A-Force, Vol. 2: Rage Against the Dying of the Light

A-Force (Collected Editions)

by Kelly Thompson, Ben Caldwell (Illustrator), Paulo Siqueira (Illustrator)

A-Force is assembled — but for how long? When a massive dragon attacks, She-Hulk, Captain Marvel, Medusa, Dazzler, Nico Minoru and Singularity spring into action! But this dragon is more than she seems and has much bigger plans — including turning one of the team’s heaviest hitters against her allies! Will A-Force meet an early end at the hands of one of their own? Or will they be torn apart by the looming CIVIL WAR II? For when a predictive vision proclaims that one member is a murderer, Captain Marvel takes action — and a rift is created that sets in motion a chain of devastating events! Plus: A dazzling Thor steals the limelight! The foul-mouthed, gun-toting Elsa Bloodstone will blow you away! And the fate of A-Force may lie in the magical hands of Nico Minoru!

Collecting: A-Force 5-10

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Fantasy

136 pages, Paperback

First published May 30, 2017

About the author

KELLY THOMPSON has a degree in Sequential Art from The Savannah College of Art & Design. Her love of comics and superheroes have compelled her since she first discovered them as a teenager. Currently living in Portland, Oregon with her boyfriend and the two brilliant cats that run their lives, you can find Kelly all over the Internet where she is generally well liked, except where she's detested.

Kelly has published two novels - THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING (2012) and STORYKILLER (2014) and the graphic novel HEART IN A BOX from Dark Horse Comics (2015). She's currently writing ROGUE & GAMBIT, HAWKEYE, and PHASMA for Marvel Comics and GHOSTBUSTERS for IDW. Other major credits include: A-Force, Captain Marvel & The Carol Corps, Jem and The Holograms, Misfits, Power Rangers Pink, and the creator-owned mini-series Mega Princess.

Kelly's ambitions are eclipsed only by her desire to exist entirely in pajamas. Fortunately pajamas and writers go hand in hand (most of the time). Please buy all her stuff so that she can buy (and wear) more pajamas.

Reviews

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won't go on and on about how this sucked because of the forced CW II tie in. Just know that this is yet another series that was downgraded from its former glory because of Bendis' failed event.

Interestingly enough, there was some added awkwardness from the pre Inhumans v X Men event.

Anyway, this stars with a visitor from another universe. Another version of Thor has brought a fight with a villain named The Countess. The A-Force teams has to help vanquish this villain and they befriend the new Thor along the way. This is a one in done in like 3 issues which was fine. The villain wasn't bad and the banter was okay. It got a little too syrupy for my tastes, if I'm being perfectly honest. Singularity was adorable as ever and I love Dazzler here.

The next story begins with Jen in the hospital after the events of CW II #1. I'm pretty sure they added Nico in the hospital because I don't remember her in the CW issue. Dazzler is having it out with Carol because her thought process leading up to this was completely ridiculous. Carol's being an idiot like she was during the rest of the event and somehow I hate Medusa even more during this.

Ulysses sees Nico killing someone named Alice and Carol wants to arrest her. Nico runs away and this leads to the second storyline where there's a bug people infestation in a small town. Nico runs into someone from NextWave Agents if H.A.T.E and I really loved that! This story is a tiny bit stronger in some ways because there wasn't too much syrupy banter. I enjoyed Nico's chemistry with this mystery character.

Overall, this was a disappointment because the banter and camaraderie I loved about the first volume is missing. They don't really seem like friends here as much as they're just people who happen to work together. I can't unsee how utterly unlikable Carol and Medusa were in the CW II event. The attempt to make Carol's viewpoint seem reasonable was awful.

Also, Dazzler is the standout character in this. She's suffering from the disease that's plaguing all mutants at this time. The terrigen mists are making them sick and their abilities are unreliable. If I remember correctly, this kills mutants and it's a huge deal right now. So, the scene where Medusa expresses sympathy and wishes she could do something to help makes no sense with what happens in the event later. Mutants are dying and the Inhumans are just shrugging their shoulders like "Whoops, sorry but we need more Inhumans". It's so unrealistic and it makes me hate Medusa even more.

So, in conclusion, this was marred by Marvel's universe wide events and I'm so glad we won't have anymore of those for a while after this Secret Empire nonsense.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is missing the sense of friendship found in the previous 2 books. Even before the Civil War II tie in, the team didn't seem like they even liked one another. Dazzler-Thor was kind of awesome though.

The first half of the book the team fights a reality warper. I don't enjoy when the villain or hero can do anything so I found this ho-hum. The second story is another Ulysses saw a hero was going to do something bad Civil War II tie in. I fricking hate these. Civil War II was just awful and the central argument asinine. This was OK, but forced. Paulo Siqueira's art is fantastic.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little hesitant going in, and there was a bunch of nit-picky stuff my longtime inner nerd could waffle on about for a couple of paragraphs if I let him, but I ended up totally falling in love with this book and I'm desperately sorry to see it cancelled.

You know what killed this book? CROSSOVER EVENTS! The sooner editorial realise the short term sales spikes these events generate are not worth the long term damage they are doing to this industry, the better...

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything that could have been good in this book has been torpedoed by Civil War 2. The sadly necessary crossover (three members of the team are major characters in the event, so it would be impossible to ignore it) drags down every bit of plot and characterization we might have gotten otherwise. Shame.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, A-Force, I am so conflicted with you. On one hand, I love you so very, very much. This is the girl power comic I didn't know I wanted, and which sparked my love of girl power comics. You have such a great line-up. And yet your final volume is mired in Civil War II drama, and you were sadly cancelled before your time, or before you could really give us a proper resolution to much of anything.

I wish there had been a few more issues to wrap everything up, particularly in regards to She-Hulk. I wish the comic had escaped the Company!Wide!Crossover!Spectacular! of the season that was Civil War II. I hate these events so much, and they are slowly gravitating me away from Marvel entirely. I just want to be able to read a series without it being utterly interrupted and kicked around by the Event of the Moment.

Despite the low rating here, which is mostly because of the grossly unresolved and unnecessary Civil War arc, I hope this series finds its way back sometime in the future, free of the encumbrances of the Marvel Event Machine.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]

As usual, titles that I enjoy have a short shelf life. I'm anathema to titles, I'm sure I am.

Anyway. Kelly Thompson takes over from G. Willow Wilson and Marguerite Bennett for two short arcs; one thrusts the team into conflict with remnants from Battleworld, including Dazzler Thor and a mind controlling dragon lady, and then into the bowels of Civil War II with Elsa Bloodstone. Badass ladies all over the place here.

The team dynamic in this book is easily the selling point. Thompson, like the writers before her, make sure that all of the characters here feel realistic and react in very human ways. This is especially obvious in the Civil War II arc, which reads very well even without the event as a backdrop. I feel like Singularity gets the short end of the stick sometimes, mostly because she's an anomaly of a character, but she's adorable in the background.

Ben Caldwell tackles the Rage, Rage, storyline with the dragon and Dazzler Thor, and is very good at giving the characters very distinctive body types without squashing them. He and colourist Ian Herring also have a very different colour palette, which gives a unique visual for a very psychadelic storyline. The Civil War II arc is drawn by Paolo Siqueria, and it's very clear cut and 'house style'-ish, which isn't a knock. He has a lot of fun with the alien bugs, which is an odd sentence to type.

I hope Marvel resurrects this title/team idea soon. I need my avenging ladies fix.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this series and wish it had sold better in stores. There was so much potential for more stories and I feel like A-Force wasn't given an opportunity to shine.

[Claire]

I refuse to rate books that were unceremoniously dragged into the flaming trash pile that is CW2. I hate everything about the universe wide event but it is not my poor character's faults that they & their series were destroyed by this shitshow. So I'm not rating this one. Thanks @ cw2 for fucking up yet another one of my favorite series tho. Really great. (severe sarcasm)

[Grace Arango · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
It's quite unfortunate that this series got cancelled so early because it was a good one, but it never reached it's full potential. I loved following this team and I so wish I could keep following them, but that's it for now sadly.

I enjoyed this series, this wasn't the strongest conclusion but the series as a whole was great!

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seems like the very definition of "filler," which is too bad, because there are a lot of moments to like, here. Plus the art isn't too bad.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever read Kelly Thompson before, but I really enjoyed this! She did a great job building on what Wilson left.

[Mariana · Rating 2 out of 5]

above all i loved medusa and jen's interactions and fights for the leadership of a-force, everything else was civil war and i didn't like that

[charlotte, · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rep: non-white characters

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so looking forward to this series. But it was one big ball of meh.


First A-Force is joined by one of the league of Thors from Doomworld, and the woman holding this hammer is Allison Blair. They're fighting a dragon who sometimes isn't a dragon in Astoria, Oregon. It was cool to see Astoria-Megler bridge in a comic the day after I drove over it. The dragon, known as the Countess, influences Nico in a Chris-Claremont-style mind-controlled-teammate story. This could have been good with a little more development, but we never really knew who the Countess was. And the artist apparently ran short of time because, by the end, there are no backgrounds. Seriously, a character is slammed into a wall, but there's no wall.

Then, a Civil War II crossover. After She-Hulk gets injured, Ulysses has a vision of Nico killing a civillian. Carol wants to keep her house arrest, but Nico teleoprts away. Of course she goes to the town and sets up the situation she was supposed to avoid. Guest-starring Elsa Bloodstone. Better art.

Kelly Thompson has the bickering between teammembers down. The plots felt random and underdeveloped.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Issues 5-7)

Better than the first A-Force issues. This is due in no small part to the awesomeness of our new artist: Ben Caldwell. You have to understand my frustration with the previous comics in this series. The earlier episodes had a great story but boring artwork. Too much glossy cleavage, too many generically hot superheroines.

But my man Ben? He goes for a simpler, more 2-D style that, paradoxically, shows a lot more detail. Here, Medusa's got a formidable pout and a plus-size figure; while Captain Marvel sports a broken nose and an athletic build. Dazzler is wiry; She-Hulk has a chin carved out of granite. And Nico gets to cover up her bosom for once!

And furthermore, Ben Caldwell manages to pack in more panels per page while somehow making the comic more readable. Shame that Marvel cancelled A-Force. I wanted to see what Caldwell & co. would have done next!

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

This was my favorite by far of the three A-Force volumes. The first story in the arc was hilarious although the art style wasn't really to my liking. The final story was a Civil War II tie in with gorgeous art. Also an Elsa Bloodstone appearance, which was nice.

Overall this series wasn't a favorite of mine but this final volume did show it had potential.

[kaitlphere · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Dazzler Thor and the British/Australian character. I also loved the brief scene we had with Punk Rock Dazzler Thor and I wish we got a full page panel of just her. In general I enjoy seeing this team together.

There were elements of team building and character arcs in this volume but it was mostly a series of big fights and some in-fighting, which is not what I'm here for.

[Lobo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ach, ta seria, która sprawiła, że Dazzler stała się must have mojego fanfiction. I Thor!Dazzler też. Generalnie bycie Thorem musi być super, każdy powinien tego spróbować.

[Tris · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok this one i havent read for some reason... probably because i hated everything associated to civil war 2.

[Iris Nevers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love A-Force. Really, I do. And I feel a great injustice with Marvel axing the title. So it ended on #10 and I honestly feel like the book didn't get to tie up loose ends or to bring in new characters like the writers wanted.
It's a shame, but what can I do?

Sorry about the rant, I'm just angry with Marvel for cutting my favorite series

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have been a lot better if the great, quirky style that they had going during the series didn't disappear for the final "Civil War II" arc, which was a sort of weak ending to the series...

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO sad that this series isn't going to continue. Dazzler, Niko, Medusa, Singularity, She-Hulk, and friends all made such a great team!

[Emmanuel Nevers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked these last two story arcs. I hope A-force comes back. This was lije the greatest female comics team ever!! (other than DC Bombshells)

[jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was so sad because i love the series so much but once they got to civil war everything fell apart ugh

[Allie Paarsmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the group dynamic of A-Force. I hope it will get resurrected at some point.

[Charline · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author did a good job with tying this volume with the then-current Marvel event (civil war II). I liked how they portrayed Carol in this story.

[Rachael Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I read the first A-Force trade and liked it a lot more than I expected.  When I finished reading, I noticed that it was by G. Willow Wilson and I really liked her Ms. Marvel so I felt less surprised and also very excited to start the second trade.  Then I checked it out and I realized another reason that I get so pissed off about comics.  New writers.  New artists.  I know Kelly Thompson from her work on Jem, the first trade of which I really liked.  So, in short, I gave it a try.

I liked it.  I did.  Again.

Which has left me in a kind of conundrum.  Am I going to have to admit that maybe I DO like superhero comics, if they are the right ones?  Am I going to have to trust Marvel's choice in writers and artists?  (I don't think I can do that because we all know they have a tendency to do stupid shit constantly.  Though I do like that both writers for this series were women.)  And, you know, is there ever going to be more A-Force because I kind of need it?

We join the team this time in the midst of a battle that is going poorly.  It goes poorly enough that She Hulk ends up in the hospital, in a coma.  Meanwhile, Captain Marvel has heard a prophecy that Nico will kill a woman named Alice.  Cap wants to arrest Nico in order to prevent this murder until they can figure out what is going on.  Nico is not a fan of being arrested by her teammate and runs away (ha) to a safe house she has in Colorado.  However, when she gets there she finds that the townspeople are being turned into giant insects.

Another fun run!  I want more, damn you, Marvel.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adventure with...Dazzler-Thor??? ...and Civil War II hits the team directly.

So this volume is made up of these two stories, and while the Dazzler Thor story was fun and entertaining, the Civil War II story was an odd way to end the series. It seems that Marvel got in the way of this book by having them address CWII and then cancelled the book while they were doing it. This results in the ending of the series feeling strange and very out of place.

You can "feel" the differences in the two stories, in that, one is something that Kelly Thompson had planned for the group and the adventure felt fresh and in line with the tone of the rest of the series. However the CWII story feels more like a horror story, with a simmering anger between the characters of the team itself. Of course, any CWII story where one member of the team is being singled out is going to have some anger in it, however even the other group members seem to have fallen out with each other, resulting in what once felt like a group of friends, now feeling like acquittances or coworkers. It also would have been awesome to keep the group going and adding Elsa Bloodstone, as she felt as she would have been a great addition to the team.

I think this was a really fun series, and I'm sad to see it go. Kelly Thompson was able to give the group a great series of adventures, and carve out some interesting friendships along the way. Hopefully one day, we get to see these heroes team up once more.

[Tshepiso · Rating 4 out of 5]

What else do have to say beside I love these comic, I love this team, I love these ladies.
It's such a shame that such a well written story was cancelled in its prime.

This volume was just a fun ride despite being initially hesitant about the Civil War tie-in Thompson managed to integrate the story arc very well. We got some extremely touching character moments throughout the arc and seeing the team come together and ultimately support one another was great to see.

One thing that stood out to me about the later part of the story was the expansion of medusa as a character. I didn't like her very much as she was often combative within the team and extremely judgemental of Jennifer's decisions as a leader. But Thompson managed to add some much needed nuance to the character.

I will always really appreciate A-Force. And I hope more stories about badass broads fighting evil get put out into the world. G. Willow Wilson, Marguerite Bennett and Kelly Thompson's next works are definitely going to be a part of my To-Read list in the future.

[Chelsea · Rating 1 out of 5]

And the most disappointing story ever goes to...
The A-Force had all the bones of a great story...a stellar team of characters, decent creative force writing it, and wonderful artwork. It fell flat on it's face with an ill explained Civil War II tie-in that literally came out of nowhere and killed everything. The beginning of this volume came just two late as this is volume 2 and I felt we were just getting a nice glimpse of who these ladies were and how they fought/interacted as a team. In the midst of the story Civil War II happens and it read like there was a huge chunk of the story missing because She-Hulk is in a coma and it's never resolved as the title was cancelled before a resolution could be written.
I was bummed this died; it had just a bitter aftertaste of what should have been amazing.