Comics on the Bubble: Darkstar & the Winter Guard #1-3 (2010)

Ah, there is nothing like a good dollar-sale at the comic store! I picked up David Gallaher’s take on the long-standing Russian super-team on a whim, and it is pretty entertaining. I’ll admit to being totally lost on the status of most of these characters. When did Vanguard and his crew go to Limbo? Where’s Vostok and Perun? My best memories of these characters are from a solid Mark Gruenwald Captain America story, so I’m a tad confused. I think there was an Iron Man story by Kurt Busiek that might explain some of this, I’ll let you know…

Steve Ellis’ art is nice, if a bit on the cartoon-y side. There are some really odd faces mixed in. I did laugh at all the slinky outfits worn by the female characters (and Dynamo and Darkstar even talk about Fantasma’s too-revealing costume).

Issue 1-3 – We find out that the Winter Guard is made up of a bunch of replacement heroes, except for Ursa Major. It seems every time a member dies, a fully-trained replacement gets a promotion from a Winter Guard academy somewhere. Stepping in to complicate things, Vanguard and some folks I don’t recognize show up in search of former teammate Fantasma. She’s not what she seems, so the teams have to team up to deal with the threat. Solid enough, I suppose. KEEP for now, but this may not make the cut in a few years.