AVENGERS: EARTH’S
MIGHTIEST HEROES #1 (of 4)
"Adaptation"
Creative Team:
Writer: Christophr Yost
Artist: Scott Wegener
Colorist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Summary: Captain America has the day off, so naturally he
encounters the Batroc's Brigade; Batroc the Leaper, Zaran, Machette, and the
Fixer, in the process of commiting a crime. Captain America proceeds to
apprehend them, but has a little trouble with the Fixer, not being ready for his
technology; Thor arrives on the scene just as Captain America finishes up. Thor
and Captain America converse, and Captain America expresses doubt as to whether
or not he'll be able to adapt to the modern era. Thor reassures the Captain
that he will, just as an "Avengers Assemble" call comes across their Avenger
Identicards.
A.I.M. is pilfering Stark Indusrries Warehouse #410, and Captain America and
Thor are the first to arrive. The A.I.M. scientists unleash an Adaptoid upon
them, and the andriod immediately replicates Thor's hammer and Cap's shield.
The other Avengers arrive, and Iron Man ignores CA's call to keep them away,
with the result that the Adaptoid manages to replicate their powers as well.
The Adaptoid takes down the Avengers but for Thor and Captain America. CA asks
Thor for an opening, and Thor provides one, letting CA get close enough to take
the Adaptoid down with one well-placed shield-strike.
Later on, Cap finds a present from the Wasp; an iPod. CA changes the playlist
from the greatest hits of the 1940's to Modern.
Commentary The story is well-written
given its short length; short fiction is often harder to successfully write than
longer works. The artwork is heavily stylized (that's "diplomacy" for I thought
it looked pretty damned crappy). I wonder if the artist was trying to imitate
the style of the animation, and if that attempt made his own style look bad, but
to be honest I'm not familiar with the artist's other work, so I can't say.
Of course, CA never did answer how he knew where to strike the Adaptoids, and
with good reason - he was playing a hunch, and the hunch happened to work out.
Sheer luck, but it served the theme of the story well enough, although I find it
hard to believe that someone smart enough to design and build an Adaptoid would
put a "knockout switch" on the exposed front of a combat android... *grins*
"Trust"
Creative Team:
Writer: Christopher Yost
Artist: Patrick Scherberger
Colorist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Summary: Hawkeye and the Black Panther are facing off against
Whiplash inside a warehouse in the middle of the night. Somehow, Whiplash has
the Black Panther under the whip. Hawkeye frees the Black Panther with a
well-aimed shot, and the two continue to fight Whiplash after she brings down
the warehouse lighting.
All the while the fight is going on, the Black Panther and Hawkeye are
discussing the nature of trust. The Black Panther finds it hard to "trust a
man who trusts no one", and Hawkeye is a spy for SHIELD, which means he's
learned to trust no one.
The Black Panther tells Hawkeye to shoot behind him, as Whiplash is about to
strike; Hawkeye whirls and fires, bringing her down. The Black Panther comments
that Hawkeye trusted him after all, and Hawkeye kvetchs about not liking the
necessity. The Black Panther then reveals that he can see in the dark. When
Hawkeye asks why the Black Panther didn't tell him, the Black Panther replied "I
trusted that you knew".
Commentary Not a winner for me, as the story starts from what
is an implicitly unlikely - even for comics - scenario, that the Black Panther
was somehow taken by surprise by Whiplash enough such that she can get her whip
around his neck. Whiplash is basically a one-trick pony, a skilled former
dominatrix with an electrified whip. She's not a threat without the whip. She's
not stealthy. How did she so thoroughly get the drop on a consummate hunter and
warrior like the Black Panther?
The discussion about trust during the battle, and both of them pretty much
dismissing Whiplash as a threat - much to her frustration - was amusing, but the
aspects of trust they discussed really had little to do with being on a team
together, as there are different kinds, and different levels of trust, and the
bonds between team members who fight alongside each other is a very different
dynamic than that which they discussed. Even so, a fairly amusing tale as far
as it went; however, we learned nothing new about Hawkeye, or the Black
Panther. They end the story not trusting each other any more than they did
going into the story.