Hardcase #3

Hardcase #3 August 1993

Writer: James Hudna;;

Pencils: Jim Callahan

Inks: Rodney Ramos

Letters: Tim Eldred

Color Designer: W. Moose Baumann

Editor: Chris Ulm and Hank Manalz

Cover Art: Jim Callahan (I think, it's in another language, so I cannot be sure), Rodney Ramos and George Cox III

Variants: None known

My summary/review (Just as a note of warning, there are all kinds of spoilers in this review):

Title: Hard Decisions

We open with a recap of what happened when one agent tried to capture Choice in Mexico.  Which is being reviewed by ‘the man who isn’t a man’, Bob Dixon (CEO of Choice) and J.D. Hunt.  The man who isn’t a man then tells them that he is sending in another team.  The Omega Team.

We then cut to the Omega Team (Gun Nut, The Needler and Trouble) watching Hardcase and Choice, as well as all the police that have shown up at Hardcase’s place.  The Detective is the guy from the previous issue, and brother to the police officer that died in the first issue.  They talk and Choice flat out lies and says that she has no idea why the original group of guys were after her…or even who they were.

Hardcase and Choice go to the beach to have a talk and are attacked by The Omega Team,  They are both hit with needles, and taken down, if only momentarily.  They of course turn the tide and beat them.  Then the media shows up asking questions.  Choice again says that the Choice Corporation is not involved.

This leads us back to the boardroom where the three men are talking.  They are at least relieved that some of her programming is holding up, but not happy with the rest.  The man who isn’t a man says that he will handle things from now on.

Cut back to the beach, and Hardcase and Choice are heading back to Hardcases’s house and run into the Strangers.

I have some mixed feelings here.  The art is decent in some spots and hard to look at in others.  The story is alright, but feels like a simple repeat of last issue with a different set of ‘bad guys.’  Yeah, I realize that most comics are just that…but this feels like the exact same thing over again, with very little plot being moved forward.  There are a handful of pages that give you anything substantive.  The rest is just fight filler to me.  ALbiet a fight with some of the goofiest named characters out there...and I love me some goofy characters.

There is more focus on Choice and her dilemma than on Hardcase.  At least there is a crossover coming up next issue to give the Ultraverse a more cohesive feel, which is odd, because it always had a very joined universe vibe since the first issues.