Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #7 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Mondays

You’re Fired

Written By: Marc Guggenheim

Art By: German Peralta, Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 13, 2016
Publisher: Marvel
Reviewed By: Dan Mayhoff

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

*As this is a tie-in to the Civil War II crossover, there will be SPOILERS for Civil War II #2 in this review*

So, I haven’t been really reading the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. comic so when this Civil War II tie-in was announced, I figured I was going to be completely lost. Besides Coulson, I don’t think I would know anything about this team. However, I have been watching the television show and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the team from the show was the exact team in the comic. There was still a bit of catching up to do, but for the most part, fans of the show would have no problem hopping into this comic. So let’s hop in ourselves with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #7.

This issue begins as our team prepares to collect a falling Hydra satellite. However, S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t the only agency interested in recovering the satellite. The Department of Defense and S.H.I.E.L.D. have been somewhat on the outs with each other and when the satellite finally hits Earth, the Department of Defense release their teams who vastly outnumber Coulson and his own team. The D.O.D. fire their weapons at Coulson’s team, which leads to a firefight. Behind the scenes Coulson is arguing with General Strakofsky to call off his men. Ultimately, Coulson orders his team to back down so that they can live to fight another day.

About a week later, Coulson meets up with Maria Hill who informs him that Agent Daisy Johnson (a.k.a. Quake) has asked for reassignment. She has lost her faith in Coulson. Phil doesn’t have a lot of time to dwell on this news though as he is informed that he must find and arrest Tony Stark. Tony recently broke into the Inhuman sovereign state and kidnapped a member of their race. Thus, a warrant has been set. On their way to find Stark, Coulson and the team discuss why he is being arrested and they discuss the powers of the new Inhuman.

The team reaches the Stark Underwater R&D Facility Delta where their tracker on Tony Stark has led them. They infiltrate the facility and find that Tony Stark has set a trap for them. Iron Man quickly takes care of the team before turning to Coulson. Tony gives his reasons for kidnapping the Inhuman and tells Coulson all about what Captain Marvel plans to do with him. Having heard Tony’s side, Coulson lets Tony go. Unfortunately for him, Deathlok’s recording device is still active and thus, when Coulson returns to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters he is reprimanded by Maria Hill. Coulson explains that he doesn’t think it is right to use the power that this Inhuman has but Hill informs him that S.H.I.E.L.D. plans on using him once he is secure with the Inhumans. Coulson raises an objection and states that he will not follow an order based on the predictions of this Inhuman. Because of this Maria Hill immediately terminates Coulson’s employment with S.H.I.E.L.D. and that is where the issue leaves us.

This issue is a truly mixed bag. The conflict at the beginning may set up future issues but doesn’t mean a whole lot in the context of this one issue. In addition, on the plane ride to Stark’s facility, the team discusses the reasons why Tony has kidnapped the Inhuman. Whether Coulson agreed with him or not, it wasn’t enough for him to stop the current mission. Yet, when he is actually facing Tony Stark and the same thing is explained to him, he suddenly decides to let Tony go. That in particular was very confusing. The art was very nice in this issue. There are a couple panels here and there that seem a bit lower in quality but the majority of the art is really nice.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue may be a bit mixed but there is a whole lot to like about it. The art is, for the most part, great and the characters are very familiar. It was an enjoyable read. That said, the storytelling needs to be a lot tighter and the dialogue could use a little work. Overall, not a bad tie-in to this crossover, just an okay one.

6.5/10