A-Force #2
Published 7/1/2015
Written by: Marguerite Bennett
G. Willow Wilson
Art by: Jorge Molina
Laura Martin
This review is a long time coming and is an apology of sorts. You see, originally I was going to review “A-Force” #1 but unfortunately fell ill which is insane because I had a tone of incredible and nice things to say about the book and if you haven’t bought it you should buy it even though I’m not here to talk about that book. To make up for the fact that I missed out on the premiere issue I was going to review “A-Force” #2 and say even more, double, the nice and flowery things. I had a quota and by Jove I was going to reach it. And then a funny thing happened. Number two was even better than number one. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? I know, which totally screws up my plans for retribution.
“A-Force” #2 is beautiful. I’m just going to start there because that’s the first thing you see when you open the book. These characters are drawn amazingly, each having distinguishable characteristics—not just in looks but in physicality. Every character manages to create the illusion that they are moving and not just that but that they are moving differently from the other characters around them. Like Nico has an antsy, unsure energy as she moves around in jolts. Conversely, Medusa has a fluidity and a regality, her movements are sure and strong. This owes a lot to Jorge Molina and Laura Martin working in tandem. Not only do the characters look beautiful and live in this tangible place but because of the lush coloring the figures really jump off the page, separating from the background in a way that makes them distinguishable but not as if they exist within a void. They are there, the situation is affecting them, and they have to move around this environment and obey its rules.
I know this issue has a bit less action than the previous one, but it is some explosive and damn near cinematic action. It’s a classic in the Marvel mythos: The heroes versus a big ole purple sentinel robot and God Damn Marguerite Bennett and G. Willow Wilson are outstanding at scripting good fights. “A-Force” has a potential obstacle in that its cast is leaning on the large side and sometimes characters can get lost in the shuffle, disappearing for entire pages before returning at the end. Not so here. Every character plays a role. From Dazzler shooting lasers at the giant robot to Captain Marvel punching its big dumb head, everyone takes a shot at this robot and everyone seems to get in great hits. It’s like every panel has a one liner except those one liners are fists hitting robot faces. I want to emphasize this is some of the best fighting I have seen in a long time with every concussive blow being beautiful enough to necessitate a poster and all of it serving to further the edge of your seat story.
So it may be a bit difficult to get into this without spoilers but so far in the story things have been attacking the realm of Arcadia and nobody can say from where. First it was the mega shark which was followed by the sentinel. The only thing anybody knows for sure is there is this new girl that came from the stars and is literally made out of them. No for real, she shimmers like a galaxy and if you look at her just right you can see Uranus. Yeah I know, cheap joke but I go low brow from time to time. The best part of this story is that the big problem is unsolvable. These big monsters are just popping into existence and it is causing a lot of anxiety and tension. These people are freaking out and they have every right to be. If a portal can just open up one day over their head and drop—oh I dunno, say Galactus without warning that’s a problem. So naturally, people start arguing over how to fix the problem, some of them getting down right mean towards each other which again is totally understandable. Until She-Hulk shows everyone why she’s the Boss Bitch in charge and jumps into one of these portals solo with the intent to either crush whatever’s making them or smash as many monsters as she can find. All in all a great story.
I want to remind everyone that this is an “Invincible” comic review and I know we’ve had our fun for the last two weeks, it’s time to get back on topic. Mark Grayson had the same sort of epiphany that She-Hulk had when he decided to go after Angstrom Levy. The guy had been terrorizing him all of his super hero life, showing up from out of nowhere and wreaking havoc. The man was a natural disaster, a tornado that only hurt things in Mark’s life. So when Robot gave him the opportunity to jump across space and time to track the man down and finish things, Mark did the robo-fist bump and jumped through that portal. Others were skeptical of this decision, none so much as his wife Atom Eve who said the risk wasn’t worth the peace of mind. It’s a battle super heroes have to wage every day, weighing their own safety against the protection of others. In the end, Mark couldn’t let Angstrom be a waiting mystery, able to strike at any time. Sure this ended up being a trap but Mark had noble intentions. The same could be said about She-Hulk as she ventured into the monster world beyond.