REVIEW: ‘Heroes Reborn: Siege Society,’ Issue #1

Heroes Reborn: Siege Society #1 is published by Marvel Comics. Written by Cody Ziglar with art by Paco Medina. Pete Pantazis is the colourist and Joe Sabino is the letterer. This is a tie-in to the Heroes Reborn event. 

In a world where the Avengers don’t exist, the Squadron Supreme are Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. After a civil war divided Hyperion and Nighthawk, the latter took his forces and relocated to Europe. But this surfaces new enemies. Baron Zemo leads an army of mercenaries, including Sabretooth, Hawkeye, and Black Widow to Tower Bridge in London, trying to draw out Nighthawk. The clash between the Secret Squadron and the Siege Society involves many combatants and powers with consequences that neither side will see coming.

Heroes Reborn: Siege Society #1 is a one-shot, but it is also one long battle. From the team’s arrival on the bridge there is fighting. But there is a progression as the stakes and intensity build. What looks like a routine mission for the Society is actually the culmination of a long campaign. Starting at this point may be initially confusing for the reader. The story does settle though and the action is captivating enough to maintain concentration. The pace is set at a perfect speed, full of action and movement but never snowballing to a velocity that can’t be followed. The acceleration of the comic does fluctuate, but that is important within a longer issue such as this.

The battle itself is layered and exciting. The set pieces get bigger and the moves each player within this super-powered chess game make get more dangerous. At all times the reader knows where the fighters are and what they are doing. This is crucial within large-scale fights such as these. 

Ziglar has a huge cast to play with, and their exploration of each figure is fascinating. Every character has a distinct voice, but whether it is recognised is a different story. The interesting aspect that Heroes Reborn as an event provides is that it suggests the path certain heroes and villains may have taken if the Avengers didn’t exist. For Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Fire Ant it is clear that the villainous ways have not had the intervention that joining the team gave them. Scarlet Witch (Silver Witch in this timeline) has been greatly adjusted, with hints at a very dark history. And Sabretooth is entirely unchanged, still a ruthless monster. The exchanges between them are rife with references and attempts at the redevelopment of characters we know so well. The Secret Squadron possesses some cool members, but it isn’t until Nighthawk and Blur get involved that interest is really piqued.

As for Baron Zemo, he is largely unchanged from his presence in the main timeline, except his major adversaries are missing. He is a Nazi, an elitist snob, a strategist, and completely self-absorbed. All of his attention goes towards his dream of the world. Something that the writer does well is creating a powerful exchange between Zemo and Nighthawk, as if they truly despise each other. These are two characters that have little history with each other in previous publications, yet they speak with such venom. But the arrogance within both of them often means they’re spouting their own ideologies without really listening to what their enemy is saying. This is very telling and revealing for both characters.

The art by Medina is absolutely brilliant. There are several redesigns to the characters, and the artist provides interesting new costumes. They are all instantly recognisable, but there are some beautiful new looks to some of Marvel’s most beloved characters. Hawkeye and Black Widow have outfits where influences can clearly be seen from other alternate universe versions. Fire Ant has an armour that resembles the suit that another Ant-Man, Eric O’Grady, donned for a while. It is still funny that Sabretooth is largely unchanged, though he is still spectacularly rendered.

It should be mentioned that this is a bloody comic, and not everyone comes out unscathed. The fight scenes depict intense brutality that takes the reader by surprise. The battle is expertly choreographed, the movements from the various participants are individual and representative of their characters. There are some references to classic comics that observant readers will adore.

The colours are stunning and filled with as much detail as the illustration itself. Tower Bridge is bathed in purple shades that result in a different atmosphere radiating from the location. The colours on Silver Witch’s costume are perhaps the most striking to see, as they are so different from the colours usually seen in her designs. Wanda Maximoff is heavily associated with, well, scarlet, but a powerful green captures the attention within this uniform.

The lettering is dynamic and easy to read. With a large number of characters on a panel at any one time, it is very appreciated that the flow of the dialogue isn’t hampered by the placement of the word balloons.

Heroes Reborn: Siege Society #1 is an intense tie-in that is filled to the brim with action. If readers are looking for a plot full of twists or emotion they should look elsewhere. Within this issue is character development, but the focal point is the combat between Baron Zemo and Nighthawk’s teams. Using the villains to tell the story of the hero is a fantastic concept that Ziglar utilises well, as entirely new aspects to Nighthawk’s personality are made clear if he’s attacking someone. Not all of the new takes regarding each member’s presence and motivation are clear, but their involvement within this group makes sense. There are threads that come from the main event book, but this is an effective and self-contained action comic, with the art team presenting the violence in all its magnificent glory.

Heroes Reborn: Siege Society #1 is available where comics are sold.