This new story arc flows directly from the events of the previous one, "Enemy of the State," but it does work well as the beginning of a new plotline. The script is accessible, and the direction is sufficiently different so as to merit a new story arc. Millar's exploration of the super-hero genre from a more military standpoint continues to impress, and it makes for a novel new approach to Marvel's characters. Romita's gritty, sketchy art is well suited to capturing that edgier feel for which the writer is striving. My one misgiving about this issue is that Millar's attempts to incorporate obscure characters as fodder for the villains falls flat when a legion of generic, nameless super-assassins is revealed.
S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists attempt to deprogram the brainwashed Wolverine aboard S.H.I.E.L.D.'s airborne Heli-Carrier base. Meanwhile, Elektra -- who was turned by the Hand not long before Wolverine was captured by the good guys -- is making her way through the super-hero and villain communities, killing and recruiting superhumans for the Hand and Hydra. Hydra, as led by Gorgon, has something big planned, and Nick Fury only gets the beginning of an inkling of what it might be when a number of incominb bogeys are detected on the Heli-Carrier's radar.
Though the script is accessible, Millar is clearly constructing this story for longtime Marvel fans, incorporating such obscure characters as the Spot and Slyde into the plot. By doing so, the reader is left with the impression that something big and nasty is going down, something much bigger and more brutal than we've seen from Hydra in the past. There's a sense of permanence given by the murder/recruitment of so many superhumans. That impact is lost somewhat, though, when we're presented with a look at those recruits, the vast majority of which are faceless, nameless characters who have never appeared before. We want to see who else was targeted other than Elektra, Slyde, the Spot and Northstar, but in effect, no one else has been. It's an important moment in the story that doesn't quite work as well as it could.
Another problem is that Romita's designs for the additional superhumans are ill-defined. They look more like backgrounds figures from an Asgardian scene in an issue of Thor than compromised super-villains. Otherwise though, Romita and Janson's work throughout the issue is quite strong. The opening flashback on the Gorgon's initiation into the Hand is horrifically graceful and mesmerizing, and later on, the artists convey Wolverine's ferocity quite well.
Millar makes it clear that at his heart, Wolverine is a killer. His training and feral nature are powerful forces in his life, and edgy but restrained facade we usually see is one that's not easy to maintain. Wolverine doesn't come off as much of a hero here, but a killer with a conscience. It's my hope that once this storyline is over, its effects will be felt in other comics featuring Logan. 7/10
