With Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra Marvel does want I always wanted it to do -- take a marginal villain, in this case a Hydra foot soldier, and build a narrative around him. Too bad the character isn't a throwaway bad guy with superpowers, like Molten Man or King Cobra, struggling to find work while dealing with nagging self-doubt and a crushingly low self-opinion. But Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra, written by David Mandel of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame with art by the fantastic Michael Walsh, measures up just fine.
The point to be made here is the obvious one: Corporate behemoth Marvel continues its subversive ways; in this case, by creating a regular guy like Hank, who, in his everyday suburban life -- married with children and a minivan -- supports his family by working for the nihilist, terrorist international cabal known as Hydra. See, that's us; Hank is. In one way or another, by waking up and going to work and running in the rat race, we're just like Hank working for death-dealing Hydra. (Consult Derrick Jensen's Endgame.)
Below are six scans from the beginning of Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra. Nick Fury invades Hydra HQ kills one agent and kicks poor Hank in the eye. Satori?
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