The summer journey through the Amalgam Universe continues today with a review of “Bruce Wayne: Agent of SHIELD”.
The Mashup
Unlike other Amalgams, this one is less of a mash up and more like fan fiction because so many characters just appear as themselves. Nick Fury and Sgt Rock are unchanged. SHIELD, as far as I can tell, is unaltered. Bruce Wayne was still orphaned early, but instead of his dad being a wealthy doctor, his parents were wealthy SHEILD agents.
Supporting characters are more typical amalgamations though. The Green Skull returns, and we’re introduced to his daughter Selena Luthor (Catwoman and… Sin, I guess?). Bruce Wayne, who has no costumed identity, is supported by Moonwing (Nightwing + Moon Knight), Huntress (Her name’s Barbara and she dresses like Batgirl. No relation to the Huntress from “Dark Claw”), and Tony Stark (a bizarre combo of Iron Man and Oracle. His chest injury keeps him confined to a chair and he builds armor gizmos for others). Villains include Baron Zero (an awesome visual combo of Baron Von Strucker and Mister Freeze), Deathlok, and Nuke (Bane and… I don’t know. Isn’t there a Captain American villain named Nuke?).
An editor’s note on page one tells us this story continues from “Super Soldier” #1. It doesn’t, though. The connection stops at the reappearance of Green Skull and Hydra. The plot is framed as the conclusion to a longer storyline.
Writer Chuck Dixon said he was doing his best Jim Sterenko impression. I’ve never read Sterenko, so I don’t know how they compare. He told “Wizard” to expect “a huge surprise [that] extrapolates from something that actually happened in the DC universe”. Art is from Cary Nord and Mark Pennington. This is another Marvel production.
The Plot
The issue opens with a helicarrier bombing Hydra’s Omega Base. The Green Skull knows that Bruce Wanye has come to avenge his dead parents. Selena uses this opportunity to kill her dad and assume control of Hydra.
As Bruce leads the strike team against the base, a minion informs Selena that Green Skull started the planetsmasher program before he died. This operates the terra cannon, which can’t be stopped and will either cause a minor local earthquake or crack Earth in half – no one knows. There are some fights between the heroes and villains. Just as Bruce’s group captures Selena, the cannon explodes. Everyone appears to be dead. Safe in a distant bunker, the Green Skull celebrates his victory.
What “Wizard” thought then
They expected this one to be as appealing as “Dark Claw” and to interest Nick Fury fans who missed his classic adventures. They were way off on the first point – “Dark Claw” was far more popular in retailer orders, customer sales, and on their various top 10 lists.
What I think now
“Bruce Wayne: Agent of SHIELD” is a very average book. There’s nothing wrong with any part of it, but nothing about it stands out as great, either. There’s no real plot to speak of – SHEILD attacks Hydra. Motivation is pretty basic – good guys want to beat the bad guys, bad guys are defending themselves. The pacing is fine. The dialogue is fine. Characterization is weak, but it’s an ensemble one-shot so I’ll let that slide. Visually, the characters are always distinct and the action is clear. Nord only bothers with a background every third panel or so, but colorist Steve Buccellato keeps things interesting with smart palettes and gradients.
The “huge surprise” hinted at by Dixon was that the villain Deathlok was really Jason Todd. This probably had a bigger impact before Todd was revived in regular DC continuity. Dialogue reveals he was killed by the Jackal when Bruce Wayne teamed up with Dark Claw. An editor’s note points us to the graphic novel “The Murder Gag.” It took me a second, but that joke made me laugh out loud because it doesn’t match the tone of the comic at all.
I feel like I’m cheating you, my faithful reader, because this “review” isn’t really reviewing anything. The comic doesn’t suck, so there’s nothing to complain about, but it also doesn’t wow me, so there’s nothing to praise. It’s uninspired, which leaves me uninspired. Rather than ramble on further, I’ll just cut this one short. Would I buy a second issue? Maybe, if it was in a discount bin and I couldn’t find anything else.
