Heroes for Hire #12

Next up is the final issue of Heroes for Hire... Do you have any idea how many times this series has been canceled? If you count the old Power Man and Iron Fist series(which actually wasn't CALLED Heroes for Hire although that's where the concept originated), this was the forth time this series was canned. Besides a relaunch with Bendis and Bagley as the creative team, I don't think there's any way this series would ever last past 12 issues, but I'm sure in 7 years we'll get another H4H series. And you know what? Provided I'm still alive, I'm sure I'll be picking up that first issue!

Heroes for Hire #12:

Summary: Misty Knight sends Moon Knight loose in Los Angeles to get some information on the Atlantian drug Hook's East Coast connections. Moon Knight ends up beating the info out of some drug pushers and Misty contacts Paladin and Silver Sable, sending them into a warehouse in New York where some dealers were working on the drug. This attack scares some of the Hook dealer bigwigs, who decide to hop into a boat to escape. Misty manages to intercept the dealer's cell phone communications and tells Paladin to pursue. Paladin tells Misty that he wouldn't be able to reach the boat before it gets into the open sea, so Misty contacts Stingray, who attacks the boat and disables it. At this time, Namor emerges from the ocean and demands to know what was going on. Stingray hands Namor a communicator and Misty tells Namor that she was trying to take down the Hook dealers, who were, by the way, getting their product from New Atlantis. Namor is infuriated to hear this and promises Misty that he'd shut down the Hook dealers under the sea since he didn't want his citizens getting anymore of a bad name on the surface. With that, Misty kicks back and relaxes since having Namor involved with the Hook dealings was sure to put an end to it. This issue ends with Misty and Paladin heading up to the rooftop of Misty's base chilling out and talking about expanding their business.

Thoughts: Well, I didn't pick this series up from the beginning(I picked up the first issue, missed a few issues and then got back into the series again), but overall this was a good little series. It was definitely hurt by the Fear Itself tie-in issues, which interrupted the flow of this series. It's actually kind of weird that Marvel bothered to do a Fear Itself tie-in with this series since they had to know around the time the Fear Itself x-over stuff began that this series days were numbered. If it was getting canned anyway, why bother trying to raise sales with the Fear Itself stuff? Eh, whatever. This issue was a nice little look at this series, and showed how Misty could/should be written as Marvel's answer to Oracle, especially now that DC did away with the Oracle character. Here's hoping Misty Knight and Paladin pop up elsewhere some time soon.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.It's a random scan of Namor!

Heroes for Hire #11

Ah yes. It's one of those almost-but-not-quite Fear Itself tie-ins Marvel is so fond of pumping out. I'd be willing to bet good money that we don't see hide nor hair of the Serpent OR the Worthy. Let's see if I'm right...

Heroes for Hire #11(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: At the Raft, Elektra manages to defeat the Purple Man by holding her breath, thereby nulling his powers. While Elektra is tending to her fallen teammate, the Shroud, the Purple Man manages to escape from the Raft. Meanwhile, Misty Knight heads to Yancy Street where she finds Gargoyle and Paladin still reeling from their defeat at the hands of Monster. Misty tells the two heroes to take it easy while she hunts down Monster. Upon finding Monster, Monster uses his powers to transform into Misty's greatest fear, the child she never had with Iron Fist... Well that's an odd fear... Before Misty can react, Monster(as the child) runs away from her, leaving Misty shaken.

Thoughts: Um, okay... I guess... There's not really much to say about this one... It wasn't REALLY a Fear Itself tie-in, as the Serpent and his Worthy never showed up. Both the stories ended with the villain of the piece(Purple Man and Monster) managing to escape. Plus I think the next issue is the final one, so yeah, there really wasn't a whole load of great things to talk about here.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.Oh no, a child!!!

Thunderbolts #161 & Heroes for Hire #10

Back to Marvel we go with two Fear Itself tie-in issues... Man does Marvel love their Fear Itself tie-ins!! I mean damn, we're at the halfway point, and there have been like 100 FI x-overs already! Overkill much?

Thunderbolts #161(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: After Serpent possessed Juggernaut's temper tantrum last issue, the T-Bolts are laying around in varying states of consciousness. Juggy, who apparently remembered that he had to get to the Uncanny X-Men series to exhibit a mess of new powers, flies up into the sky Thor-style and leaves this series. The T-Bolts dust themselves off and get up, just in time to see a massive missile careening towards Chicago. The T-Bolts figure the government was planning on nuking Chicago in order to stop Juggy and didn't realize that Juggy had flown away. Back at the T-Bolt's base, the Fixer realizes what the missile really was and secretly contacts Baron Zemo(FINALLY!!!). Zemo complains that the missile was based on his work(or something along those lines) and states that Sin had stolen his missile tech to use for her own ends. Fixer tells the T-Bolts to stop the missile at all costs, which leaves it up to Moonstone since Songbird was tapped-out power-wise, Mach-V's armor had been destroyed, Ghost didn't have the capabilities, and Satana was trying to coerce Man-Thing to rejoin the T-Bolts. Moonstone flies up to the missile, and manages to alter it's course, sending it skyward. Unfortunately, the warhead has disengaged from the missile itself and continues it's trek to Chicago with nobody left to stop it. Before hitting Chicago, the missile makes an adjustment and falls into Lake Michigan. Fixer realizes that was a bad sign, and decides to head out to the lake with the Beta-Bolts. As for the T-Bolts, Satana manages to convince Man-Thing to rejoin the team(so much for that Fearsome Four mini-series...), and Man-Thing teleports the T-Bolts to the shore of Lake Michigan, where a mess of mutated fish creatures emerge from the sea to attack the T-Bolts, and anything else in their path.

Thoughts: Meh. With Juggy gone, I don't really get why this series is still bothering with the Fear Itself x-over stuff. I mean I was only interested in the T-Bolt's Fear Itself books because I wanted to see how the team would react to the sight of their powered up, Serpent possessed teammate. Unfortunately though, Juggy had to go to San Fransisco to deal with those pesky mutants, leaving the T-Bolts to battle mutated fish monsters... Seriously, what more needs to be said? Just to end this review on a positive note, I will say it's nice to FINALLY see Baron Zemo pop up somewhere, especially since he was screwed over by Sin in that Book of the Skull one-shot leading up to Fear Itself. So much for Zemo having a role in Sin's downfall in the main Fear Itself title as I was hoping though...

Score: 5 out of 10.Up, up, and away!!!


Heroes for Hire #10(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: The Shroud and Elektra are trying to quell a Purple Man created riot at the Raft, while Paladin and the Gargoyle are being battered around Yancy Street(or the remains of Yancy Street) by some creature that was created when a chemical lab exploded on some guy. Misty Knight decides to head out to Yancy Street to help any survivors of the Serpent possessed Thing's attack, completely unaware of the status of Paladin and Gargoyle. As for Shroud and Elektra, Shroud uses his powers to send the room they were battling the crazed convicts into darkness, giving Shroud and Elektra a huge advantage. Not liking that turn of events, the Purple Man reaches a hand into the darkness and is able to gain control over Shroud and Elektra with his pheromone powers. With that, he orders Elektra to murder the Shroud, ending this issue.

Thoughts: Once again, meh. We didn't get a member of the Worthy in this issue, or even a single Nazi mech. Instead all this issue really dealt with was the fallout from the attacks on Yancy Street and the Raft. I don't get why this Monster guy is running around the remains of Yancy Street, since it doesn't add anything to the Fear Itself story, while the Elektra/Shroud portions were okay, even though I couldn't help wondering why the Purple Man didn't simply take control of the two heroes right from the start... Supposedly he wanted to torture them before killing them, but come on, at least escape prison before you decide to start torturing heroes! Like T-Bolts #161, this issue was a Fear Itself tie-in in the loosest sense imaginable.

Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.Yes, several pages in this issue had Elektra and the Shroud battling criminals in the dark. Fun, fun, fun...

Heroes for Hire #9 & Thunderbolts #160

Another day, another batch of Fear Itself crossover issues to read. This time around we'll be checking out the first of the Heroes for Hire Fear Itself issues, as well as the next part of the Thunderbolts Fear dealings. Say what you will, but Marvel is REALLY getting their titles behind Fear Itself, aren't they! It seems like nearly every Marvel comic I picked up this week is connected in one way or another with Fear Itself... Anyway, enough small talk, on to the comics!

Heroes for Hire #9(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: This issue kicks off with Paladin trying not to get himself killed by the Serpent possessed Thing... Now THAT'S how you start a comic book! Paladin calls in to Misty Knight for some assistance, and she sends the Gargoyle out to help. With Yancy Street destroyed, Misty tells Paladin and Gargoyle to try to lure Thing out of that area so the rescue crews could get in... Easier said than done. Meanwhile, some smalltime criminal pharmacist living on Yancy Street has been doused in chemicals and turned into some sort of monster. While all of that is happening on Yancy Street, Misty sends the Shroud to the Raft prison to survey the damage and try to wrangle any super-villains who try to escape. Shroud is able to hold his own against a few of the villains, but is soon confronted by more powerful villains. Misty sends Elektra in to assist the Shroud, and the two manage to put down a few minor villains and enter the fractured prison. Inside the prison, the Purple Man is preparing to throttle the life out of the comatose Puppet Master, but is soon confronted by the Shroud and Elektra. Before the two heroes can make a move on the Purple Man, a whole horde of Purple Man controlled villains enter the room, intent on keeping the heroes off of their master.

Thoughts: No complaints here. We had an appearance from one of the Serpent's Worthy, which validates the Fear Itself banner on this comic, as well as several heroes dealing with the fallout from the events of Fear Itself. Add Elektra and the Purple Man, and you've got the makings of a perfectly acceptable comic book. So like I said, no complaints here, let's move on.

Score: 7 out of 10.I am SUCH a fan of the Purple Man... First off, his real name is awesome. Secondly, when used correctly, he's a HUGE menace!


Thunderbolts #160(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: With the world gone crazy thanks to the Serpent and his Worthy, the Thunderbolts decide to go after their possessed teammate Juggernaut, with the hopes that they could free him from the Serpent's possession. To that end they teleport just outside Chicago(which is where Juggy is headed) and decide to try to do the unthinkable... Stop the Juggernaut. The team starts off with Songbird creating a pink road under Juggy's feet, leading him around in circles. With Juggy disoriented, Moonstone approaches Juggy and tries to use her psychiatric training to ease Juggy's rage. Unfortunately, Juggy is having none of it and knocks Moonstone away. As a last recourse, Satana links herself and the rest of the team with the Ghost and sends him inside of Juggy. Satana leads the team through Juggy's inner self, where they find Juggy's soul being taken over by one of the Serpent's henchmen, Kuurth. Satana tries to banish Kuurth from Juggy's body, but Kuurth resists Satana's spells and instead tosses her and her teammates out of Juggernaut's body. Juggy lashes out with his hammer, scattering his teammates, leaving the T-Bolts with no other recourse than to attack Juggy head on. That goes about as well as you'd expect, and this issue ends with Juggy literally dropping the hammer, sending a massive shock wave out that literally shakes Chicago.

Thoughts: I could have just cut and paste my comments from the Heroes for Hire review above because this issue left me feeling the exact same way. We finally got the Juggernaut/T-Bolts showdown, the T-Bolts tried EVERY trick in their arsenal to stop Juggy, but they STILL came up short. There was one thing that did bother me with this comic, but it really wasn't the fault of the writer, Jeff Parker. It's more on Marvel's editorial staff... In this issue the Juggernaut was headed towards Chicago. In Fear Itself: The Home Front #3, which came out a few weeks ago, Juggy was tearing through Missouri. In Fear Itself: Youth In Revolt #3, which came out the same day as this issue, Juggy was rampaging through Las Vegas. Finally, in Uncanny X-Men #540, which came out the SAME day as this issue of T-Bolts and Youth in Revolt, Juggy was in San Fransisco... Now, it's conceivable that Juggy DID walk through all of these states, but he hasn't exactly been shown to be moving all that fast in ANY of the Fear Itself comics I've read, which makes me wonder how the hell he made it from New York to San Fran in what had to be less than a week, if not sooner... With Juggy appearing in so many Fear Itself crossover issues, you'd think editorial would have done a better job figuring out where Juggy should and shouldn't be each week, and how he managed to move so quickly from one location to another. But enough about that, this comic was good, and that's the important thing.

Score: 7 out of 10.Don't they know who he is?!?

Heroes for Hire #7 & Heroes for Hire #8

Well, it seems I completely forgot about one of the new comics I picked up last Wednesday... I was sifting through some of my back issues, looking for something to read, when I came across Heroes for Hire #8... Don't ask me HOW it made it's way into one of my many back issue piles, but the important thing is that I found it! So in one sitting I read Heroes for Hire #6, #7 & #8. For this review, I'll review issues #7 & #8, but rest assured, the scores you see for those two issues could easily apply to issue #6 as well...

Heroes for Hire #7:

Summary: This issue continues from last issue(hmm, maybe I SHOULD have reviewed issue #6...), with Spider-Man taking the place of the injured Paladin tracking some Atlantian drugs smugglers for Misty Knight. The truck Spidey attached himself to enters a warehouse and while Spidey is trying to describe the scene to Misty, some goons catch wind of him and start shooting guns with demonic bullets at him... Well that's different! While Spidey is busy dodging the demon gun bullets, Paladin is making his way to the warehouse, broken ribs and all. Misty tries to convince Paladin that he needed to get medical attention, but Paladin refuses to allow Spidey(somebody he can't stand) finish his job for him. Spidey manages to get away from the gun-toting goons, but ends up running right into Batroc the Leaper and his ninjas. As for Paladin, he sneaks into the warehouse and is immediately confronted by Paladin's ninjas... D'oh! Batroc manages to lead Spidey to a large caged in area surrounded by a bunch of cheering low-life criminals. Batroc tells Spidey that he was now going to entertain the crowd, and that if he tried to escape, several goons with demon guns would blow him away. With that, a large gate opens up and the Scorpion, along with a mess of dinosaurs smuggled from the Savage Land charge out to attack. Misty, who was listening to her two operatives get themselves in a mess of trouble, decides it was time for her to leave her computers and head to the warehouse to help Spidey and Paladin.

Thoughts: Wooo, I REALLY enjoyed this issue! First off, I've always liked Misty Knight, and one of the things I really enjoyed from Heroes for Hire #1 was the fact that she was serving as an Oracle-like character, running things and directing heroes from behind the scenes. Had the Puppet Master not shown up in Heroes #1, I probably wouldn't have missed an issue... Anyway, as with pretty much anything written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, this was an exceptionally good comic. I honestly can't think of anything I want to complain about, so I'll just move on to the next issue.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.I've got to say, I'm really liking Scorpion's new duds...


Heroes for Hire #8:

Summary: While Spidey is busy trying to dodge Scorpion and a mess of angry dinosaurs to the delight of a bunch of cheering criminals, Paladin is busy trying to prevent a bunch of Batroc's ninjas from decapitating him. With her heroes in trouble, Misty Knight grabs a gun, hops on her motorcycle and heads towards the warehouse where Paladin and Spidey were battling for their lives. Paladin manages to knock out the ninjas, and turns around to find a bunch of goons holding demon guns... Sheesh, can't a guy catch a break?! Luckily for Paladin, he DOES catch a break, as Satana, who he placed a call to upon learning that the goons in the warehouse were packing demon guns, appears on the scene and incinerates the goons and their guns. Satana tells Paladin she could do a spell that destroys all of the demon guns in the area, but that she'd need some time, leaving the still injured Paladin to watch her back. As for Spidey, Misty arrives in the room Spidey was fighting for his life in and attacks Batroc, who was happily watching the carnage. Seeing that the calvary had arrived, Spidey launches one of the dinosaurs at Scorpion and jumps out of the cage to help Misty deal with the gun-toting goons. Before the goons with the demon guns could open fire on Spidey, Misty or even the idiot criminals who came to watch the cage fights, Satana finishes her spell, blowing up the guns(and the goons). From there, Spidey takes care of Batroc, while Misty polishes off the remaining crooks, just as the police arrive on the scene. Paladin and Satana also arrive, with Misty thanking Satana for her help before Satana teleports away. Spidey also takes his leave and Paladin and Misty head back to Paladin's apartment so Paladin could finally patch himself up. While Paladin is busy, Misty does a sweep of his apartment and discovers that whoever was behind the Atlantian drugs, Savage Land dinosaurs, and demon guns had placed several bugs in Paladin's apartment. Misty lets the mystery villain know that she coming for him, while the mystery villain sits back and tells Misty to bring it.

Thoughts: So the mystery villain is the Purple Man right? I mean it SURE looks like the Purple Man, and who better to pull the strings of the Puppet Master. Anyway, once again, I really enjoyed this issue, and much like issue #7 before it, I can't think of any major complaints. It starred Spider-Man, Paladin and Misty Knight... What's not to like?!

Score: 9 out of 10.Well that's ONE way to deal with Scorpion!

Heroes for Hire #1

Heroes for Hire #1

-We kick things off with Misty Knight contacting Falcon and Black Widow via her secret base and having them take down a truck with a shipment of Atlantian drugs on board.
-From there she sends Moon Knight to one of the drug warehouses, where he discovers the pushers were using some innocent people as guinea pigs to further develop their drugs.
-Next Misty sends Elektra to the penthouse apartment of the drug kingpin, where it's probably safe to assume Elektra kills the guy.
-Finally we head to Misty's base of operations, where we learn she was being fed all of her information from somebody else.
-The surprises don't end there, as we learn that Misty was actually in a trance the whole time, and was being controlled by... Oh come on... The frigging Puppet Master...

Well, I WAS enjoying this one until the reveal at the end. The Puppet Master is to the Marvel Universe what the Penguin is to the DCU. In a word, useless. And ugly I guess. But mainly useless. I also have to say that Misty's role in this comic was WAY too close to Oracle for my comfort. I mean all she was missing was a wheelchair! Besides Puppet Master and Misty/Oracle Knight thing, this comic wasn't that bad. I enjoyed the way the other characters were used, and Elektra killing an Atlantian drug kingpin always makes for a good time. Now hopefully Puppet Master will be defeated quickly(or killed!), Misty Knight will join the other Heroes on the streets, and Puppet Master will be defeated quickly(or killed!)... Oh yeah, plus here's hoping Puppet Master is defeated quickly(or killed!)!

Score: 6 out of 10.Look out, it's Batman! I mean the Dark Knight! Oh wait, it's just Moon Knight...