Marvel Comics 2019
Written by Gail Simone
Illustrated by David Baldeon
Coloured by Jim Charalampidis
Lettered by VC’s Clayton Cowles
BULLY, BRAWLER, MERCENARY, SPIES: THE MARVEL UNIVERSE’S HOTTEST TEAM IS HERE! Domino and her pals’ Outlaw and Diamondback are caught between warring nations! And it’ll take a whole new crew of international women of mystery to sort it out!
Leave it to Gail to take Domino and her friends and make them one of the hottest reads from Marvel today. Seriously, while Domino has always been an interesting woman and one of Cable’s staple allies and has tried leading group’s of mutants before and yet no one has taken her to the heights that Gail has and is continuing to do. Also, who knows girl groups better than Gail? Anyhoo I have to say that this first issue makes me wish this were a testing the waters kind of thing before a full-on monthly happens.
The opening here is extraordinary and it makes me feel like it is completely appropriate for being in Marvel Universe. With what we see and how it’s presented this is one of those openings that is not only interesting as in how it sets up the story but how it’s seen to fit beautifully into the company’s long storied history. The second opening as I like to call it is how we see Domino and her crew being drawn into what happened in the first few pages. Now I will admit that I am not up on my current Marvel going-ons they’ve been sub-par and way too many crossovers and reboots so I had no idea that the world thinks Natasha is no longer among the living. I find it interesting and should make a good story arc but that’s for another book.
The dialogue and the way the story introduces us to all the characters involved in this one is pretty dang good. With Natasha showing up looking for a covert team to help retrieve something, a South Korean operative in the White Fox plus the ex-Wakandan Atlas Bear and well this little team is full of women known for their spying, agendas and questionable tactics. There is not one single doubt in my mind that this is a purposeful recipe for disaster and I am looking forward to every minute of it. Seriously the characterisation here is amazing and I think that Gail gives us just enough on certain folks to keep them intriguing so we want to learn more about them.
There is some very interesting artwork happening within the interiors here. There are times when the women look a tad more cartoony than I would like to see and that’s prevalent in how eyes are done. Also scarves, long coats and such covering everything up, hiding what should be attention to detail, not something I really like seeing. I know he’s capable of some amazing work I have seen it before and lot in his con sketches and such so I was really surprised when these faces kind of became interchangeable. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show off a nice eye for storytelling. The throwback look at one character, in particular, is amazingly well done.
The story for this is amazing and for all my grief the art David does here is far and away beautiful enough so that reading this not just fun but it’s damn enjoyable as well. The premise is solid and with the addition of these three women to the cast the interest factor is signed, sealed and delivered.