Maximum Security at Couture's

(exclusive and never before seen in Advanced Iron)

MAXIMUM SECURITY

Three-issue limited series -
December 2000 to January 2001

Story : Kurt Busiek
Pencils : Jerry Ordway
Inks : Al Vey, Will Blyberg, Paul Ryan, Chris Ivy

When a bunch of alien malefactors start popping up all over the Earth, the heroes begin to suspect foul play on a cosmic scale.

The U.S. Agent, who is the newly appointed leader of S.T.A.R. (Superhuman Tactical Activities Response Squad), heads over to a penitentiary in Virginia to interrogate one of the extraterrestrial inmates. He learns from Captain Reptyl (that cruel reptilian space pirate whom old readers of the Silver Surfer will remember well) that this is not the invasion attempt that was first suspected. In fact, the aliens are being sentenced here, which means that Earth has been declared a prison planet for intergalactic criminals!

One of the beings sent to Earth is actually Ego, the living planet! As Ego grows, he begins to absorb the very Earth into himself, destroying everything in his path. While Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, Bruce Banner and the Silver Surfer attempt to contain him, the other heroes (mainly the Avengers and the X-Men) confront those who have been put in charge of this whole operation: Ronan the Kree accuser and a strange race called "the Ruul". But there is much more than meets the eye as far as these beings are concerned!

I enjoyed the art most especially in this series. Ordway is at the top of his form, working with talented inkers and the result is beautiful, perhaps among his best work to date, way up there with his greatest Superman issues.

Also, most of the major characters in the Marvel universe are present, which always makes for a fun ride. I was also very pleased to see the final fate of the Kree revealed, following the cataclysmic events of the Operation: Galactic Strom storyline, truly one of the greatest Avengers tales ever told. As for the return of the U.S. Agent, that is definitely a good thing. I always enjoyed that character in the old Avengers West Coast days and it was fun to see him return.

When they started advertising this series, I read somewhere that it would be "the best series involving tons of Marvel characters since the Secret Wars" or something to that effect. Well, I'm very sorry, but the Secret Wars this ain't!

I'm a huge fan of Busiek and that only heightened my expectations for this series. I couldn't help but be disappointed when I finally got my hands on it. The story itself is fairly simple and aside from the usual tension between the Avengers and their ex-member U.S. Agent, interaction between the characters is either minimal or non-existent. There is no character development here, contrary to the Secret Wars. The only character who is changed by these events is Quasar.

I've definitely seen better.

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