If, you haven't seen it, go out and rent The Usual Suspects on DVD and watch it. Then imagine that amazing movie with super-hero elements and hindered by a shared-universe continuity. That should give you a pretty good idea of what Identity Disc is like. The similarities are so strong I can't believe they're coincidental; perhaps this is Robert Rodi's homage to that dark crime drama, I don't know. I do that that he doesn't pull it off as well as director Bryan Singer or screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie did. This plot is a treat for longtime Marvel Universe readers in some respects, but while it acknowledges established continuity, it also ignores it. Readers new to Marvel Comics won't be hindered by that knowledge so much, but then they won't have much affection for these characters either.
In a New York City bar known to be frequented by costume criminals, a mysterious woman approaches two specific members of the clientele: William Baker and Adrian Toomes, better known as the Sandman and the Vulture, respectively. She recruits them for a mission, and she provides some evidence of some very personal incentives for their participation. They soon discover that she's recruited four other noted villains: the Juggernaut, Bullseye, Deadpool and Sabretooth. She informs not only of who requires their services, but of their goal: the theft of a special data disc said to contain detailed information on America's costumed heroes.
It's been a while since I saw John Higgins's name on a comic book, and his is not a name I associate with super-hero (or in this case, super-villain) comics. He illustrated a number of Vertigo comics for DC, and understandably so. His style is well suited to bringing darker, more mature stories to life. I realize that this is a story about the Marvel Universe underworld, but it just doesn't qualify as all that dark or mature. If memory serves, Higgins's art might be stronger when he inks it himself. The colors here are unfortunate as well. A deep green envelops the main scene in the book, later on in the issue. I realize the colorist is aiming for a creepy, tense and dark atmosphere, but that mark is missed altogether. Instead, the art looks a bit washed out.
It's an interesting idea... bringing together a group of six seemingly unrelated baddies for a mission in the dark corners of the Marvel Universe. It's the execution here that's lacking. Not only is the set-up too reminscent of The Usual Suspects, but Rodi trips over continuity here. In some respects, he maintains it and incorporates it, but in others, it gets in his way. For example, among the secret identities on the disc are those of the X-Men. Little problem: Juggernaut's costume (and the narrative captions) place this story in the present day, when the X-Men have revealed themselves as mutants to the entire world.
One of the defining qualities of these six villains (or most of them, anyway) is that they're badasses who care about nothing and no one. The threats used to get them involved in this story weakens those characters in the process. And the ease with which Valeria deals with them physically renders them somewhat impotent as well. What's worse is that I think Rodi telegraphs the story a bit too clearly, but only reader the whole series through will bear my theory (one I'm keeping to myself) out as valid or not.
