Andy Lanning & Dan Abnett – Writers
Brad Walker – Pencils
Andrew Hennessy – Inks
Marvel should be lauded for perfectly launched ongoing series each of the past two weeks. Last week’s Spider-Girl was about as good as a premiere issue can be, yet Heroes for Hire marks a more impressive debut. Each book was meaty, had a clearly defined premise, and gave me reason to come back. It’s surprising how often publishers from Marvel to DC, and everyone in between, fail to capitalize on the larger number of readers a debut begets. Sometimes its months before a title lives up to the hype…by then it’s often too late.
Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning might be the best writing team to ever join forces and put words to sequential artwork. You can go back to the brilliant Resurrection Man at DC which never should have ended. A more ringing endorsement cannot be said than they were the only writers to get me to read the Legion for more than a couple of issues! There were small gems like the long forgotten iCandy, which almost nobody noticed. Well, I noticed; damn was it fun. More recently, they’ve done wonders bringing Nova to heights never before reached by the character or his corps. The name alone–Abnett and Lanning–are enough to make me interested.
A creative team, especially the writer(s), will get me to sample a book. If I am going to stick around, in the age of three and four dollar comics, the team better have laid everything on the table as a true coming out party. To get me back next month a debut better have: character portrayals that ring true, heaps of action, and some spark that kicks me in the face and signals: the best is yet to come.
Character Counts
Generally I demand a book with heavy characterization and a cast that will undergo major development as the title progresses. I don’t know if that’s what we’re going to get with Heroes for Hire, and I don’t care. The premise focuses on Misty Knight, former Daughter of the Dragon, calling down from on high with directives via ear buds to a varied crop of heroes. Obvious comparisons will be made to Barbara Gordon’s role as Oracle at DC Comics or Warren Ellis’s amazing Global Frequency. An interesting twist has some of the characters getting paid in currency, but the more honorable ones are reimbursed with favors… Not that kind! It’s essentially information for action.
Action!
This comic is loaded with more action than the after party of prom night. Page after page sees Abnett and Lanning’s script drive us along from one mammoth sequence to another. Brad Walker shines brilliantly creating set pieces that top each other every few pages. The utterly jaw dropping facet is that the characters change again and again. First, we are thrilled by the Falcon and Black Widow taking down a semi-truck filled with drugs. Then it’s on to a kinetic battle with Moon Knight raiding the warehouse from which the shipment emanated. The last scene builds slowly to the moment Elektra “meets” with the brains of the operation.
The Best is Yet to Come…. I think.
The cover by Doug Braithwaite & Sonia Oback is the first portent of the future. Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, and the Punisher will apparently be hired to hero soon. It ticks me off when a company features characters on a cover that are not contained inside said book, yet the peek stokes my curiosity for what Dan and Andy have yet to show. It seems that Misty will be a constant, as will Paladin (who lurked in the shadows throughout the issue), but we have lots of other comings and goings to enjoy. A tiny core with a constantly revolving carousel of featured characters may prevent things from getting dull and enhance the set pieces with varied action.
The other part that gives me hope for heroes is the main plot was, seemingly, resolved totally in this comic. That’s right, folks, four bucks got me a complete story…
Beginning….
Middle…
End…
Oh, and a there was a pseudo-epilogue that colored the entire story with a different light. That, my friends, is a well crafted comic book that begs me to come back next month.
