Comic Book Review: Heroes For Hire #1: Civil War

Heroes for Hire #1 caught my eye for two reasons. One, I liked Billy Tucci’s art. Second, I have thoroughly enjoyed Gray and Palmiotti’s work on Battle for Bludhaven and Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters. On the other hand, what made me skeptical about this title were the characters on the cover. Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, a new Tarantula, Humbug and Black Cat are all characters that really do nothing for me. Only Shang-Chi interested me. However, I have always give writers that I like a chance regardless of the characters in the comic. So, with that I am a little skeptical about how much I will enjoy this comic book. Let’s hit this review and find out.

Creative Team
Writers: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti
Penciler: Billy Tucci
Inker: Tom Palmer

Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: The issue starts with a team of super villains calling themselves the Mandarin’s Avatars on a rampage in New York City. (Yes, I know, very surprising.) Misty_Knight and her new team of heroes show up on the scene. They are the new Heroes for Hire and are paid by the US government rather than taking cash directly from John Q. Public like the old Heroes_For_Hire comprised of Iron Fist and Power Man. Misty introduces the reader to the various members of the new Heroes for Hire during their fight with the Mandarin’s Avatars.

We have Colleen_Wing, who is comes from a samurai family in Japan. She is a deadly fighter who is an expert with a katana. Next is Humbug. He is a small skinny weird dude in an S&M style leather outfit. He can control any and all forms of insects. He can also talk to them. It makes him a great spy in a city where there are several thousand Cockroaches for every one person in New York. (Wow. That is pretty skank.) We are introduced to the ultimate Kung-Fu fighter in Shang-Chi. Next is the all new Tarantula who is a lovely Latina. Misty mentions that she has no information on this new Tarantula’s background.

And then, accompanying a nice butt shot, Misty introduces herself. For those who don’t know, she is an ex-cop with a bionic arm built by Tony Stark. She used to sleep with Iron Fist. Misty mentions how she is close to both Tony Stark and Captain America and how this Civil War has been tough on her. And this leads to a flashback scene.

We cut back to one week ago. Misty and Colleen are meeting with Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic and Spider-Man. Misty tells Iron Man that she fully supports the Registration Act. (Holy crap!! A title where the main characters ACTUALLY SUPPORT the Registration Act. And it is a black woman on top of it!! And the characters supporting the Registration Act aren’t written like goose-stepping Nazis bent on the total domination of all humans. Does Luke Cage know about Misty’s support of the Registration Act? Doesn’t Misty know that, according to Luke, the Registration is JUST LIKE Slavery? Oh my. Does that make Misty an Uncle Tom? A tool of the man? A pathetic excuse for a black woman? A total disgrace and scourge to all of society? A pariah who should be shunned by all progressive thinking people and all of the black community in America? Or is Misty just a person who thinks for herself as opposed to some hive mind mentality when it comes to political issues?)

Misty is concerned that the Registration Act will spark violence. Iron Man reassures her that he will try to make it as peaceful a transition as possible. Misty says that Tony’s word is good enough for her and that she trusts him. Misty supports the Registration Act and likes the idea of super heroes finally having accountability for their reckless actions. Misty also likes the idea of new super heroes receiving the proper training for their occupation. Misty then tells Iron Man that she will not hunt down other heroes like Captain America. That her team will only go after unregistered super villains. Misty also demands Stark level resources and the authority to cherry pick her own team. Iron Man agrees to those demands.

We then shift to present time at the Heroes for Hire headquarters in Chinatown. (Cool location for a home base.) Misty, Colleen, Tarantula and Humbug are all eating dinner. Black Car arrives and tells them that one of Misty’s old adversaries, Vienna, is running a fake I.D. ring for super felons looking to go underground or leave the country. Humbug connects with city’s cockroaches to find out where Vienna is located. He tracks her down to a specific location.

We then conveniently cut to that location and see Vienna talking with six super villains about their new I.D.’s. Suddenly, the Heroes for Hire bust onto the scene and they engage the super villains in an altercation of the physical nature. Vienna responds by summoning her rather large robots to help the six super villains in their dispute with the Heroes for Hire. Vienna reveals that she was waiting for them to show up and all of this was nothing more than a set up. Misty radios her home base and tells them to execute “bait and switch.” Colleen, Misty, Tarantula, Black Cat and Humbug put up a good fight but are eventually overpowered by the superior numbers and firepower of Vienna’s robots and her super villain clients. Suddenly, the cavalry arrives as we see Paladin, Orka and Shang-Chi arrive on the scene. They make short work of the rest of the bad guys and the Heroes for Hire emerge victorious.

Misty then shocks everyone by thanking Vienna for her nice work. This was a sting operation and Vienna was working with Misty to catch these super villains looking to leave the country or get new I.D.’s. Misty didn’t tell Humbug or Tarantula that Vienna was working with them and that this was a sting operation. It was because they didn’t trust them. Humbug is an ex-con and they now nothing about Tarantula’s personal history. Misty says that trust has to be the number one thing with Heroes for Hire. Orka tells Humbug and Tarantula that the same thing was done to him when he joined. This was their way of making sure they could count on Humbug and Tarantula.

Misty then says that unlike the other super heroes out there in this Civil War who don’t know who they can trust. That the capes underestimate the Heroes for Hire all they want because despite all their power, none of the super heroes in this Civil War know who they can trust and who they can’t. However, trust will simply never be an issue with the Heroes for Hire. End of issue.

Comments
The Good: Heroes for Hire #1 was much better than I expected. It was actually a fun issue. Is it anything incredible or stunning? No. It is just good old fashioned entertainment and action. There is nothing wrong with that. Not everything has to be the Watchmen. Heroes for Hire is written in the vein of the old 1970’s Kung Fu movies. You have female characters that are tough and sexy like they stepped out from a Russ Meyer movie. That is the style of dialogue and the general theme of the comic book.

Gray and Palmiotti craft an entertaining first issue. This was a fairly fast paced issue that wasted no time getting the team assembled and the plotlines moving. We didn’t waste too much time giving the background leading up the creation of this team. The dialogue is entertaining. Yes, it can be a bit campy at points, but I think that is done on purpose.

The opening scene where Misty Knight and her new Heroes for Hire arrive on the scene and brawl with the Mandarin’s Avatars was an excellent way to introduce and explain the background and specialties of each member without boring the reader.

The flashback scene showing the formation of this new Heroes for Hire was very well done. I am thrilled that somebody in Marvel finally portrayed some pro-registration heroes as actual likeable characters rather than dick headed soulless evil beings. And Iron Man wasn’t written like the second coming of Adolph Hitler and Benedict Arnold all rolled into one! How novel. I also love that Gray and Palmiotti countered Bendis’ predictable Luke Cage response to the Registration Act with Misty’s support of the Registration Act. Misty concedes with Iron Man that it is 2006 and the Registration Act is not about race or sex. Misty’s support of the Registration Act isn’t blindly given. She fully understands how abusive any government plan can become. However, she does agree that the Act itself is absolutely necessary as long as it is carried out as peacefully as possible. Misty’s response to the Registration Act was wonderfully not P.C. or stereotypical. It was rather refreshing and pretty much the most realistic and rationally sound reaction to the Registration Act that I have read so far. Way to go to the boys from DC Comics finally writing the best response to Marvel’s Civil War.

This flashback scene had some solid dialogue. I have never been confused with a huge Misty Knight fan, but this scene certainly made me respect and like her character way more than I ever have in the past.

The scene with Vienna’s sting operation was also well done. They fight was pretty entertaining and I liked the back up team consisting of Shang-Chi, Orca and Paladin. I also thought it was a neat twist that Vienna was a part of the sting operation and that the team had kept it a secret from Tarantula and Humbug. Those two members proved their worth and earned the trust of the other members of the team.

I also likes Misty’s take on the Heroes for Hire and trust. I love Misty’s belief in trust and how she demands it from her friends and teammates and blindly gives it back in return. It is quite honorable. It was also cool how even though the Heroes for Hire don’t have all the fancy powers of the metahumans fighting in the Civil War, they have something far more valuable: trust. Nice.
I like the team’s line-up more than I thought I would. Like I said, I have never really liked Misty Knight. However, after this issue, I’m a pretty big fan of her character. Tarantula has some potential. Plus, she is a Latina which automatically means I’ll support her character.

I like Humbug. He is such the non-stereotypical muscle bound male super hero. Humbug is to make readers what a flat chested intelligent female super hero would be to female readers. A refreshing change of pace from the normal stereotype seen in comics. People always complain about how women are drawn. What about men? They are all muscle bound, with washboard abs and are at least 6 feet tall. Not Humbug. And that is why I dig the weird little guy. Plus, he has some pretty interesting, useful and deceptively powerful abilities.

I love Shang-Chi. He is a kick as character. I’m glad to see him getting some panel time in the Marvel universe. Paladin is a pretty cool character who has a lot of potential. Orka is a bit of a strange choice. He isn’t an “urban” character nor is he a martial arts non-metahuman style character like the others. I’m psyched to read more about this seldom used character.

Gray and Palmiotti do a nice job developing Misty’s character and Humbug’s character in this issue. I’m sure they will nicely flesh out the other characters with the upcoming issues. Gray and Palmiotti do a nice job giving each character their own unique personality and craft some solid dialogue for each character.

I am a big fan of Billy Tucci’s artwork. He definitely can draw great looking women. My favorite would definitely be Vienna. We need more of her in this comic! Tucci’s artwork fits the theme and mood of the story perfectly. Tucci’s art makes this a dynamic and enjoyable book to look at.

The Bad: I don’t have any real serious complaints. Just a few very minor ones. The dialogue can get a little cheesy at certain points. The sheer number of “tough butt kicking fighting women” is a bit much as well. It tends to take away from their uniqueness and having too many similar characters makes the team dynamic less interesting. Variety and diversity in personalities and powers is always what makes for a successful team. Unfortunately, with Misty, Colleen, Tarantula, and Black Cat we have 4 very similar characters in personalities and abilities. It will be up to Gray and Palmiotti to clearly develop distinct styles and personalities for each of these four characters.

I know the theme that Tucci was going with when drawing Misty’s hair. That 1970’s blaxploitation movie look. However, in 2006, Misty insanely large and oddly shaped afro makes her look more clownish than cool.

Colleen Wing is a bit on the boring side, but if Gray and Palmiotti can turn me onto Misty, then I’m sure they can get me to like Colleen. Black Cat has never done much for me. I’ll be curious to see if Gray and Palmiotti can get me to like this character.

Overall: If you are looking for in depth, thought provoking and beautifully written dialogue and themes then this is defiantly not the comic book for you. However, if you enjoy Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and like 1970’s Kung Fu movies and don’t mind a little camp then this is certainly a title that you will enjoy.

Heroes for Hire was a fun read. It is pure popcorn for the brain and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. If you want a comic with some solid dialogue, good action and an overall fun feel to it then give this comic book a try. It certainly has hooked me into getting the next issue. I will say that after one issue, Heroes for Hire has a much better shot of making the Revolution’s permanent pull list than the new Atom or Flash comic books.