Strikeforce (USA) di Tini Howard

[Azrael]

STRIKEFORCE #1
TINI HOWARD (W) • Germán Peralta (A) • Cover by ANDREA SORRENTINO
IMMORTAL WRAPAROUND variant cover by TBA
Variant cover by MIKE DEODATO JR.
VARIANT COVER BY JOE BENNETT
VARIANT COVER BY RYAN BENJAMIN
VAN VARIANT COVER BY GREG HORN
HIDDEN GEM VARIANT COVER BY TBA
NO COMPROMISE. NO MERCY.
ALL NEW, ONGOING SERIES!
From the dark minds of rising stars Tini Howard and Germán Peralta comes a tale of the underside of the Marvel Universe! A new threat is secretly taking over the planet -- and the more people who know about it, the more powerful the threat becomes. Blade dealt with this threat once before, and hoped to never have to again. He can't bring the Avengers in on this -- not just for their own safety, but for the safety of everyone on Earth. So he must recruit a team of heroes accustomed to darkness -- a strikeforce. Blade, Angela, Spider-Woman, Wiccan, the Winter Soldier, Monica Rambeau and Daimon Hellstrom join forces to fight the fights that no other Marvel team can take on!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

[Azrael]

STRIKEFORCE #2
TINI HOWARD (W) • GERMAN PERALTA (A)
Cover by ANDREA SORRENTINO
Variant Cover by ANDREA SORRENTINO
THE DEVIL'S CHILDREN IN THE CITY OF SIN!
Something is very wrong with Daimon Hellstrom. And that's saying something for the son of Satan. The only one who might be able to help is Daimon's sister, Satana — but she's no angel. Demons, debauchery and decapitation abound as Asgard's X-Force takes on Las Vegas!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

[Arkin Torsen]

È un gruppo che mi piace.

[HCPunk]

Notevole lo ammetto!

[Azrael]

STRIKEFORCE #3
TINI HOWARD (W) • GERMÁN PERALTA (A)
Cover by ANDREA SORRENTINO
VARIANT COVER BY DECLAN SHALVEY
VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY ANDREA SORRENTINO
DOOM'S OWN DEMIURGE!
The changeling creatures known as Vridai have lodged their fey claws into one of the most powerful men on Earth — Doctor Doom! And when Wiccan falls under their spell as well, the changelings have all the ingredients for a world-ending the likes of which you've never seen.
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

[Azrael]

STRIKEFORCE #4
TINI HOWARD (W) • GERMÁN PERALTA (A) • Cover by JUAN JOSE RYP
STORM IN CASTLE DOOM!
Blade and his team are on the hunt for the changeling Doctor Doom. But there's a storm brewing on the horizon — and by the time it's through, this team will be forever changed. Secrets — and swords — will fly. Tini Howard and GERMÁN PERALTA spin a spooktastic tale for the winter solstice!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

[Azrael]

Strikeforce #1
Written by Tini Howard
Art by German Peralta and Jordie Bellaire
Lettering by Joe Sabino
Published by Marvel Comics
Review by Justin Partridge
'Rama Rating: 7 out of 10

Marvel gets their own Justice League Dark in the debut of Strikeforce #1 from Tini Howard. A dark remnant of the War of the Realms called the Vridai are making themselves known, a group that can wear the skin of anyone and turn them to their destructive aims. Blade once faced these impish skin-walkers back in the day, but now he needs a team to take the fight to them — outside of the view of Avengers Mountain.

Described as a "horror comic about trust" by Howard, she certainly makes good on sowing discord throughout this ragtag team from the jump. Framed for a horrific break-in at a classified research station housing infectious diseases, Angela, Spider-Woman and Wiccan are swept into a hidden war in which the enemy could be anyone and everyone. Though this opening issue could have surely used a more tighter pencil scheme to match its wonderfully moody coloring from Jordie Bellaire, Strikeforce #1 brings some big X-Force and JLD energy with these ex- Avengers.

Taking a few tonal cues from Stephen King's The Stand, Tini Howard opens this issue on a truly harrowing note. A research center, one specializing in infectious diseases and filled with staff and their families, is under attack. Weirder still, it looks like some familiar faces are behind the attack. From there Howard starts to pull the curtain back on the hook of this series. Positing a sort of supernatural "Secret Invasion", Howard reveals a sort of silent infiltration, one in which the Vridai, visually inspired also by Stephen King in particular the vampires from Salem's Lot, kidnap victims, hold them hostage, and then masquerade as their counterparts.

The added wrinkle of their taking victims adds a layer of creepiness to the hook, but Howard goes a step further. She adds a sort of "perception block" to the creatures, meaning you can only become aware of them once you've seen them in their true form. Blade did all the way back in the '70s, providing the issue a fun, classic Marvel Horror throwback sequence, so he's been keeping this secret for years. Now the team has to bear it with him, giving the whole bloody affair a nicely covert feel, setting it apart from the large-scale heroics of the main title.

But while Howard is really working hard to establish the hook and character's voices, the pencils fail the energy of her script slightly. Graced with a sort of languished, haphazard look at times from penciler German Peralta, the rough-hewn look of it really clashes against Howard's grimly funny tone. The opening in particular is an egregious example of this. Laid out in bumpy, weirdly nebulous wide set panels, the usual velocity and focus of Jennifer Walters is rendered in a lumbering slog to the final twist page.

There are shining times, however. Like the trip back to the 1970s, which finds Peralta tightening up considerably, detailing Blade in his older costume taking on a trio of Vridai in a dingy, evocative Berlin alley. But Strikeforce's real weapon is Jordie Bellaire, who takes very well to the more creepy, covert tone. While Peralta's pencils lack in points, Bellaire's colors never do, moving from location to location effortlessly, injecting a lush, lived-in feeling with each scene. As a matter of fact, a lot of Strikeforce's tonal shifts look and feel a lot like her work on Image Comics' Injection, another bizarre tale of misfits fighting the unknown. Bellaire is a real asset to Strikeforce, and I hope Peralta can be too in future issues.

Operating in the fringes and weird corners of the Marvel Universe, Strikeforce #1 is a solid enough debut. Armed with the droll wit and spooky tendencies of Tini Howard, this debut gathers an engagingly strange team and aims them at an even stranger problem. Though the pencils leave something to be desired, the colors are absolutely spot-on, bringing a sort of indie horror flavor to the world of superheroes. While not exactly groundbreaking, Strikeforce #1 feels like the start of a new cult hit.

[Azrael]

STRIKEFORCE #5
TINI HOWARD (W)
JACOPO CAMAGNI (A)
Cover by JUAN JOSE RYP
GHOST IN THE MACHINE!
Someone is tinkering with the boundaries between life and death — or human and machine. This team has dealt with undead before, but death is due an upgrade. And no one is prepared for this digital revolution!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

[Azrael]

STRIKEFORCE #6
TINI HOWARD (W) • JACOPO CAMAGNI (A) • Cover by JUAN JOSE RYP
MOONSTRUCK MONSTROSITY!
Ghost's secretive ally is revealed — Moonstone, a.k.a. the psychotic psych Karla Sofen! But what does a manipulator of minds want with a hospital full of the dead and dying — and can this divisive team keep off the edge of death themselves?
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

[Azrael]

STRIKEFORCE #8
TINI HOWARD (W) • GERMÁN PERALTA (A)
COVER BY JUAN JOSÉ RYP
THE WOULD-BE QUEEN OF THE VRIDAI FACES OFF AGAINST THE FORMER QUEEN OF HEL!
As Birgit leads the fae Vridai on an infiltration quest across the Ten Realms, Strikeforce is hot on their heels! But for Angela, the battle is about to get personal. Old demons abound in the swamps of Svartalfheim!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

[Azrael]

STRIKEFORCE #9
TINI HOWARD (W) • GERMÁN PERALTA (A)
COVER BY JUAN JOSÉ RYP
BATTLE ROYALE ON MONSTER ISLE!
It's a death match of no-holds-barred sports entertainment — at the center of King Deadpool's Monster Island! Strikeforce finds themselves divided between their mission to contain the dangerous Vridai and the sweet, sweet taste of competitive victory. Can this team of misfits stay together long enough to complete their mission?
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

[Azrael]

Strikeforce #7 (Published by Marvel Comics; Review by Justin Partridge; 'Rama Rating: 7 out of 10):

The team spends a rowdy night on Deadpool's Monster Island in Strikeforce #7. Continuing the shell game of the Vridai, writer Tini Howard shifts the team to a whole new location, but the tension is slightly undercut by her opening reveal that main antagonist Birgit is already there. She finds some fun, however, with the Deadpool cameo in which he labels them as "proper weirdos" who are always welcome on his island, but the ongoing plot of the Vridai is still too tangled to really get behind. Artists German Peralta and GURU-efx unfortunately aren't given too terribly much to do on Monster Island, but their Mos Eisley Cantina vibe they bring to the Monster Island interiors and its strange citizenry keeps the odd charm and look of the title intact. Though it could still use a bit more straightforward plotting, Strikeforce #7 is a fun if a bit head-scratching trip into Marvel's supernatural side.

[Azrael]

STRIKEFORCE #10
TINI HOWARD (W)
GERMÁN PERALTA (A)
Cover by JUAN JOSÉ RYP
VARIANT COVER BY DAN MORA
THE SEEDS OF DISCORD!
Aliens are invading Earth, and after taking care of the exiled Vridai, this team is more than prepared to oust unwanted visitors. But their enemy is no delicate flower...and for Wiccan, the stakes are higher than anyone can guess. This is the single issue you'll wish you'd read – so beat the regret and get on the Strikeforce train before it's too late!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

[katzenberg]

#1

Ho letto il primo numero su MU incuriosito dalla stranezza del roster ma devo dire che sono rimasto abbastanza deluso.
I personaggi presi singolarmente sono interessanti, ma qui ho trovato scarsa sinergia tra di essi ed è risultata un'accozzaglia senza senso.
Anche la storia imbastita da Tini Howard non mi ha preso e a tratti mi ha annoiato.
Disegni discreti ma vittime della trama poco avvincente.

Voto: 6