Having been jettisoned from her world,
the being known as Singularity finds herself in a new universe and has
unknowingly brought the malicious entity Antimatter with her. She recruits
She-Hulk, Medusa, Captain Marvel, Nico Minoru, and Dazzler to help combat this
threat. Together this new team must overcome their unfamiliarity with one
another in order to protect Singularity and save the people of Earth.
A-Force
Volume 1: Hypertime collects A-Force
#1-4, Avengers #83, A-Force #1 and material from Avengers #0, written by G. Willow Wilson
and Kelly Thompson with art by Jorge Molina.
Hypertime
picks up after the events of the A-Force mini-series, which was a tie-in to Secret
Wars. Singularity, who made her debut in that series, serves as the
catalyst that assembles A-Force and becomes the emotional nucleus of the arc.
She’s lost in our universe and faces the difficult challenge of both finding a
new home for herself and of facing off against the villainous Antimatter. Thankfully,
she has the (sometimes reluctant) help of She-Hulk, Medusa, Captain Marvel,
Nico Minoru, and Dazzler. Wilson and Thompson do a respectable job of penning
this organic origin story for A-Force. They give them a cosmic threat that
helps to emphasize the importance and sheer firepower of this team. It’s an action-packed narrative with plenty of
character development that takes us all around the world and into space.
Each character in A-Force has a
distinctive voice and purpose, though some more than others. Singularity is an
obvious standout. Beyond her absolutely adorable look and behaviour, her
dialogue is unique and helps us to view her as childishly endearing. She-Hulk
and Medusa are equally as dynamic, with the former serving as the courageous
leader and the latter as the haughty monarch. Admittedly, Nico Minoru isn’t as
much of a standout as she was in the mini-series and Captain Marvel feels unnecessary.
As a Dazzler fan, I have some issues with her characterization, particularly
the scene where she punches Singularity for no reason and the snarky dialogue
throughout. That said, Wilson and Thompson can’t be held wholly responsible for
it seeing as it was Brian Michael Bendis who set the character on this darker
path. Fortunately, the creative team here is taking the appropriate steps to
bring lightness back to this typically optimistic heroine. The other issue I
had regarding characterization stemmed from the clichéd tendency to dumb down
the cast in order to make the science expert (Dr. Tempest Bell) sound smart. Her dialogue isn’t that science-y and is easy to
understand even for a layman (at least as far as this non-STEM oriented human is concerned), so it’s disappointing that both Wilson and
Thompson would be okay with portraying a cast of strong, smart heroines as
being unable to understand what Dr. Bell is saying. Dazzler dated a doctor and Beast
for crying out loud, not to mention the fact that her powers are super nerdy and she, like She-Hulk, has a postsecondary education! She can follow a little sciencespeak.
Jorge Molina’s artwork is absolutely stunning.
Every character is vibrant and unique, which is aided by an unparalleled expressiveness.
He captures Dazzler’s sullen attitude as well as he’s able to convey Dr. Bell’s
sheepishness and Singularity’s innocence. I also can’t get over how magical
hair looks under his careful hand. The work he does on Medusa’s hair alone is
awe-inspiring. The combination of Wilson and Thompson’s epic narrative paired
with Molina’s art elevates A-Force to
a quality that establishes it as A-list worthy. That’s why it’s so heart
wrenching that audiences weren’t able to see that.
A-Force
Volume 1: Hypertime is a fantastic read. It’s a breezy, globe-trotting
adventure that proves itself worthy of being considered as important as the
Avengers or Spider-Man flagship titles. The characterization and dialogue is
strong throughout, while the art is gorgeous and suits the writing perfectly.
The only complaint I have regarding this particular trade is what it collects.
Since it’s only a four issue arc, the trade is padded with the first issue of
the A-Force mini-series and the issue of the Avengers that introduced the Lady
Liberators. The inclusion of these issues is unnecessary and seems like Marvel’s
way of justifying charging people $17.99 (and a whopping $23.99 Canadian) for
this trade. You’re only getting four new issues!
Given its cancellation, they would have been better off waiting to collect
issues 5-7 with this set.
RATING:
B+
awesome review!
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