Issue 6 was also pretty good. Everybody got a little bit of the spotlight. You could tell that this team is pretty green. Nobody came out of this situation unscathed. Physically or emotionally, everyone felt some pain. The prison riot was stopped, but several key prisoners still managed to escape into the city to cause mischief at some point in the future.
What follows are some of the highlights:
MVP Among the New Crusaders: No doubt about it. That stand-out was the Web. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting much from this pipsqueak. The Web's greatest asset was his mind. Let's face it. He's just a scrawny kid. He was given a super-suit that enhanced his strength and agility a bit. Plus, he's got some weird energy thing going for him and I'm not sure if that's coming from him or his suit. But while the others were punching and getting punched, the Web was tapping into the computer systems and restarting the security and communication systems. Not only that, but he still managed to pull it together and save one of his teammates from a legion of murderous prisoners. Frankly, I didn't think he had it in him.
MVP Among the Mighty Crusaders: I'm kind of surprised to admit it, but I really liked Hangman! He has no powers. He just strangles people really quickly with the different ropes he carries -- hence the prison sentence! When the various heroes split up to take care of the riot and to track down the Brain Emperor, Steel Sterling was teamed up with Hangman and two other imprisoned Might Crusaders -- partially to help out but mostly to make sure they kept out of trouble. I expected myself to like the Black Hood or Deadly Force, but it just cracked me up every time someone found themselves snared around the neck by Hangman's noose! I am really hoping that we get to see more of him and the other Mighty Crusaders who've been imprisoned. They're really all too cool to keep locked away forever!
MVP Among the Super-Villains: Up until last issue, we readers hadn't gotten the opportunity to see many super-villains besides the uber-powerful telepathic villain known as the Brain Emperor. Last issue, we met about a half-dozen additional villains and they all look extremely powerful. I will admit that I know next to nothing about the Mighty Crusaders' bad guys, but I'm slowly piecing things together. This I do know. The Brain Emperor is very powerful and very deadly, but he's got nothing compared to the Eraser! The Eraser has a pretty basic power. He can destroy matter by touching it. For the past six issues, the Brain Emperor has been floating around and forcing others to kill each other and to make a mess of things. Meanwhile, the Eraser managed to effortlessly kill one of the New Crusaders in one panel without breaking a sweat. That's right, someone died in this issue. You will have to buy the comic book in order to figure out which of the heroes in the top right corner picture found themselves with a hole through their chest midway through this issue. I only wish that the Eraser would get himself a cooler costume.
So those were some of the highlights. NEW CRUSADERS: RISE OF THE HEROES has wrapped up and now we get to look forward to a new six-issue series titled NEW CRUSADERS: DARK TOMORROW. It looks like that will be debuting in three months.