Strikeforce: Morituri Volume 2

Strikeforce: Morituri #14-26

by Peter B. Gillis, James D. Hudnall, Brent Anderson

As the first generations of Strikeforce: Morituri are lost one by one - either killed in battle or violent in-fighting, or perishing from the Morituri Effect itself - a group of scientists undertake a dangerous and unauthorized experiment to create more. Unfortunately, things don't go exactly as planned. Enter: the Morituri Monsters! Then, an alien virus is discovered that offers a glimmer of hope for the Strikeforce - but has it come too late? Plus: The war against the Horde takes an unexpected and shocking twist!

Collects Strikeforce: Morituri #14-26

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Marvel, Fiction, Dystopia, Science Fiction

344 pages, Paperback

First published February 20, 2012

About the author

Peter B. Gillis (born December 19, 1952) is an American comic book writer best known for his work at Marvel Comics and First Comics in the mid-1980s, including the series Strikeforce: Morituri and the digitally drawn comic series Shatter.

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is funny how fast a read this one was. The first volume took me a bit longer to read; perhaps it was because the Horde's conversations were so difficult to read in the first volume; they were quite a bit easier to understand in this volume. The artwork was really hit-or-miss, especially after the team of writers/artists switched. I cannot say I really care for the "back-half" of this collection; it was quite a bit lower in quality than the first six issues or so collected in this compilation (the change is quite noticeable after Gillis and his "crew" left the book). The character development is so-so; I found myself "really wishing" the team would have remained "larger" for a longer period of time. The general concept was still there, and it did still hold my interest, but I was pretty disappointed with the 'abrupt changes' in the book (the narrative).

Also, the story seemed to be moving in 'one direction' until Gillis left the book, and then the overall 'tone,' the 'flavor' of the stories really changed, and not necessarily for the better. I can only imagine it was lagging sales, but issues 21 - 26 felt extremely forced and badly broke up the overall narrative. For example, there was a whole "plot point" of the Horde planting bombs inside of former slaves and prisoners, then releasing them to rejoin their loved ones back on Earth, back home. Yet, nothing came of it. A couple of bombs went off, and that was it. Some momentary terror, and that was it. Nothing. Something like that should have remained a part of the series, of bombs going off unexpectedly and people demanding change, demanding security and freedom from the fear of more living bombs exploding.

The Horde launched simultaneous raids around the planet at one time as a means of discouraging the Morituri. This was supposed to be demoralizing to them and to the Earthlings, to show the people of Earth that the Morituri could not protect them; that should have happened more often, too. Such a thing would have highlighted the need for more teams of Morituri scattered around the globe. Those are the two "main plot points" that I felt went nowhere and should have been explored a bit more in-depth, a bit more fully. There were a couple of minor plot-points, too, like how a 'new, sub-race' of the Horde was introduced and never went anywhere, either, or how there was another change in Hordian leadership that showed promise but then disappeared. I do wish the series had continued for another year or so; I think had these plot points been allowed to develop a bit more (or, if there were more Morituri teams stationed around the globe instead of "just" the Continental United States, or both), it might have lasted longer and been a better, stronger series.

I really 'hated' how the flavor of the book changed with the change in writers. It went from being a "war story" to more of a "trope-ic story" in that there was a subversive mystery government behind the scenes that was somehow controlling the war, somehow controlling the Horde as well as the Morituri, and all for political gain and money. It was bullcrap, in my opinion, and highly annoying. I mean, it seemed like the Padeian government was just stupid beforehand, but now they had become equally controlled by this shadowy subversive group that was hoping to control the Morituri as well. It was just annoying how “political” the story seemed to become, what with three people seeking to continue to keep the war going just for profit and some kind of perceived power. I also disliked how the “soldiers” changed in behavior, too. I did not care for the coercion, for the people who were forced to become Morituri, by government agents. I also disliked the three ‘villains/criminals’ being chosen for the Morituri process. I felt it took away from the twenty-to-twenty-one issues or so preceding the change in the book’s overall direction.

It really felt like the author was told the series was going to be canceled “soon,” so he had better wrap things up if he wanted to finish is story before the series ended. Then, he left the series before it ended and before finishing his story. Somebody else came in and told some garbage stories and wrapped things up with a major Dues ex Machina moment. Unfortunately, this was another “plot point” that was imperfectly wrapped up in the “Strikeforce Morituri Electronic Undertow” mini-series. The way it was described (in the last official issue of the series), the comic was moving to a ‘new format’ that was supposed to be bigger, better, and justified the cost of printing each issue. Sadly, the new “bookshelf format” only lasted five issues and the series was completely over at that point. But that is a part of volume 3. In the latter section of this part of the series, the Horde are defeated in space by the arrival of a new batch of aliens who also want to use Earth as a harvest-field for their own benefit. Most of the Horde fleet heads to Mars (for some reason I do not remember; we’ll see if it is explained in vol. 3); the survivors fight to the last Hordian to the bitter end.

Earlier in this collection, Aline flees the team so she can have her baby and hopefully have it survive, which it seems to do. We also learn that Aline has lived as long as she has because of her pregnancy, which I thought was an interesting plot twist, myself. There was also a plot point that no government agency or body can make Morituri like Doctor Tuolema; that if they do, they only create monsters. I thought that was pretty stupid, too. It seemed idiotic to me that only Doctor Tuolema could create “heroes” when, by his own admission, he truly has no ultimate control over the process; he just facilitates it ‘happening’ however it happens; he has no control over the end results. It also seemed kinda hokey that the alien virus inside Jason Edwards (contracted during his time as a prisoner aboard a Horde spacecraft) was going to be able to save the Morituri soldiers from being killed by the process they underwent to become Morituri. I hated that Louis was killed, but I was glad that he sacrificed himself to determine the veracity of the Horde’s claims and thereby saved Aline in the process. The fifth generation of Morituri were interesting, I guess; I wish they would have lasted longer and maybe been in some more missions before the series ended. Granted, I also hoped that Toxyn might’ve lived a bit longer, along with Hardcase and Silencer. Ah, well.

It also would have been nice if the artwork didn’t change so drastically like it did after issue 21; it was noticeably different and pretty bad in places. I cannot help but think if the artwork had been at least on the same level if not better than the prior issues it might have had a chance. As it was, the artwork was disappointing until Mark Bagley became a regular on the book, and it was still disappointing.

I do not mean to complain about ‘everything’ about the book. It was not all bad. I enjoyed the interactions between the different team members. I was kinda disappointed the “budding relationship” between Scaredycat and Scatterbrain did not really go anywhere. I thought it had potential. I enjoyed Pilar’s concerns for the teammates. I also liked how Toxyn became the “team leader” despite her claims to the contrary. She had said she was not the team leader while they were in space, after reaching the main fleet in orbit around Jupiter; yet, she essentially becomes the team leader after that upon returning to Earth. It was an interesting change in her character as well as a bit of growth for her. I would have liked to have seen the relationship between Silencer and Hardcase develop a bit more; I thought they were laying good groundwork for it to happen before the rug was brutally pulled out from under my feet (as it were) with their sudden, abrupt deaths. I was still pretty shocked by that! The page(s) where Pilar dies and begins her journey on the other side of death held some amazing artwork – that was probably some of the best artwork in the series (despite being so minimal in nature). I thought there might have been something developing between Shear and Brava; I was kinda disappointed this did not turn out to be the case. I still could not figure out which “mission” was the one that caused Shear to start to go crazy/insane like he did. Because of that, I could not decide if it was a ‘true mission’ that occurred ‘off-panel’ or was just a throwaway line to explain why he was behaving the way he was. It was kinda crazy how long members of the second and third generations lasted before “suddenly dying” like they did.

I liked that the captured alien race that resembled a hybrid of cats and primates survived. That was pretty cool. I did like that Aline’s baby survived as well; I was very happy with that. I also thought it was ‘funny’ how Doctor Tuolema thought he had been saved by the one alien from the other alien only to be truly saved when his younger assistant came into the lab. That struck me as morbid and funny at the same time.

It was a fun book to read; I think the strengths and weaknesses of the split between the first team and the second team of writers/authors/artists is pretty evident; it is pretty clear which stories are better than others. I would rank this book a strong 3.3 – 3.5, maybe 3.6, but will round it down to 3.0. It was fun to revisit these stories even though the last three issues are when it started to go downhill progressively faster, what with the team of Morituri Assassins now in the works. I am glad I had the chance to reread them.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice SiFi influenced Superhero storyline. I enjoyed the evolution of the characters and the overall flow of the plot. Above average writing and art made this a very nice read. Very recommended

[P Fosten · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the second volume, those heroes left alive continue their struggle against the invading alien horde and their own mortality. Things continue to move on with the hope of cure for the fatal Morituri process beginning to show it's face...

This is very much a book of two halves. Issues 14-20 were handled by the previous creative team of Peter B Gillis (Story) and Brent Anderson (Art) and it stays in the vein of first volume; a wonderful parable on mortality, sacrifice and war. And then... All change. The last six issues are handled by James D Hudnall (story) and an erratic series of artists (including eventual permanent replacement Mark Bagley). The changeover is choppy, to say the least. Hudnall has different themes he wants to explore (the immoral nature of corporations and beings) and the shift in tone feels quite drastic. The art switchover doesn't help and the Bagley issues come off best (even though he was starting out and the art is rough in places) due to the firm hand of experianced inker Val Mayerik. The other artists are...not up to par (in my opinion).

Somehow it's still very readable though, mostly for the continuation of Gillis' work but also because, for me, having read 'Electric Undertow' (which will close out the series in volume 3) I know where this is going and it's interesting to see the groundwork being laid.

Recommended if you liked volume 1 (with the same provisos on your taste for 80s style comic writing - It's all good with me!)

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

The continuation of the Morituri story starts out well but loses something by the end of this volume. I think it has to do with the inconsistent and poor art after Brent Anderson left. The other stories just feel like fill-ins as far as the art goes. Calimee and Dezuniga should not have been assigned to an action-oriented SF book - their work is just too stiff.

[Michael Bertrand · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is volume two of a three volume set. It contains issues 14-26.

The plot continues from volume 1 ...sort of:

1. Young men and women volunteer to undergo the Morituri process that turns them into super-powered heroes for a year, at the end of which they die.
2. They do so to fight the Horde- an invading alien force of piratical (is that a word?) plunderers.

I write "sort of" because the plotting in this comic series is very choppy. Sloppy even. The creators come up with cool ideas- like the Horde implanting undetectable bombs in the bodies of their still-living captives, who are then sent back to their families to then detonate- and then immediately drop them with no explanation. Entire issues are devoted to introducing new characters, and then there's no further development of those characters. And big plot points- such as one of the Morituri joining the aliens because he learns they have the cure for the fatal side effects of the process- are given one page nonsensical resolutions.

Why did Radiant return to his team when he'd *just* announced to the world that he was a traitor? Why would the aliens let him go? You'd think they'd keep him around to degrade enemy morale at the very least.

A new creative team took over in issue 21 and the art & plotting change. The plot actually makes a little more sense, but the art... is pretty cartoonish and awful for a bit. If there's an improvement, it's marginal at best.

Strikeforce Morituri gets points for originality, thus the three stars. But the shoddy plotting and not-great art of 21-26 guarantees it gets nothing more.

[Simon Kissam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume continues the story started in Strikeforce Morituri volume 1, that is an evil alien race called The Horde has invaded Earth, but haven't quite conquered it, when some scientists come up with a way to make superheroes, or the Morituri who fight back against The Horde. Without getting too much into spoilers the story is a lot like the in the first volume for much of the beginning, as older characters die new ones take their place, and the Morituri battle Hordians, including one nasty breed called super-Hordians based on the Morituri. We also learn why the Morituri are often called away from doing The Horde damage and instead are forced to sit around and defend menial things, which makes it quite good.

Anyway, so the first half of the book is not very entertaining and has many a cheesy dialogue and too many action scenes. Then it started to pick up with learning more things about the world governing body (their name is something like Padiea, can't quite remember) and as mentioned above learning about the Strikeforce's often pointless missions. Towards the end we also see more character development and not just action scenes. And a very big thing happens at the end, not going to spoiler though.

So, in conclusion I'd say a strong three, I was really contemplating whether this was three or four, I finally decided on three since the beginning was quite bad. Assuming you liked the first book I would continue on, I am because while it starts to drag it picks up again about half way through, which also gives me hope that the final volume will be good.

[Paul Vincent Robot · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this volume continues the greatness set up in the first volumne the series takes a pretty big leap... one could argue that it's a shark jumping leap when...

SPOILERS

Another alien race shows up.

END SPOILERS

However, there's tons of suspense and drama, tension, and all the other great things that make this an excellent and unfortunately short lived series.

[Stolt-man · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another excellent volume. It finishes up Peter Gillis' run and starts James Hudnall's. Gillis was doing great work here and Hudnall is just as good.