Review: A-Force #3
Previously in A-Force #2
In a matter of days, Arcadia experienced way too many weird attacks - one of which cost them a team member, exiled per Doom’s rules - so She-Hulk jumps through a portal, searching for answers.
She lands in a post-apocalyptic Manhattan with wild animals roaming the abandoned streets and buildings like something straight out of I Am Legend. Her welcome wagon consists of three giant robots who are set on taking her to a detention center for processing. Mere moments after shutting them down, three Thors (including one who looks just like She-Hulk) arrive and they’re prepared to arrest her for leaving her domain.
Between dodging hits and throwing blows, She-Hulk tries to explain that she is not the source of the portal - she’s only investigating it. But Thors are more of a kick-ass-ask-questions-later sort of bunch. She-Hulk has no choice but to jump through the portal and return to Arcadia. And when she does, she realizes the portal is from Arcadia.
When she arrives in the plaza of Arcadia, she only has a few moments to tell the others that there’s a traitor: Someone in A-Force has created the portals causing all of the attacks and tried to blame it on the new girl, who still doesn’t have a name, I don’t think. The Thors arrive immediately after She-Hulk.
Medusa - who has openly questioned She-Hulk’s leadership in the past - steps forward to assist the Thors by using her hair to wrap up her fellow teammates and fling them away. However, she’s just doing what she always warned She-Hulk she would do: lead when she couldn’t. Medusa sends the Thors through the portal, declaring she’s not a traitor and that She-Hulk needs to protect Arcadia. A Thor gets in one last shot at Medusa before disappearing into the portal.
With Medusa dead, She-Hulk is now even more determined to find the traitor. She alerts the city that they are no longer safe. Storm creates heavy fog to cover their movements, yet they’re not sure there’s any place they can go that’s outside of Doom’s reach.
Then, the new girl offers up the endless galaxy that seems to make up her entire body as a place for the team to hide.
Overall Thoughts:
- Now, even more than last issue, I am extra excited that this series will continue beyond Secret Wars. I am fast becoming a fan of G. Willow Wilson and Marguerite Bennett. The traitor is a nice twist, but there was an even better twist within it when, for a few panels, we thought the traitor was Medusa. My money’s on Loki, by the way, because… Loki.
- We don’t really have a clear idea of what the new girl is capable of. How is she able to hide the team within her? I’m most looking forward to the answers there, more than I am finding out who the traitor is. Note: The new girl giving Nico a moment to grieve was adorable.
- Every page continues to be gorgeous. The colors are so vibrant; the action panels give you so much to soak in without being confusing; and the facial expressions are some of the best I’ve ever seen in a comic book. (Check out Captain Marvel’s face as she flies off knowing they’ve lost Medusa.)
- The traitor gotta be Loki, right? I mean… it’s LOKI!
