Avengers Arena #3

Avengers Arena #3: Earth Girls Aren't Easy

Writer: Dennis Hopeless

Artist: Kev Walker

Colorist: Frank Martin

It works to Hopeless’ advantage that the teen heroes of Avengers Arena are almost as clueless as the reader regarding the dangers and rules of Arcade’s Murderworld, but I have yet to feel lost following along with the story of the teens plucked from their lives and placed in a threatening environment. Hopeless deserves credit for reintroducing these characters in ways that draws out the internal sense of who they were before they were abducted and what that means for how they would behave when pitted against the unknown. Cammi’s a terse space-ranger survivalist with the observational skills of an intergalactic Sherlock Holmes. Hopeless said that “"If Darkhawk wanted to, he would be able to win this day one,”[1] but his intent is to save the other heroes, only shooting to stun when he and Cammi shoot it out in the woods during what is sure to be one of many shoot-first-ask-questions-later moments in the series. These characters have history and it is being treated organically.

The issue begins with Cammi still working solo as we saw her in #2, as she investigates targeted attacks at the different camps where the teens have grouped together for safety. Balance doesn’t last long in Murderworld, Cammi continues to be shown as shrewd and intelligent as she thinks like a hunter – a weak defense begs to be targeted. Placing an engineer and a dilapidated Sentinel on watch duty is apparently a ripe opportunity, but judging by Juston’s familiar reaction and the way the sentinel is wadded up into a ball like scrap paper, whatever is attacking the teens is pretty buff. We’ve already seen Arcade point-and-click insta-kill Mettle, so it’s possible this is his way of heating things up, but such direct involvement would undermine the point of the series, if we’re to assume that the kids are going to start killing each other at some point.

Then again, he wouldn’t be the first brat to shake up his own ant-farm when he got bored, and it’s still early so we’ll have to wait. It’s not clear if Juston escaped, but unlike Mettle and Red Raven the tell-tale life-bar wasn’t reduced to nil so the door isn’t closed.

Cammi’s backstory is presented as part of an interrogation by S.W.O.R.D. agents who picked her up from the point she was seen last, in Annihilation, and though the interview is a static episode with exposition explaining what a bad-ass Cammi is despite not having actual superpowers, Walker’s art and Hopeless’ direction work in concert so effectively it allows the uninitiated to invest in her as a valuable and interesting cast member for the series. Walker spends a good deal of page space on faces, but never at the expense of the scene progression or as a cheap out from drawing more difficult scenery.

Cammi acts under the rigors of an official interrogation, stalking a mystery assailant, and adapting on the fly, Walker draws a Cammi that is reminiscent of a steely Lisbeth Salander. After being pulled back to a reality where despite her past experiences and her instincts she is one mistake away from death, Walker’s art captures her shame and self-loathing in just a few compelling frames of expression. Simply stated, the writing and art are tight.

The issue ends with a cliffhanger leaving Darkhawk’s status undetermined – I have a feeling that we’re going to have the rug pulled on us more than once and I would be afraid of finding the atmosphere that has been created in these early issues undermined by a lack of finality in the deaths or repeat close calls.

So far, the kids think they’re in real danger and they are acting accordingly, and sometimes revealing parts of themselves they’d rather leave hidden. That’s the good kind of tension that turns into gripping storytelling.