By: Too many to list—check out the review.
The Story: I think in this case, we can say she’s a lady-killer.
The Review: Last time, I complained Spencer’s use of two period “features” in the issue, though enjoyable, didn’t really do much to expand on the story and in fact, dragged on the story’s pace, especially given the lower page count. In that case, the features reduced the present story to a handful of action-less panels, but didn’t offer much substance to make up for it.
Spencer makes better use of them this time around, especially the 80s sequence depicting the uncertain fate of Colleen’s parents after they get captured by her dad’s former employers (mind you, she’s just a little babe when all this goes down). For one thing, we get a new appreciation for Iron Maiden’s deadliness when we find out she has singlehandedly killed 4,819 individuals. We saw her dirty work firsthand last issue, when she dispatched 4 spec-ops men with only a bloody nose on her part, but the specificity of the grim statistic can’t fail to take you aback.
So you may not be entirely convinced by her husband, formerly Dynamo, when he claims “She’s changed.” Considering her callous indifference when faced with a casualty of one of her hits, a four-year-old girl who was in the building when Iron Maiden blew it up, she may not be entirely as sympathetic as he insists. But it’s worth noting no one argues when he says she helped him save the world at one point, so some benefit of the doubt may be in order here.
Which leads us to yet another Silver Age inspired, 50s back-up feature. It’s hard to tell if the prevention of Uru, the Subterranean Warlord, and his armies from attacking the surface world is the war Dynamo refers to earlier in the issue, but I. Maiden plays a helpful role, regardless. Anyway, you’ve got to love the over-the-top bluntness with which everyone delivers their lines: “You can’t do this, I love him!” “Foolish woman! I only told you that to get you on our side!”
Entertaining as the back-up may be, it still feels like a distracting use of time when you really want to see more of Colleen’s efforts to track down and confront her mom. Her chops get some showing here, as she bombs her mom’s HQ, snipes the guards, and infiltrates the compound in efficient fashion, but we see little of her actually in action. It all takes place mostly off-screen, which is rather disappointing, as it’d be nice to see how her killing style stacks up to her mom’s.
We have a lot of leftover questions at the end. How and why did Dynamo and I. Maiden fall in love in the first place? Will Colleen kill her mom because she has to, or because she really wants to, and why would she want to? Is Maiden’s all-women army just an extreme-feminist thing, or could it be a subconscious attempt to replace her absent daughter’s place?
Mike Grell and Val Staples’ soap opera look for the 80s sequence is warm and on point, given the almost courtroom drama of the scenes. Nick Dragotta and Lee Loughridge once again deliver a terrific homage to the Jack Kirby style, down to the ridiculously squared jaws on the men’s faces. But the weak link here is Dan Panosian, who uses a sloppy cartoon style that is completely at odds with the tense, serious tone of the present story. A good example: to depict a woman getting shot, he merely draws her with squinched eyes and a constipated expression, her body posed almost as if she were engaging in some kind of exuberant disco dance.
Conclusion: Interesting it may all be, beautifully rendered (for the most part), but discouragingly slow. When will we get to see the actual Agents again?
Grade: B
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – I find it hilarious that black lady stands prominently in the interrogation scene the whole time, only to deliver one line: “Incredible, sir.” Ah, the life of a red shirt.
Grade
Conclusion