Comic Review: Strikeforce (2019-) #1

Strikeforce (2019-) #1

Marvel Comics 

Writer:Tini Howard

Artist: German Peralta

I won’t lie, the main reason I’m reading this comic is because it has my favorite character in it. That’s a good reason to read a comic book, in my opinion. But reading this first issue of Strikeforce, there’s plenty of reasons to pick this up and read it.

There’s been a break-in at a compound housing some of the world’s deadliest viruses, and the Avengers are called in to investigate. But the people responsible for the break-in are other heroes, some even former Avengers. Claiming that what’s happening scares even him, Blade takes command over the suspect heroes and informs them of what’s really going on. There are shapeshifters stuck on Earth from the War of the Realms, and they have nefarious goals in mind.

I think what I really enjoy most from this issue is the group of main characters. Besides Blade and Bucky Barnes, we haven’t seen too much of the others. They’ve been popping up here and there, but it’s been a while since they’ve been in a book with consistency. I don’t think Marvel’s had a team dealing with “underground threats” recently, so it’s nice to see one again. On top of that the story kind of hooks you from page one. We see the arms of people stealing the vials of viruses, and they’re immediately recognizable. Later in the book, when they’re fighting as a team, it’s a lot of fun. They’ve got different power sets, and no one’s a stranger to working with a team, so they work well together right away.

I like the art a lot. I’m not completely unfamiliar with German Peralta’s work, most recently being the artist for the Age of X-Man: Prisoner X mini-series. Overall I like his art, especially when there’s action going on. The designs for the characters are pretty on point with what I know their costumes to be. The new villains, the shapeshifting Vridai, also have a good design. Kind of Dark Elf-ish (since they’re both from the same place) but a bit more monstrous. Jordie Bellaire is doing the coloring, and I have no issues with it. Some of the backgrounds get a bit monotonous, but it lets the characters and the action stand out more.

The biggest problem I have with this issue is that it takes a bit to really start running. The first few pages hook you, then there’s a bit of a lull while the stakes get set up. The last third of the issue pick things up and are enough to keep it interesting. But that middle part, while serving a purpose, does slow everything down. But I can’t say there’s anything I’ve read from Tini Howard that I didn’t like, so I will continue reading this series. This is definitely a comic worth picking up.