Heroes for Hire: Control, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

In the aftermath of SHADOWLAND, Marvel's greatest street heroes - Punisher, Moon Knight, Shroud, Elektra, Paladin, Silver Sable, Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, Falcon, Misty Knight and more - leap into one all-new adventure! Who has brought together these dangerous loners into one fighting force? How is this network different from all other teams? Who is their first target, and what mysteries await them? Discover the answers and enter the action on Marvel's mean streets - courtesy of fan-favorite writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (THE THANOS IMPERATIVE, PUNISHER: YEAR ONE), and artist Brad Walker (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY)! Collecting HEROES FOR HIRE (2011) #1-5 and material from X-MEN: CURSE OF THE MUTANTS SPOTLIGHT.

Heroes for Hire is a title that really should get more love from me than it does. I've really enjoyed the few issues I have picked up (mainly for its spotlighting of third or fourth tier heroes like Misty Knight and Paladin) but, much like Defenders, it's never quite grabbed me enough to make it an instant buy.

Still, Abnett and Lanning have spent the last decade knocking Marvel's cosmic books out of the park (the upcoming Guardian's of the Galaxy film will be happening 100% because of their stories), so their name attached to a run on Heroes for Hire was enough for me to part with my money for the book, albeit with pretty low expectations going in.

I was pretty pleasantly surprised with it overall. The feel is very much in the Defenders realm of low profile capes kicking butt, but the weekly introduction of a different character for each situation (Elektra to take out high end drug dealers, Ghost Rider to break up occult gun-running, Moon Knight to prevent people smuggling) and the 'Control' sections with Misty Knight give it a real 'Global Frequency' style feel, which works remarkably well.

The stand out star of this is Moon Knight, a character based on Batman, who really lives up to his fan status as a heavier hitter than he's given credit. His page time is the highlight of these pages, especially under Brad Walker, the first artist on the book.

Whilst most of the page layouts are fairly pedestrian, Walker seems to light up when given the chance to break free. Marc Spector's mental troubles lend themselves well to the more chaotic pages here; his introduction, leaping through the page, is the first moment when the book finds its feet after a chase sequence involving Falcon and Black Widow that sorely lacked dynamism. His showdown with a raptor later in is a wondeful example of page economy (single splash page, two follow up panels of outcome, and voice over text boxes to tell the story).

Better for it's inclusion of multiple characters, this is still, ultimately Misty's tale, and it's one which brings in original hero for hire Iron Fist by the end. It doesn't seem to have lasted long (Heroes for Hire never does), but it's worth reading if you can find it, at least until Moon Knight gets his own ongoing.

Also Try:

Keith Giffen, Defenders: Indefesible

Gail Simone, Birds of Prey

Warren Ellis, Global Frequency

Grant Morrison, Batman, Inc