spoiler:The "Martians" captured Captain Lewis Skellern and attempted to imprint one of their minds onto Skellern's as an experiment in a desperate bid to stave off of their imminent extinction. However, they did not expect their experiment had only created a third consciousness in Skellern, as the Martian mind dominating Skellern [[HumanityEnsues developed feelings]].]]
120	* FantasticRacism: The Venusians that fled "Martian"-occupied Venus for Earth (specifically Britain) faced discrimination by alien-fearing humanity. Even Enoch Powell gives his infamous [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_of_Blood_speech "River of Blood" speech]] but with Venusians added in. Ahron Shakespeare, a first generation Earth born Venusian who was badly abused by humans since he was a little boy, points out that he is not angry at humanity for his and his kind's predicament but at the "Martians" for making humanity to be afraid of anything alien.
121	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Sohna sacrifice his life in causing a psychic cascade that killed off the "Martian" leadership.]]
122	* HopeSpot: [[spoiler:The "Martian" leadership are killed off in Sohna's psychic cascade and allowing the human coalition fleet to land on Venus. However, the "Martian" scientist activates the weaponized sun, wiping out the fleet and leaving Earth vulnerable to another invasion from a large fleet of "Martian" ships that have emerged from the sun.]]
123	* HumanityEnsues: [[spoiler:The Martian scientist who transfers his mind into Captain Lewis Skellern start to experience human feelings that he find this completely unexpected. He even mention that if the other aliens find out about this they would cull him [[VirtueIsWeakness for what they perceive as weakness]].]]
124	* InsistentTerminology: As of the events in ''The Great Game'', the "Martians" are not native to Mars but originated from a now-destroyed planet that occupied the asteroid belt. However, humanity still refer to the aliens as "Martians" much to Icarus' annoyance, whom he refer to the aliens as the "Makers."
125	* LesCollaborateurs: The Venusians living under "Martian" rule obey to the invaders' will out of fear. [[spoiler:It is later learn that a fringe radical group called the Cerulean Sisterhood took advantage of the invasion of Venus and brokered a deal with the aliens to eliminate the Theed, thus destroying any chance of a Theed/Venusian alliance of saving Venus and in turn capturing Theed Mentats to build their superweapon to destroy the Solar System, until the aliens turned on them.]]
126	** [[spoiler:Irya, wife of Icarus, is forced to work for the aliens in finding the last Theed Mentat in exchange for amnesty and that she is pregnant with their child. Though she later happily changes her mind when nearly all of the alien leadership are killed off from the psychic cascade.]]
127	* OmnicidalManiac: The "Martian" aliens, who have already wiped out life on every other planet in the solar system. To be fair, they were in a vulnerable kill-or-die position, since their original home planet [[EarthShatteringKaboom got turned into the Asteroid Belt]] 65 million years ago. The cataclysm was what messed up Mars' ecosystem and the fallout killed the dinosaurs on Earth. They took over Mars, as a temporary home, killing what remained of its original inhabitants and then waited for Earth to recover. After their Earth expedition failed, they also attacked Venus. [[spoiler:As of "Cold War", after the events of The Great Game that put the "Martians" into the verge of extinction, the aliens plan to destroy the entire Solar System by weaponzing the Sun.]]
128	** It's all consistent with their portrayal in ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'': they're biologically incapable of emotions or compassion.
129	* {{Polyamory}}: The Venusians are a matriarchal society in which the women can marry up to only four husbands. According to Arthur's mother Maia the reason they can't go beyond four is that it will be more problematic with men who "still don't know how to clean a toilet properly."
130	* RedSkyTakeWarning: [[spoiler:Space is suddenly turn red due as a result of the aliens' weaponized sun that had destroyed the human coalition fleet. Even the Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who is observing the red skies, quotes the traditional Yorkshire saying "Red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning."]]
131	* TheRemnant: [[spoiler:The "Martians" are on the verge of extinction after the events of ''The Great Game'' have rendered all life on Mars eradicated and all that is left of them are those living on Venus. By 1968, the aliens are starting to die out and they have become desperate to finishing off their human enemies by planning to destroy the entire Solar System.]]
132	* TakeMeToYourLeader: Icarus said this as he meets the British Army.
133	-->'''Icarus:''' Now, there's something I have to say. I know I should have written it down.... oh yes... Take me to your leader!
134	* WarRefugees: A flotilla of Venusians fled "Martian"-occupied Venus for Earth shortly after the events of The Great Game. However, not everything goes smoothly at first as the refugee flotilla were shot by humanity after being mistaken as an invasion fleet until they finally realize of their mistake. [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything But, the surviving refugees are later herded into detention centers, where some died from Earth's diseases, for three years before being release in which they lived in slums and treated by humanity as pariahs for "taking white people's jobs."]]
135	* WeaponOfMassDestruction: [[spoiler:The Martians try to weaponize the Sun in order to wipe out the Solar System. They eventually use it to create a solar flare that destroy the Allied Fleet.]]
136
137	!!Tropes in the ''Home Front''
138	* ActionSurvivor: Fay Alexander of BBC Midlands Today gets caught in the middle of the second invasion and joins Ahron's family in their survival against the invaders.
139	* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Ahron and Icarus have return to Earth with a fleet of friendly alien ships from Jupiter to oppose the invaders.]]
140	* ContinuityNod: Charlotte and a government agent flees to Autumn's secret government shelter in Hobbs Lane.
141	* DeadlineNews: BBC reporter Fay Alexander covers on the invasion in the middle of London until her cameraman is picked up and drained by a tripod.
142	* DeflectorShields: The aliens have energy shields protecting their ships and tripods just like their depictions in the film adaptations.
143	* DisappearedDad: Bishop and the government official have lost their fathers in the second war. [[spoiler:The former has it worst to find out what really happened to his father: Bishop participated in retaking the Moon base from the aliens where he confronted and killed an alien infiltrator that had his father's face.]]
144	* InternalReveal: Charlotte and Bishop reveal to their respective partners the truth about the [[spoiler:aliens having infiltrators disguised as human beings during the second war and the reason why the government prevented their servicemen from returning to Earth.]]
145	* PosthumousCharacter: Robert Autumn, Archie the dog, and Judith Goldman are sadly mentioned by Charlotte to have long passed away in the decades between ''The Great Game'' and ''Cold War''.
146
147	!!Tropes in the ''Storm Front''
148	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Icarus calls out on the Convocation of the Nine's refusal to go to war against the "Martians" as they will still die from the "Martians'" plan on wiping out all life in the Solar System.
149	-->'''Icarus:''' You can only survive by all standing together. You will die whether you act or not. The question is...how do you want to go?
150	* HeelFaceTurn: [[spoiler:The alien who possessed Lewis Skellern decide to help Icarus and Ahron as he doesn't want the "Martians" kill everyone in the Solar System, and that they will kill him for showing human feelings.]]
151	* HowWeGotHere: ''Storm Front'' focus on how Ahron and Icarus convinced new alien allies, the Convocation of the Nine, to intervene in the war against the "Martians".
152	* HumansAreBastards: Irya describe humanity as an expansionist empire who are anti-alien (given how the Venusians were treated on Earth) and seeking resources from other planets under the guise of "giving their poor, primitive neighbours a helping hand." Even the [[spoiler:"Martian"-possessed Skellern]] agrees, reminding how human history is fraught with suppression, slavery, and subjugation all for the sake of self-interest.
153	* HumanityOnTrial: It is discussed between Ahron and Irya over allowing Earth and humanity to die as long it would mean the end of the "Martians", who are willing to go down fighting and take Earth with them as they are slowly dying out. Irya agrees with letting humanity die as they have [[HumansAreBastards less redeemable traits]] when dealing with non-human races. But Ahron, however, refused to allow Earth destroyed as he still have friends and family there, and that everyone should be better than that regardless of what humans will do.
154	* ItIsDehumanizing: The Convocation of the Nine, or more specifically their member Warmaster Kaul, refer to Icarus as "the creature" due to being a human clone created by the "Martians".
155	* KingKongClimb: In one panel shows USAF fighter jets shooting at alien tripods that are on the Empire State Building.
156	* NeutralNoLonger: The Convocation of the Nine (now three) initially refused to help stop the "Martians" is because they fear of causing the same catastrophe that resulted from their original war against the aliens that created the Asteroid Belt, and the devastation of Mars and Jupiter. But after hearing out from Ahron and Icarus the Convocation make their decision to declare war on the "Martians" again.
157	* TheReveal: It is reveal by the Convocation of the Nine that the "Martians" had came from outside of the Solar System and were turned into [[WarRefugees refugees]] after an unknown powerful enemy had destroyed their original homeworld. Only barely fifty thousand survived and they were granted refuge by the Union of Aligned Worlds, an alliance of races living in the Solar System, on the planet Proserpina. However, the aliens enslaved Proserpina's native race the Opis and weaponized half the world in order to (in their words) protect themselves. The Union frowned on the aliens' oppression and ultimately declared war on them, leading to Proserpina's destruction and creating the Asteroid Belt, and the resulting fallout caused the devastation of Mars and Jupiter and its moons.
158	* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: [[spoiler:Ahron succeed in convincing the surviving "Martians" in giving up their self-destructive genocide by reminding them of how their fear of an unknown enemy that had destroyed their civilization had led them into becoming the same oppressors in occupying other alien planets, stripping their resources, and killing their inhabitants to armour themselves against an enemy they no longer recall.]]
159	* TimeSkip: [[spoiler:25 years after Ahron convinced the "Martians" to end their hostilities, all the races of the Solar System have entered a peaceful era. Ahron leads an joint-species extrasolar expedition (which include Icarus and Irya's grown-up daughter) to the Ara constellation, [[SequelHook where they find the lost "Martian" homeworld]].]]
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Context ComicBook / ScarletTraces