Villains For Hire (2011) - Andy Lanning & Dan Abnett
After the Purple Man stole Misty Knight's idea of having a team of paid super-operatives in the city to do jobs, she decides to steal the idea back. When Silver Sable and Black Panther fail to stop the new Stilt-Man (a woman) and Sidewinder, Knight decides to hire her own team of villains. This results in madness like Tiger Shark, Bombshell, Crossfire, and Nightshade facing off against Shocker, Death-Stalker, Scourge, and Avalanche, with a few crossing over for better money along the way. But has Misty Knight really gone evil? Purple Man won't rest until he finds the answer. This is a fun story; villains always get the best lines. There's more freedom for a writer with villains, since there's not any kind of standard to uphold, I guess. Anyway, to me this is trying to be a bit too hard to be Brubaker noir when it ought to be aiming for Van Lente zaniness; also the "Mighty Knight in tight pants any chance we get" art is a bit of a turnoff for me. Still, I enjoyed it for what it is. [4]
