Squadron Supreme #7
Written By: James Robinson
Pencils By: Leonard Kirk & Paolo Villanelli
Inks By: Paul Nery & Marc Deering
Colors By: Frank Martin & Guru E-FX
Letters By: Travis Lanham
Release Date: 05/18/16
Price: $3.99
The Squadron Supreme are each the sole survivor of an Earth destroyed in an incursion. The team blamed the Illuminati (secret team of Marvel heroes not the current villain team) and already made Namor pay the ultimate price for his role in it. The team is made up of Hyperion (Avengers), Nighthawk (Supreme Power), Dr. Spectrum (the Great Society), Blur (DP7) and the newly added Thundra of Weirdworld after Power Princess was revealed to be Warrior Woman. This team doesn’t Avenge they are proactive and take out any and all threats to Earth, so don’t stand in their way!
Plot:
Doctor Spectrum finds out more information about the Myriad from Toro and she informs him of Namor’s death at the hands of the Squadron Supreme. Meanwhile Hyperion meets a young waitress and her son while Nighthawk Vs Nighthawk serves as the main event.
Story:
Like the last issue the majority of this issue was focuses on Doctor Spectrum and Toro. The banter and character interaction was stretched out for far too long between these two it felt like a stall tactic. As the characters would get ready to clash they would just halt and talk. I would rather of had them just talk or just come to blows. The back and forth felt forced and lacked the suspense and tension I felt that I was supposed to feel.
I didn’t like the reason for Toro and Black Bolt being there on the Myriad’s base either. The Myriad a group of aliens whose species have all tried to conquer Earth at one point in time or another have come together in secret to steal Inhuman cocoons to run test on what powers their inhabitants will have before they hatch. The Inhumans are against this because you are supposed to wait until you emerge to know. I would have liked more information on this than the bravado and grandstanding between Doctor Spectrum and Toro, with him being undercover for so long that he didn’t know about Namor’s death, he should have known more about them and their plans, because I can’t believe that is all the Myriad wanted with the Inhuman cocoons.
The cut scenes to the B and C stories lacked flow. Even though they didn’t feel needed I actually enjoyed them. I said previously the two strongest characters in this book for me are Hyperion and Nighthawk. I think it’s because Robinson focuses more on their lives outside of the team than he does with the others. Hyperion is shaping up to becoming a favorite character of mine in the Marvel Universe, and Nighthawk is cunning and clever almost reminds me of Lex Luthor archetype.
The ending once again sold me on coming back for the next issue. Robinson continues using history to maximum effect. Last issue he did that with Toro, and this issue he utilizes the classic Prime Earth Nighthawk (Kyle Richmond) with the new Nighthawk (Raymond Kane), who again invoked that Lex Luthor persona as the two confronted each other. Nighthawk insulted Prime Earth Nighthawk for being such a C-Lister, even going as far as to demean the Defenders. It was this confrontation leading up to the final fight between the two that gave the scene the suspense and tension that the Toro and Doctor Spectrum interactions lacked for me. I wonder how the three stories will tie into each other if they do at all.
Art:
The art again splits the chores up between two teams and you can see a disconnect. The change in art is seen through the detail and lack thereof. The scenes with Toro on the Myriad’s base lacked needed details. This is a base for a myriad of alien races all of whom are technologically advanced compared to Earth and yet it seemed so simple due to the lack of detail. Where the art lacked in detail the colors really popped and brought the scene to life for me.
To counter that the personal interactions between Hyperion and the waitress used details well by focusing on their facial expressions and body language. That focus extends to the Nighthawk vs Nighthawk pages as well. That final page with the Nighthawks battling in the sky was intense and felt like two real hawks were about to lock talons mid flight.
Verdict:
Overall I did enjoy the issue but I think they need to progress the A story or switch it out and give the B or C story that spot as I found them more engaging.