The Harbinger Foundation is recruiting super-powered individuals for their organization and Pete, who can levitate and control others' thoughts, wants nothing to do with them. They are placing newspaper ads all over the country. He and his non-powered girlfriend, Kris, are being attacked by a trio of Harbinger members and they narrowly escape. Then Pete gets the idea to intercept the letters Harbinger is getting, to recruit their own super-team. First, they meet up with Faith, an overweight girl who thinks she's special. At first they think she's making it up--but it turns out that she can fly. She wants to be called Zephyr but they call her Zeppelin because of her size. Next is Southerner Charlene, who can create fire. She picks the name Flamingo. And then there's Torque, who is incredibly strong. He's also an asshole. They eventually meet the founder of Harbinger, Toyo Harada, who is ruthless. Of course, they escape. In the fourth and last chapter of the book they meet with Ax, who says he's a computer wizard. Pete and the gang want him to break into Harada's files. What they find out, to their surprise, are extraterrestrial landing sites. They weren't expecting aliens (and these particular aliens expand into the other Valiant titles). When they go to one such spot they encounter the alien-arachnids and steal their ship--and go to their base on the moon. This is where Ax shows his true colors--and betrays him. They dump him off once they are back on earth. Later, all the members go back to their homes to resolve any issues--which confirms that they are indeed where they belong, as a team.
I haven't read the Harbinger comics since they came out 23 years ago--and the stories still hold up. This graphic novel collects the first four issues of the original run. Recommended.
The Harbinger Foundation is recruiting super-powered individuals for their organization and Pete, who can levitate and control others' thoughts, wants nothing to do with them. They are placing newspaper ads all over the country. He and his non-powered girlfriend, Kris, are being attacked by a trio of Harbinger members and they narrowly escape. Then Pete gets the idea to intercept the letters Harbinger is getting, to recruit their own super-team. First, they meet up with Faith, an overweight girl who thinks she's special. At first they think she's making it up--but it turns out that she can fly. She wants to be called Zephyr but they call her Zeppelin because of her size. Next is Southerner Charlene, who can create fire. She picks the name Flamingo. And then there's Torque, who is incredibly strong. He's also an asshole. They eventually meet the founder of Harbinger, Toyo Harada, who is ruthless. Of course, they escape. In the fourth and last chapter of the book they meet with Ax, who says he's a computer wizard. Pete and the gang want him to break into Harada's files. What they find out, to their surprise, are extraterrestrial landing sites. They weren't expecting aliens (and these particular aliens expand into the other Valiant titles). When they go to one such spot they encounter the alien-arachnids and steal their ship--and go to their base on the moon. This is where Ax shows his true colors--and betrays him. They dump him off once they are back on earth. Later, all the members go back to their homes to resolve any issues--which confirms that they are indeed where they belong, as a team.
