Definitely liked new antagonist General Kovačević, whom Nono might refer to a Noble Demon. With him, Sidrov, and Jenny (though she’s more a rival that strictly a villain), the ANTIBODY Program has produced some of my favorite baddies in Phase 2 and 3.
Good on Nono for choosing to go her own way instead of just using the easy way that the Poppet System represents. While we did get to see some of its flaws (like Jason being able to predict the ANTIBODY’s dodging patterns) it still would have provided a significant advantage. Then again, she’s also been a puppet of the system a couple times, which I think may have helped with that decision.
New base! New base! New base!
Also good to see Jason and Alycia salvaging what they can from this situation they’ve found themselves in.
This was fun. I’m tempted to panel this sequence out.
I debated on tone during planning, but finally settled for something a little more light-hearted than the bleak horror story this could have been. I was building up a new villain and couldn’t oversell them too much, and I feel like the nature of ANTIBODY should be awful enough if you think about it.
On that note! ANTIBODY has contributed indirectly, behind the scenes, to a lot of stuff. Crusading prosecutors or district attorneys - ethical lawmakers - captains of industry - all are viable targets for the program, not just superheroes. Neutralizing the do-gooders is one reason why people like Tyran Enterprises now runs Halycon City without interference or oversight.
There’s stuff I didn’t feel like I had room to explain, like why Alycia is able to spend half an hour sabotaging a nuclear power plant without the General noticing. There’s hints of this, but basically he’s a competent military man, but his underlings and equipment are sub-par. When he’s micromanaging something, he does get results.
The base reactor will indeed go critical, it will need to be evacuated, etc. - we’ll learn that for sure in a future story, I’m just saying for now that the team struck a blow, hooray team
I really liked the reversal of “we blew up your base” here, because the team is blew up the base that could function as a set of homes, and is running to a base they recently blew up and is now, shall we say, a fixer-upper. But that’s the kind of team this is.
I feel like driving Alycia to the edge worked in terms of the character, given the nature of the hammer blows she took. I don’t think that’s over with either - she’s got plenty to angst about, and the others will not find Antarctica a picnic either.
I increasingly found The New Division to be a perfect soundtrack for MIA’s adventures, and I recommend people listen to the group just in general. It’s so good. I just threw in a bit of Billy Idol’s Cyberpunk album because I love that particular song.
Much, both good and bad. For example, the fact that Alycia Chin was brought in by AEGIS is part of the data. But so is the fact that she cooperated with them, helped them, even ran missions for them (and the Menagerie) that promoted the public welfare.
That said, the fact that MIA let such a secret leak out (despite the fact that it was due to enemy action) will be a considerable black mark against them in the eyes of the intelligence community.
I am feeling some repetition of themes in my stuff and I’m making a conscious effort to break from them - or when not, to at least consider them from new angles.
The problem I’ve discovered with the Grasscutters is that while they’re an Outside Context Problem for superheroes, they’re also not charismatic as villains. They don’t have a face, so we don’t get any hint of who they are, we just get told about them. They’ll still be a problem for MIA until dealt with, but it’s been an informative experiment at least.
Attaching individual Antibodies to other situations as the “devil on the shoulder”, on the other hand…
Alycia wouldn’t be Alycia without it, though a little goes a long way.
Overall, a neat and exciting wrap for the long trek here, with plenty of hooks for what comes next. I’m excited about the Antarctic City – and how the team members will cope with the harsh environment there, as well as where things go for Jason and Alycia at this point.
