By: Nick Spencer (writer), Cafu (penciller), Bit (inker), Santiago Arcas (colorist), Ryan Sook (guest artist)
The Story: She doesn’t know that he knows that they don’t know what he knows about that other guy knows about them—no, I’m not describing a Friends episode.
The Review: The first story arc of any new ongoing can be the most critical for the title’s livelihood. Besides setting the tone and mission statement for the series, it also determines the loyalty of its first-generation readers. A strong leading storyline can establish a fanbase that forgives possibly weaker arcs down the line; a poor or even mediocre lead wards readers away, so even with dramatic improvements, there’s no audience to help it survive.
This issue detonates a ticking time bomb that’s been lurking in the team’s midst, and the fallout is tremendous. The revelation of Toby’s specific connection to Spider is definitely unexpected (using some complicated, but ingenious identity-transfer logistics). But the twist at the end—the way his use of the Menthor helmet ultimately turns on him—really plays brilliantly. It pays tribute to the original Menthor and elevates Toby from your typical smart-alec to mentally fractured dark horse—a big promotion for an already entertaining character.
It’s also revealed Spider has a higher calling than the usual terrorist antics. Their leader’s rambling monologue about pharaohs and fascism only hints at his real ambitions, but with the U.N.’s super-computer, the all-knowing Daniel, as his main target, you start to sense Spencer’s blurring the lines between the good and bad guys in this series—after all, the ethical implications of the Agents’ powers already make you wonder if their goals are worth the cost.
Even with all this focus on Spider’s internal doings, Spencer allows the team to come together in impressive fashion. Most of that falls on Colleen, who gets to prove her own chops in this issue by outwitting the enemy right under their toes (her line about wars being won or lost on entry level I.T. is also a great reference to the current state of affairs in the real world) and rallying the troops. She may not have Toby’s smoothness, but her sensitive straight talk is just as effective in pushing her super-powered companions to get the job done.
The issue closes just as the action gets hot, but in this case, I think it’s a good move. After all, the mission itself hasn’t really been as important as the setup of trust and betrayal among the team. It’s clear there’ll be a lot of conflict and heartache for this group of essentially strangers—all with some shady history bound to pop up again soon.
By now, my praise for the art team is getting to broken record levels, but just look at their paneling—each page bounces between multiple scenes, never losing track of the narrative flow and always turning up the tension. The slow-and-steady revival of the Agents and their chess-like positioning to take down Spider really leaves you with a thrill of triumph, and that’s as much due to the art as the script. Sook’s solid lines give so much expression to the characters and drama in his guest sequence, it makes me hope DC will do the smart thing and put him on a street-level or mystery title pronto—he’s a great catch.
Conclusion: So here’s the verdict on Spencer’s first arc—a well-crafted storyline with strong character work and enormous art. Please do the title a favor by giving it a chance and hopping aboard for its next arc. I believe you’ll like what you see.
Grade: A-
– Minhquan Nguyen
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