WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Marvels Snapshots: Avengers #1 by Barbara Randall Kesel, Staz Johnson, Tom Palmer, Jim Charalampidis, and VC's Ariana Maher, on sale now.
The new Marvels Snapshots series tells small, personal stories from behind-the-scenes of standard superhero activities, in a similar vein to Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross; iconic series Marvels. Prvious issues have shown a young Scott Summers before he was a hero and how Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four influenced him to become one. The most recent issue doesn't focus on superheroes, but instead spotlights two rescue workers keeping people safe during a superhero battle.
These two people are Kerry, an ambulance paramedic who is new to New York City, and Jay, a rookie police officer. The two end up in the middle of a massive battle where The Avengers are fighting a giant robot in the middle of the city. Both jump into action and try to save as many as possible by helping those they can and leaving those they can't. Then, one of the biggest questions in comic book history is answered: Where do the people on the streets go during these superhero battles?
The emergency workers get people to a safe spot inside what is known as Public Safety Protection Facilities. They even have nicknames. The paramedics call them "battle bunkers," and the police call them "shrapnel shelters." The emergency workers evaluate, sort, treat, repeat and hope that superheroes show up to help out. These facilities have lots of people there, some thankful they were saved and others complaining about their time being wasted. However, for the most part, this keeps the people of New York City safe when superhero battles ravage the town.
These creations all exist thanks to Tony Stark. Stark International oversaw the Public Safety Protection Facilities construction and ensured they were as safe as possible. Jay delivered some trivia, saying that the first shelters were the subway tunnels. The shelters were built following Namor's battle against the Original Human Torch, where a tidal wave hit the city. That was when they knew they needed it, but Kerry admitted that not all of them are big enough for the massive battles.
She mentioned that the first superhero battle she experienced was when the Avengers fought Count Nefaria and the shelters were not big enough to keep everyone safe. As a result, she said the people were standing around on the sidewalks, right next to the police, complaining about the sidewalks being closed and the subways being shut down. No one seemed concerned that they might die as everything fell around them in the battle. However, Kerry said she learned what it meant to be a New Yorker when a woman said, "This is what it's like to live in New York City."
Jay also said that he had some first-hand experience with these battles and even had a chance to give his opinion to Tony Stark. While Stark argued that the superheroes were watching out for people and fighting to protect the city, Jay told him that police have no armor but still fight to help save people. He said that if a superhero would take just two minutes to help them, it could mean the difference between life and death. Kerry and Jay proved it by working hard with their fellow emergency workers to save as many people as they could, getting them into the emergency shelters to save individual citizen's lives while the superheroes fight to save the city.