The End of an Era?
The final confrontation between the Mystery Men, Nox, and The General as this mini series comes to a great and satisfying close.
The Good
Great cover, Love Patrick Zircher's art
Speaking of which, his art has been excellent from jump street and doesn't let up for a single moment this issue. The little touches he adds like showing the growth in Achille's physique really aid the story.
Starting this issue off with a flashback to Operative's intense training adds a great context to his relationship with his father. Basically imagine if your father was Batman...but a depraved, power obsessed sociopath.
One strength this series has is making five issues feel like months have passed in between the events depicted in each. With this being the final issue I was worried how Liss would tie up all the threads he dropped last month, but my fears were assuaged the only a couple of pages in. Operative narrates what's been going on both within the team and nation since the Mystery Men's last adventure. One standout event being Achilles giving into the darker aspects of his power and more closely aligning himself with The Surgeon.
The Surgeon doesn't drink his liquor...he injects it into his veins. That, my friends, is ballin'.
The scene with the General and The Board was great, and featured a nice cameo from Baron Zemo. The look of ecstasy and rapture that Zircher gives them during one of their sacrifices is just one of the many highlights moments he's had on this book.
This issue was really well paced. Liss had A LOT to do in this issue and he manages to do it all here without anything seeming shoehorned. Reuniting the team, finding Nox & the General's location, and the final conflict all flow organically. He even has enough time at the end of the issue to lay the foundation for future stories. (Which I hope Marvel highly considers)
The Final battle was very well done and really fun to read. The banter between Operative, Revenant, and Surgeon definitely aided in this. Sarah's upgraded tech was awesome, machine guns definitely make everything better.
Operative finally get's the chance to settle all accounts with his old man.
The Bad
Nox calling Zeke colored just doesn't read right to me. Seriously, If she had said Moor, Nubian etc. that line totally would've worked.
Wish the fight between Operative and the General was a bit longer.
As of now, this is the end of the Mystery Men :(
The Verdict
If there's one thing I've learned about David Liss it's that he excels at endings. Mystery Men started with a strong, intriguing concept which Liss and Zircher managed to exploit to its full potential. Great art, strong writing, and exemplary world building has made Mystery Men a great story. All that being said, I'm ruling this one a strong buy.