S L I N G E R S . # 2

Slingers #2
"Hooligans"
Creative Team: Joseph Harris (writer) / Chriscross (pencils) / Rob Stull, Tom Simmons, and Don Hillsman (inks)

SUMMARY OF EVENTS:
The story opens with Spiderman, stuck to a building, reading the Daily Bugle and finds the Slingers -- who "stole" his costumes -- right there on the front page. Coincidentally, Spiderman sees Ricochet riding on top of a bus. Of course, Spiderman tries to confront Ricochet, but Rico doesn't want to talk. As Spiderman approaches him, Rico reacts and throws a disc at him. He then runs away, with Spiderman hot on his trail. Johnny runs into the subway station and catches a train just as it leaves. Lucky for him, Spiderman didn't make it on time. Narration asks the question, "If he didn't do anything wrong... why's he running away?!"

Elsewhere, Black Marvel watches "The Black Marvel Strikes!" -- a movie made about him. Inside his headquarters, there is a mannequin which sports his old costume, and newspaper articles written about his past glory. Black Marvel watches the movie and remembers what it is like to be a superhero.

Apparently later, we see Prodigy, Hornet, and Ricochet coming out of a drain pipe in a construction site. The three of them are to be doing reconnaissance -- basically look, don't touch. Prodigy orders Hornet and Ricochet to go together and check out what's underneath the construction site, and tells them not to be seen by the Maggia. Prodigy flies off, leaving Rico and Hornet confused.

In another part of the construction site, we learn that the building is to be the newly renovated Grand Royale Hotel.... which is funded by the Maggia. Prodigy spies on Jimmy Eyes, the boss, and his two goons, as they talk about how they are behind schedule. Prodigy seems to be more comfortable than Hornet and Ricochet, however. The two are down in the tunnels, and smells something funny. Continuing their investigation, the two discover train tracks, and a train delivering some barrels, down there. Following the train, they find two Maggia members who are collecting the barrels.

In Salem Center, Westchester, the parents of Cassie St. Commons are told by two police officials that their daughter... may or may not have died. They found a body, and told the parents to identify it. However, the body had disappeared from the morgue. In another room, we see Dusk looking at some of her family pictures. She takes one picture and teleports out.

Back to Hornet and Rico. While the two Maggia members they are spying on wait for more barrels to be delivered, one guy leaves for the bathroom. The one who's left is then eaten by giant, mutated rats (apparently the stuff in the barrels mutated them). Rico and Hornet find the barrels, and, much to their surprise, find the rats. As one rat grabs a hold of Hornet, Rico throws a disc at it and frees Hornet. The rat runs away, only to bring back some of its friends. The two are surrounded, but they soon find out that the frequency of Hornet's wings bother them. As all this happens, Rico tries calling Prodigy on the walkie-talkie he was given. Bad timing, though, Ricochet. Your message to Prodigy just revealed him to the Maggia members who he was spying on! Prodigy takes the Maggia members down easily, and flies off. He is not happy with Ricochet and Hornet. Not happy at all.

With Prodigy not responding, Rico and Hornet just decide to run away. Rico throws a disc at the roof, and causes it to collapse on the rats. They celebrate their victory too soon, however, and the entire place starts to collapse. Ricochet manages to escape, but Hornet is buried in a pile of rocks. Ricochet cries for Prodigy's help, but Prodigy crushes his walkie-talkie, and flies away -- leaving them.

COMMENTS:
This marks the start of the Slingers' first story arc. And what do I have to say? It's pretty good. So far, nothing extremely interesting has happened, but it's their first mission - what do you expect? A lot of questions remain, which makes things a little confusing. What role does the Maggia have in all this? Why do they need those bio-chemicals in the barrels? But I suppose those questions will be answered soon in upcoming issues. Joseph Harris does a great job once again on developing the characters, especially Prodigy. Who would have thought Ritchie was that cold hearted and uncaring? That's the second time he left a teammate for dead now! Spiderman's appearance makes sense, as the Slingers are wearing his costumes. Interesting that Ricochet is afraid of him though...