Whose Side Are You On?

[colonel_green]

Three scans from Siege #3.


First, Taskmaster confronts Captain America, while Shadow-Obama and his advisors debate whether to go all Kingdom Come on this situation's ass:



The Hood and his villains show up for the melee, but the heroes proceed to beat on them too.

Decision time:




Someone in the previous thread was saying that they thought Hand died here, but there's no followup explosion or anything, so I don't think that's the case.

I do hope Bendis has some role for her when this is over, because she's a reasonably well-done character (that she'd really believe in Norman to this extent is a stretch, but then, this whole scenario is).
 

char: taskmaster, char: captain america/steve rogers, char: captain america/bucky barnes, char: barack obama, char: victoria hand, publisher: marvel comics, creator: brian michael bendis, creator: olivier coipel, event: siege

Comments

[From: majingojira]

Of course, by "take down" they had to go with "blow up"

You can just smell that taxpayer money burning with the rocket fuel.

[From: punishermax]

Obama does not fuck around

[From: colonel_green]

1st rule of US budgeting: Military spending is free.

[From: falseaesop]

If Nick Fury returns all the Helicarriers he and the Howling Commandos stole from HAMMER (in the pages of Secret Warriors) at the end of all this I'd say we call it a wash.

[From: shadowpsykie]

the only problem i see with this is isnt Shield, and by default Hammer, a UN operation? i don't think the US should be able to "push the button" on the helicarier....

[From: colonel_green]

HAMMER is an exclusively American outfit.

[From: shadowpsykie]

ok, so it hink i missed something.... they replaced a (arguably neutral) peacekeeping force with an american run one?

[From: neuhallidae]

The end of Secret Invasion apparently decided SHIELD was US run, since the president could dissolve it with no international say-so. The other countries that had been involved with SHIELD have since created their own peacekeeping organization from the branches that apparently didn't exist in SI, which is how Pym's Avengers had the international clearance to go popping all over the world solving problems, but aren't allowed to do so within the US without HAMMER breathing down their necks.

[From: colonel_green]

SHIELD's always been kind of an awkward organization, because it's primarily American-run and generally acts like an American agency, but it's nominally (most of the time) under UN supervision. That was in the past explained by the US providing most of the funding, so I suppose if the US government decided to withdraw that, it might effectively disband it.

[From: zemo]

I'd say the real problem with SHIELD always was that it was created in simpler times, where the idea of the USA policing all and everything on the planet was somewhat a logical thing for the readership.

Now that most people know that nothing could be further from the truth, and the readership has become more international...well, things get awkward sometimes.

[From: icon_uk]

Speaking as a European, it irked a little, which is why I preferred the international "Action Force" to the almost exclusively American "GI Joe"

[From: colonel_green]

Hey, it was the Reagan era.

[From: icon_uk]

True, another reason to prefer the international team IMHO, rendered worrying only by the thought of Mrs Thatcher having any sort of influence over them.... SCARY!

[From: endis_ni]

You know that scan of Ares standing on the nose of the plane as they go in to battle?

Now imagine what I'm picturing right now. It's not good, and there's a handbag flapping in the wind...

[From: lonewolf23k]

...In spite of the fact that Action Force is just GI Joe with an international packaging...

[From: icon_uk]

Different file cards with different nationalities and personalities.

[From: koschei]

Like the way the GI Joe Australia comic just reprinted stuff with Recondo in it except he'd been renamed Digger and was promoted as "Australia's own Joe!"

[From: icon_uk]

Not sure (I have no clue who Recondo is offhand), but the initial Action Force stories printed in the UK were completely different from the US ones.

[From: protogarrett]

Aren't HAMMER personal enlisted US military? They're just doing as HAMMER director Osborn instructs under jurisdiction from the US president?

So didn't Shadow-Obama just fire on US soldiers?

[From: colonel_green]

Rogue US soldiers (though I think most of them are supposed to be ex-HYDRA agents, at last according to Dark Avengers #1).

[From: zemo]

I think it was established that HAMEr agents consist of former criminals, former Hydra agents, and crooky SHIELD agents.

Everything to make you not feel bad about them being killed *rolls eyes*

[From: lamashtar]

Illegal orders are illegal orders. There isn't supposed to be a "I was only following orders" excuse. Politically, it can be hard to prosecute the one in charge or that many peons, but if they can find scapegoats? Oh yes, they'll receive no mercy from courts.

Since Osborne's rogue army is considered criminals, the legitimate authority'll kill them any way necessary if it's the only way to stop them. Just like former military militia don't get a pass if they're messing around.

[From: punishermax]

Hmm yes, a major character died in an explosion. I mean sure we never saw a secondary explosion or her actual death, but yes she is clearly dead. ~has not read any comic ever~

[From: daningram.insanejournal.com]

Eh, Bendis brings 'foregone conclusion' to a whole other level with his writing, doesn't he?

[From: terrykun]

Second scan, when whoever that is starts going on about how Osborn declared war "--on America. On YOU." .... am I the only one who thinks that sounds like Loki's narrative?

[From: kirke_novak]

The General: Let's bomb them!
Obama: No
The General: But daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad! I want to see some 'xploding! ;_;
Obama: Jesus, fine. Take down HAMMER
The General: YAY \o/

[From: seele02]

That's Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

[From: proteus_lives]

I hope nothing happens to Ms. Hand, I find her delightful.

And if Obama really understood puns he would have said, "Drop the H.A.M.M.E.R."

[From: scenesaroundjackson.wordpress.com]

LOL!!!

oh that would've been awesome

[From: salamangkiero]

HAMMER time?

This macro is always useful.

[From: mcity]

[From: jlroberson]

I hope Hand is alive long enough for Carol Danvers to beat her to death.

[From: lamashtar]

Eh, I'm betting she either cuts her losses and recognizes she's got no standing on the good guy side, so becomes a new bad guy second-in-command--with her mindset she'd fit in well with HYDRA..or she rolls over on Osborn, since he's dead in the water anyway, and turns evidence to avoid all consequences of her own coverups.

[From: bruinsfan]

Think a pink pillbox hat would suit her?

[From: lamashtar]

Philistine! You'd have her hide her glorious anti-establishment hair?

[From: stolisomancer.insanejournal.com]

Bendis did a really good job of establishing Hand's personality and background in Dark Avengers #11. She's ex-SHIELD who believed in the organization but questioned Fury's motivations and tactics, so he irritatedly reassigned her.

While she's run the gamut in every other Dark Reign book from Osborn's gal Friday to his glorified secretary, Dark Avengers is as close as she comes to being in her own book. There, she's doing her best to hold the team and Osborn together. Over the course of that period of time, she actually hasn't done anything wrong other than believing in what Osborn's doing, and she's not privy to many of his more questionable decisions. For example, she has no idea about the Cabal and she's never sat in on a meeting with the Hood.

[From: lamashtar]

I've read all that, but I disagree that she was unaware of Osborn's little games or that she had no hand in them. For instance, it would've required a level of naivete of a child to believe that Venom wasn't eating people.

[From: euthanatos]

yeah, I really like that character, especially on this issue; her sleeping on a desk and waking up startled, her face of "oh my god, no" when she sees Osborn's face-paint, those are the little things that really make her interesting.

Props, Luthor, props.