Writer: Rob Rodi
Artists: John Higgins and Sandu Florea
Publisher: Marvel Comics
A group of criminals are pulled together for a job that has been organized by a mysterious villain whose very name inspires an overwhelming sense of dread among this group of harden felons.
Now, if this plot sounds familiar then chances are you've seen the film "The Usual Suspects", directed by none other than Bryan (X-Men) Singer. Perhaps Rob Rodi has never seen the film, but if this is the case then he deserves credit for channeling the spirit of Christopher McQuarrie (the screenwriter who won an Oscar for the screenplay to "The Usual Suspects"), which is even more impressive considering the man is still alive.
I guess one could look upon this issue as a homage to a pretty good film, but aside from setting the story within the confines of the Marvel Universe Rob Rodi is guilty of bringing nothing new, or original to the table.
Even so, the issue manages to nicely acknowledge various elements of continuity so it's clear that he's pretty well versed in the super-villain side of the Marvel Universe.
The issue also manages to play with the various personalities of the gathered characters, and I rather enjoyed the fact that the book didn't bother to show us what means were used to bring Bullseye and Deadpool into the fold as it's been well established that both are willing to do anything, as long as it pays well.
There's also a nice little scene where we see the Sandman balking at being strong-armed into this job, which is also a nice acknowledgement of the character's established personality. Still, the stolen plot does make it difficult to really enjoy this opening issue.
As for the art, I can't say that there's much about the art on this issue that left me excited.
While there's nothing wrong with it and it delivers the story in a clear enough fashion, the simple truth of the matter is that there is nothing about it that catches the eye either. It does a nice enough job of conveying the look of the various characters, as the Vulture looks like the skulking creature he needs to be, while Sabretooth manages to project a very real sense of danger, but the big impact visual of the final page left me unimpressed.
What did you think of this book?
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