From Abnett, Lanning, Arlem, Ramos and Marvel Comics.

Full disclaimer, I never read Heroes for Hire and while I’m familiar with every character in this story I’m not an encyclopedia of knowledge for any of the heroes and villains in this tale.

From the first page we get a little brief biography of some of the main characters, Silver Sable, Black Panther, Paladin, and Damion Hellstrom.  Misty Knight leads the Heroes for Hire, which she will assemble and send out to meet whatever threat she becomes aware of, and battle it.

Well this is a great use of the expansive Marvel universe.  Misty Knight acts as “control” and communicates with her roster of heroes, depending on who is the best and available for a job.  Silver Sable notices a break in and investigates.  Its on the 88th floor which means, yay, its Stilt Man!   With long legs like that (Stilt Man, not Sable, this isn’t 90s bad girl art time) Silver Sable is easily evaded and its now up to the Black Panther who is patrolling the subway system.   Panther catches up with… Lady Stilt Man?!  The lady says its 2011 and why cant a girl still be called Stilt Man?  Shit that’s brilliant and I cant disagree one bit.

Good fight, and we learn this is part of a larger “underground” thievery plan.  The stolen items have been handed off.  Panther pursues, and Misty gets both Paladin and Hellstrom on the line.  Speaking of lines, asking “where am I going to get the tears of a virgin at this time of night” is one of the greatest lines I’ve read in comics.

Hellstrom and Panther very quickly battle denizens of Monster Island.  This is seen so very rarely in comics today.  In the “expand the story for trade” mentality, Stilt Man could have been a full issue.  The monsters could have been a full issue.  Then we would be three issues in before Paladin got to the main bad guy.  Which is Sidewinder.  Sidewinder?!  I know Captain America is hot now, but bringing in forgotten 1980s characters from its pages?  Damn Marvel you are rich in history.

The operation is shut down, the heroes all go home for the night (or onto off panel adventures) and the real point of this book is revealed.  The Purple Man, recently elevated into bad ass-ness by the MAX title Alias, is watching all of this unfold as he begins his retaliation against Misty Knight.  Purple Man is forming his own Villains for Hire and its a dangerous looking group.

As a preview, this is great and I’m all for the new title.  I’m curious about the heroes, the villains, and the larger use of lesser (known) characters within the Marvel universe.

However, it is a full issue but its still a preview point one issue.  So 2.99 seems a bit high.  Speaking of high, everyone knows the first taste is supposed to be free (or at least cheap).  Make these point one issues a dollar, or pack it like a flip book with, say, Captain America or Daredevil, and give the fans a taste of this new title they may want to add to their pull list.