Marvel’s Summer event mixes some Black Mirror with black ops in Heroes Reborn: Squadron Savage #1, in which Elektra and Frank Castle lead a band of mind-wiped cutthroats that “protect” America’s interests in the dark. Written by Ethan Sacks, drawn by Luca Pizzari, colored by Carlos Lopez, lettered by Travis Lanham.
Heroes Reborn dips back into darkness with Heroes Reborn: Squadron Savage #1. But I can hear you all now. “Hey, Justin?! Didn’t Heroes Reborn already get a semi-villainous and self-serious team of anti-heroes?! Also, WHY do you keep doing this to yourself?! Surely, there are GOOD comics you could be reading!”
To which I answer like I always answer, it’s my life and I will live it how I choose. Jokes aside, Squadron Savage #1 doesn’t really distinguish itself too much from the similarly plotted and arranged Siege Society; a tie-in from the early days of this event which found Baron Zemo leading, what? Some kinda Suicide Squad?!
But while that tie-in danced around it’s Thunderbolts inspiration, Squadron Savage #1 fully leans into it. Going so far as to re-recruit Frank Castle and Elektra back to the team, calling to mind that series’ Daniel Way-helmed Marvel NOW! Incarnation. However, it’s with Ethan Sacks’ dour plot that the real fault in this tie-in lies. You see, while Elektra is the team leader, gathering up a whole band of misfits and outcasts like Nadia Van Dyne (now turned fully into a Red Room operative retasked by The US Defense Department), Crossbones, and Cloak, the team’s real purpose and origins are kept away from her. That’s thanks to Defense Secretary Wilson Fisk’s draconian mind-wiping of the roster after every mission.
This twist does have a little bit of juice, I will admit. Though Sacks clumsily telegraphs it in the issue’s chess-themed framing device, the actual on-panel reveal of Frank realizing just how wrong his life really is and the splash page centered around the team’s mysterious “sixth member” make for some Good Comics.
These same reveals are also powerfully rendered by art team Luca Pizzari and Carlos Lopez. Though the color palette of the issue is about two shades too dark for my taste, Pizzari brings a grounded sense of emotion to the team and their exploits, giving the action a real expressionism I was impressed with.
Unfortunately, the whole “mind wiped killers” schtick has really been done before, and Squadron Savage #1 doesn’t do enough to make that bit sing again. While it’s taken far more seriously than I would have expected a summer event to take, it still just feels like empty blood-letting. Doubly so thanks to the Heroes Reborn AU we inhabit.
Nothing really matters here because we know it’s going to all be swept aside in a few more issues of the main event. I appreciate the creative team trying to spruce this up a bit and give it a human face. But I think Heroes Reborn: Squadron Savage #1 needs a bit more going on to truly matter.
Zachary Jenkins runs ComicsXF and is a co-host on the podcast “Battle of the Atom.” Shocking everyone, he has a full and vibrant life outside of all this.
