Who IS the Munson?

This week we cover Hardware #9, which represents a first for the Milestone Universe…. their first fill-in issue. The story begins with Curtis Metcalf being told by Alva to start studying Hardware and devise a way to stop him. Of course this will prove to be difficult as Curtis is Hardware, but Curtis thinks he can string him along. Alva offers Curtis some help in stopping his arch-nemesis, in the form of a brilliant cybernetic scientist by the name of Tiffany Evans. Tiffany is a striking young lady, who reminds Curtis of what he was before finding out the truth about Alva’s illegal business deals. She is an optimist, looking to impress her new boss, and shows it by attacking the “Hardware problem” with gusto. Curtis spends a lot of the issue being condescending towards Tiffany due to her gender and her beauty, and trying to sneak little sabotages into their work that won’t be detected as to stop Alva’s plan to destroy Hardware.

Both of these actions draw Alva’s ire, as he easily discovers Curtis’ manipulative behavior. While he doesn’t know the motives behind them, he tells Curtis in no uncertain terms to stop being incompetent and get the job done or he will sue him blind for breach of contract. Curtis realizes he needs to do his work, forget his chauvinism, and do what Alva wants to. Tiffany beats him to the punch by coming up with her own solution; to counteract Hardware’s brute strength and technological weapons, she will create her own set of armor that would be fuel-efficient and more maneuverable. Better still, she will wear it herself! Alva loves the idea and pushes for the creation of the new armor so that Tiffany can become the newest armor covered hero in the Milestone Universe….. Technique.

Technique is unveiled when a night shipment of “equipment” is due at Dakota Airport from Columbia. Hardware shows to stop the shipment and runs into Technique, who promptly kicks Hardware’s butt. Hardware does manage to strike back, and tries to finish off Technique by using his armor to “hack” her operating system. Technique was prepared for this, as her studying hardware’s previous battles prepared her for this “finishing move”. She programmed her armor to send a virus into Hardware’s armor causing it to fire its thrusters and then shut down. Hardware plummets to the ground, and barely manages a manual override to save his life. The issue closes with Tiffany finding a note from Curtis that congratulates her for her success against Hardware, and apologizes for treating her like a “girl”. He tells her he would see her in a week as he would be “home sick” (by sick Curtis means recovering from wounds and bruises from a super-hero battle).

In terms of quality, this issue wasn’t the greatest (fill-in’s rarely are). I had a few problem’s with guest writer Brian McDonald’s, mainly due to Curtis’ chauvinism towards Tiffany. Curtis has always been someone to abhor any sort of discrimination, even going so far as to get upset when Alva calls him “boy”, so why would he treat Tiffany in such a way? This small script flaw drives most of the action for the issue, which is why I find it a little bothersome. Arvell Jones’s art is saved by Denys Cowan’s inking this issue, and while it provides a consistent look to the book, it’s not as good as when Cowan goes it alone. In the plus column this issue did introduce a new foil/ally in Hardware’s war against Alva. Tiffany/Technique could be an interesting addition to the cast of Hardware, and has potential as a love interest for Curtis and an enemy for Hardware. Let’s hope she sticks around beyond this initial introduction.

That’s it for this week folks, join us next week as we cover Icon #7!

Posted on May 14th, 2007 by Munson
Filed under: Milestone Mondays