Where Vice Is Vengeance Follows: Vengeance #1 Is Worthy Of Your Attention

Reviews, Top Story

Back in April, Marvel confirmed Vengeance, a six issue mini from the mind of Joe Casey and the eyes and hands of Nick Dragotta. It was presented as an exploration of Marvel Universe villainy from the perspective of a younger generation of villains.

At the time, Casey indicated that Vengeance will showcase a new generation of villains struggling with how fluid the Marvel Universe is, and how the classic villains have evolved over the years. Dr. Doom and Magneto have walked the line for years, and currently Magneto is (once again) a full on “hero” and card carrying X-Man. “That’s confusing to a young terrorist,” he said. The reaction of the young characters to their ever changing predecessors is the driving hook of the story.

Vengeance also promised to deal with the implications of characters taking up established mantles, especially when mantles can be the target of so many superhero blood feuds, regardless of who is under the mask. It also addresses the motivation behind villainy in it’s own Mighty Marvel Manner. Longtime Marvel readers will note that Vengeance may ring a little close to an Avengers classic known as Acts of Vengeance; editor Tom Brennan offered a concise “Yes” to this observation in April.

And now it’s July, and here issue #1 sits on my drawing desk.

While the variant cover showcases Magneto, Loki, Dr. Doom, Red Skull, Doctor Octopus, and Bullseye, don’t be fooled: the issue focuses on a new Miss America, Stacy X (the mutant prostitute of Casey’s own creation back in his X-Days), a new Ultimate Nullifier, and…Nighthawk?! The title also promised that Vengeance will play host to several other infamous Casey creations, so don’t expect the “What the hell?!” factor to stop just yet.

The book opens with a cryptic teaser featuring Steve Rogers, Super Soldier, being decried by some of Marvel’s citizens soon after his debut in his new guise.

We cut to a nightclub, where Stacy X and Ultimate Nullifier are seducing Sugar Kane, presumably a Marvel pop-tart du jour. Flashback to 1944 a page turn later, where Hitler entrusts the Red Skull with a matter of import. Cut a team of handlers guiding Miss America (you can tell she’s evil because she’s patriotic and yet still wears less than the classic Wonder Woman. I personally thinkthe shoulderpads give it away.) to a secret vault in Groom Lake aka Area 51.

Jump back to Stacy X, Sugar, and Nullifier getting their silhouetted tryst on when Magneto peeps through the window, shatters it, chides Stacy X for being a bad mutant, and then faces off with Ultimate Nullifier. After a tense showdown where Magneto proves, once again, why he’s the best he is at what he does, the legendary Marvel terrorist shares a moment with the new generation of evil, revealing how he really has “taken a break” from the “whole terrorist stance”.

Let’s jump again to Nighthawk, She-Hulk, and Krang about to take on Gargantus. Meanwhile Nullifier returns to base and lays out the series premise:

“But how many teen brigades have existed since the first World War?…Nine? Ten, maybe? Each one committed to aiding the heroes of their era without them ever being aware of just how much is actually happening behind the scenes. We’re just the latest iteration. There were those that came before us…There’ll be others that come after us.”

Cut to chaos merging into one. Cut to assorted villains, Dr. Doom, and Nighthawk and Shulkie heading towards the next crisis. And then Miss America is besieged by demons.

Next issue: Bullseye on the cover! On Target!

I really liked this issue. You may be thrown by my tone and cavalier summary. But I really liked the issue. I like where it’s going. I really like Miss America and Ultimate Nullifier, for as briefly as they were handled. The problem is, the issue jumped around like a Tarantino or Rodriguez movie, and it was hard to find a point where the story slowed down and let me get my footing. It hits the ground running, blazes past some explosions, approaches the cliff…and doesn’t even get to the cliff before cutting to the Continued. Seriously, that much momentum, the car should at lease spin off the cliff. And why is this happening? Who are the players, why do we care about them?

It worked for me, but I know it won’t work for everyone, it might not even work for most. I really like the concept and characters Casey is working to play against, but I’m going to need two more issues to fully digest this. There’s something wonderful here, and like Moon Knight, I’m sure that if you buckle in and brace yourself for the rough patches, it’ll be worth it.

Now what will work for everyone is Nick Dragotta’s linework. It’s stylized just slightly, and the linework is very clean, detailed just enough. I’m reminded of Paul Smith. Characters each look distincy facially and in build, and while I make a joke about Miss America Chavez’s design above, I want a print of this character by Dragotta, right now.  The panel layouts are cramped, by the demands of the script, but everything comes together well.

As always, a fantastic penciller/inker lives or dies by his colorist when you’re dealing with colored books, and Brad Simpson doesn’t disappoint. I dared to compare Dragotta to Paul Smith, and I’m going to compare Simpson to Lynn Varley. I don’t throw that out there lightly, but on my third reading, as I took in every panel, something about the washes and tones struck me as Varley-esque. Many of the scenes take place in the dark, and mixing things up can be a challenge for a colorist, but every scene has it’s own tone and palette, and Magneto’s costume goes from subtle to the harsh “spandex” red and purple, it’s for a reason. I really can’t get enough of the coloring in this issue, I’m even antsy to see the next issue solely for the art.

So Vengeance: it hits the ground running, if stumbling, but it successfully straddles that line of new reader pick up friendly while offering something for the old Marvel die-hards, so I can forgive the stumble. I wish I could wait for the trade on this, but I mean that as a compliment, Joe and Nick, because I want to dig into the rest of this story and pick the script apart and savor the artwork at my own pace. As is, the next five months waiting for the next five issues are going to be painful.

Give this series a read. It’s a nice place to take shelter from all the hammers flying about and the spiders swarming your way.

Read it? What do you think? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Matt Graham is a freelance contributor when he's not writing and illustrating for himself and others. A screenwriter and illustrator with experience in nearly every role of comic and film production, he spends most of his time rationalizing why it's not that weird to have a crush on the female teenaged clone of the hairiest, barrel chested man in comics.