Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra One-Shot

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?

Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates #22

Each Saturday I usually have a little time to read a couple of comic books. For the last several weekends I have been working my way through Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates. The title started impressively with Jonathan Hickman crafting an interesting narrative about a vengeful Reed Richards and his sentient City gobbling up Northern Europe. The malignant Mr. Fantastic, responding to an all-out nuclear attack by an Obama-like POTUS, unleashes an anti-matter bomb that destroys Washington D.C. Esad Ribic provided the art, which was great.

Then there was a lull. Hickman handed off to Sam Humphries. Two story arcs commenced and both seemed tired. One had to do with a newly-elected President Captain America leading the Ultimates in mopping up the rebellion which had shattered the United States; the other had Nick Fury -- the Ultimates Samuel L. Jackson version -- going undercover in a Hydra encampment; the hook here is the identity he assumes, Scorpio, is the spitting image of the Nick Fury we know from the regular, primary Marvel world, what's known as Earth-616. Hydra is a stand in for militia/Tea Party types

But with issue #22 the title has once again started to percolate. Humphries remains the writer. The plot is the chief of staff for California's Governor is taking another shot at secession. To help him achieve his nefarious scheme he has gotten hold of a group of meta-humans from a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. lab and he is using them to wipe out the Ultimates

The art is by a new team -- Joe Bennett (penciler), Ruy Jose (inker) and Matt Milla (colors) -- and it is incredible. I was unfamiliar with Bennett's work. It has that liquid, Will Eisner, early Bernie Wrightson quality. Check out the six pages from Ultimate Comics: The Ultimates #22. An Ultimates beta version -- Tigra, Wonder Man, Quake, and the Vision -- hunt for Osama bin Laden in Baluchistan in the recent past. Wonder Man "Hulks out" against the Taliban.