KITTY PRYDE: AGENT OF SHIELD #3 - February 1998

Pryde Goeth Before the Fall

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Jesus Redondo (penciler), Sergio Melia (inker), Glynis Oliver (colors), Jim Novak (letters),

Summary: Ogun resumes control of the Helicarrier’s computer as he possesses Rigby. Kitty accepts a duel in the Astral Plane in exchange for Rigby’s life. As Kitty duels Ogun, Rigby and Wolverine shut down the Helicarrier’s computer. When Kitty wins the fight, she spares Ogun’s life. Humbled by her compassion, Ogun reflects on what he’s become and ends the conflict.

Review: Oh, it’s another exciting issue of the Helicarrier acting wacky while someone tries to shut its computer down. Jesus Redondo is actually given an opportunity to show his knack for drawing machinery and landscapes, but his action sequences and character moments are still flat. The story itself is just as dull. I do like the small twist that has the villain actually appreciating the hero’s act of mercy, since these stories usually end with the villain scoffing at the hero’s compassion and rejoining the fight…which of course means the hero has to kill him anyway. Outside of that brief moment though, we’re left with a gratuitous miniseries by a creative team that seemed to enjoy working on the book as much as they enjoyed filling out their taxes.

KITTY PRYDE: AGENT OF SHIELD #2 - January 1998

The Mission

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Jesus Redondo (penciler), Sergio Melia (inker), Glynis Oliver (colors), Jim Novak (letters),

Summary: Wolverine jumps his motorcycle off the Brooklyn Bridge and lands on the Helicarrier’s flight deck. Lockheed emerges from Kitty’s duffel bag, as she phases through Ogun’s spirit and shuts the Helicarrier’s computer down before it crashes into a boat. The Helicarrier is soon back in the air, and Rigby is assigned the task of purging Ogun from the system. Instead, Ogun possesses Rigby.

Review: So, Wolverine and Lockheed show up and…do nothing. Wolverine does recap Ogun’s origin and give Kitty advice on her latest crush, Rigby, but really…nothing. And Lockheed just seems to be here to be jealous of Rigby. Considering the lack of plot in the second issue, perhaps the first issue should’ve had a slower setup, with the Ogun revelation saved for this issue. Something should happen in every issue of a miniseries, especially if it’s only three issues long. Kitty’s soon-to-be-forgotten crush getting possessed by Ogun on the final page isn’t enough to justify an entire issue.

KITTY PRYDE: AGENT OF SHIELD #1 - December 1997

The Calling

Credits: Larry Hama (writer), Jesus Redondo (penciler), Sergio Melia (inker), Kevin Somers (colors), Jim Novak (letters),

Summary: SHIELD agents travel to Muir Island to recruit Kitty Pryde as an intern. For unknown reasons, their computer system is down and refuses to acknowledge anyone but Kitty. Kitty arrives in New York and befriends fellow intern, Rigby. Kitty fixes the problem, but the SHIELD Helicarrier soon loses power. Ogun reveals himself as the ghost infecting the computer system. Digitally disguising himself as Kitty, he asks Wolverine to meet at the Brooklyn Bridge.

Continuity Notes: Ogun explains that he’s acquired a taste for possessing technology after seizing control of Lady Deathstrike in Wolverine. Kitty still believes Ogun is dead, even though he already tried to possess her body months earlier in Excalibur #111.

Production Note: This issue is hand lettered by Jim Novak, making it one of the few Marvel comics of this era not to be computer lettered. Novak seems to be using the opportunity to create the biggest, widest letters of his career.

I Love the ‘90s: Kitty is ordered to purchase a pair of stone-washed jeans at the “G.O.P. Jeans Outlet” and head to a specific dressing room, which will transport her to the Helicarrier. Stone-washed denim had already been out of style for five years before this comic was published, so I’m assuming this was an intentional joke. Later, Kitty asks if the SHIELD computers can play Quake.

Review: Here’s another comic that fueled the internet’s contempt for Larry Hama in the late ‘90s. Hama even labeled this the worst series he worked on in an interview, so it’s hard to have high hopes for this one. The actual handling of Kitty in this issue isn’t bad, really. Peter Wisdom is given some atrocious dialogue (“SHIELD is an international spy ring of over-armed control freaks who are suffering from a deficiency of childhood toilet training!”), but Hama has a general idea of how he plays off of Kitty. She’s annoyed by his bad attitude and selfishness, so she views an internship with SHIELD to be a decent change of pace. She’s also much nicer to the SHIELD agents than they are to her. Hama goes out of his way to portray even established characters like Countess Valentina and Duggan as jerks. Revealing that Ogun is the behind the computer system’s reaction to Kitty is a nice reveal that I honestly didn’t see coming (I wondered if the computer mystery had something to do with the X-Men erasing all of the government’s files on them back in the ‘80s). I’ve never heard of Jesus Redondo before, and while I’ll give him credit for not turning in a bad manga pastiche, his style is so understated and dull it’s hard to believe Marvel ever hired him.