A-Force #9 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

Campy 50’s Sci-Fi

Written By: Kelly Thompson
Art By: Paolo Siqueira, Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 14, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I have to give this title a little bit of slack, despite the fact that so far I have been unimpressed. Honestly, there have been several titles that I have loved in the past that have suffered due to the Civil War II crossover that is plaguing Marvel. Don’t get me wrong, some have continued to thrive, but others are going through a nearly insufferable drought of quality. Now, I haven’t read the A-Force issues that occurred before this crossover but I know a few people who really sing its praises. Perhaps they are right and it is really something special. Unfortunately, if that is true, this isn’t the case anymore. So, let’s bite the bullet and jump into this issue.

We left our team in the house of the Michael’s during an attack on the town that is turning them into giant bug creatures. Ulysses has had a vision about Nico taking the life of a girl named Alice which has led Captain Marvel and Medusa to confront her. Carol and Nico talk about things. Carol wants Nico to come into custody so that they are able to make sure that nothing bad happens while Nico loathes the idea of being under arrest and still wants to help the people of the town. This results in Medusa attempting to streamline the conversation by binding Nico in her hair but she is stopped by Dazzler, Singularity, and Elsa.

Frustrated, Singularity uses her powers to teleport the team into the sky and threatens to imprison them all inside of her if they don’t get along. Despite agreeing to finally work together, tensions among the team are still high and certain members are still at each other’s throats. While they remain at the house, Medusa and Dazzler seem to finally bury the hatchet when their touching moment is interrupted by one of the giant bugs appearing in the home they are taking refuge in. In the town, Carol, Nico, and Elsa have gone searching for a way to stop the bugs. Nico and Carol are able to somewhat find common ground when they are suddenly confronted by a giant bug.

Carol fires a blast into the creature who releases some kind of substance that pins Carol and Elsa to the wall. Nico then faces the creature but is clearly outmatched. However, suddenly Nico realizes that she is hearing a voice from the creature. Due to her magical abilities, the creature is able to communicate with her. Turns out that the giant bug is what has started the infestation in the town. Turns out that the creature is actually the girl Alice that they have been looking for. She allows Nico to free Captain Marvel and Elsa Bloodstone. The three attempt to come up with a plan but Alice has clearly thought of her own plan. She wants Nico to use her magic in order to kill her in hopes that it will subsequently cure everyone else in the town. Nico immediately refuses but the scene suddenly changes when she turns around to see Carol unconscious in the claws of the newly transformed Elsa Bloodstone. This is where the issue leaves us.

Once again, A-Force has given us a lackluster tie-in to Civil War II. As a fan of those old 50’s sci-fi horror films, I appreciate what they’re going for. It’s incredibly goofy but yet serious and I like that. I will happily give them credit for it. However, I don’t fully understand everyone’s motivations. Everyone seems intent on making the most trouble for themselves without thinking twice. Honestly, everything about this story feels very poorly thought out so far. For the most part, I really enjoy the art that we’ve been getting but it’s unfortunately overshadowed by the rest of the issue. I really like the cover though.

Bits and Pieces

A-Force #9 fails to raise the series out of the hole that it finds itself in now that we are dealing with Civil War II. The series is attempting to use the tone of old 1950’s sci-fi horror films and some incredible art to win the reader over, but unfortunately the story is what ties everything together and if it fails, everything else does too.

4.0/10