The Order is about an experimental “reality show” superhero team initiated by Tony Stark but led by Pepper Potts. It’s also a fairly experimental comic series. Each issue is told from the point of view of a different character, and many of the characters are only around for an issue or two.
Issue #1 focuses on the team Leader, Anthem.
As an actor, Henry Hellrung played Tony Stark in a TV show about Iron Man–after being Tony’s sponsor in AA.
Stark gives him equipment to serve as a real hero and lead Stark’s own, personally Initiative team (as opposed to the 50 State-funded teams).
See? It’s already really interesting.
After leading the team on its first mission, against Infernal Man, the team members all go out and get drunk (except for the sober Hellrung). This results in their being fired for breaching the team morality clause.
Woven into these early issues is concern about the public relations around a team of heroes built to star on TV, since the last team to do that was the New Warriors who are recognized as the cause of the Stamford explosion that launched the Civil War. The need for a good image is why the original team was fired for getting drunk.
Pepper Potts then selects four new members, who will stick around a while longer: Calamity (James Wa–super speed), Heavy (Dennis Murray–team tank)…
Mulholland Black (telekinesis), Supernaut (Milo Fields–parapalegic army veteran who serves as the team “Iron Man”)…
…Veda (Magdalena Marie–animates organic matter into living golems that she has mental links with), and Aralune (Becky Ryan–shape shifter).
They are immediately mobilized to go up against a new “Alpha” version of the Soviet Super Soldiers. Don’t get too attached to that version of Crimson Dynamo because, like so many others, he dies in his first appearance. Also note the presence of Gargoyle, who I thought had been dead for years. Anyway, it’s a fun team–and they speak Russian for the entire appearance.
Aralune takes the lead in the combat. She also serves as the focal point for issue #2, where we learn that she has severe body image issues(!) that nearly drove her to suicide before getting her powers. Brilliant.
This is a great beginning for a book that, based on what others have said about it, I expected to hate. I don’t. I love it.
Technical note: This series is the first time Pepper Potts has a starring role–she is directing the team from a remote base. She’s also given the code name “Hera.” While this isn’t a super power, it is much more super-adjacent than her past roles, and therefore I’m tagging her starting now.
English (US) · 