New Avengers #28 — Nick Peron

Mar 22

Mar 22 New Avengers #28

Revolution, Part 2

Now

The New Avengers (Luke Cage, Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Wolverine (Logan), Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew),[1] Iron Fist (Danny Rand, Ronin, and Doctor (Stephen) Strange — have just rescued Echo (Maya Lopez) from the Hand.[2] Maya weakly explains that she was killed and brought back to life by the Hand and then exposed to a drug in an attempt to brainwash her.[3] Iron Fist confirms they got her just in time, but she needs to be taken somewhere safe to recover. Since the Hand will follow them wherever they go, Spider-Woman knows where to take Maya that will be safe.

This happens to be the Clan Yoshida Fortress in Osaka. There they petition Kenuichio Harada (aka the Silver Samurai) for safe haven. Harada is furious that they would intrude on his home, but Wolverine reminds Ken that he owes him.[4] Harada is told that Maya needs help and learns that she was the Ronin who was plaguing the underworld in Japan. He then wonders who this other Ronin is and how the New Avengers even got here when they are outlaws back in the United States.[5] Luke Cage tells him that it was a whole ordeal….

Yesterday

It all started in Harlem, where Luke Cage was just trying to buy some milk for his daughter. His shopping coincided with a gunman trying to rob the convenience store. Without skipping a beat, he quickly knocks out the thief. That’s when a beat cop enters the store but, instead of arresting the crook, he orders Cage to surrender because he is an unregistered superhuman. Cage tries to reason with the officer, but he panics and tries to shoot Luke instead. This does no harm thanks to Luke’s bullet proof skin and he casually walks out of the shop. Outside, he is surprised to see a team of SHIELD Cape-Killers managed to get to the scene so quickly. Luke refuses to surrender and steals one of their air bikes and manages to escape.

Later, he arrives in Greenwich Village to Doctor Strange’s Sanctrum Sanctorum. To the outside world it appears to be boarded up and slated for demolition to make way for a new coffee house. Sneaking inside, Luke says the magic word that allows him to pierce the veil. As it turns out, Doctor Strange has cast a spell around his home to make it look abandoned while it operates as a secret hideout for the outlaw New Avengers. Strange tells Luke that it is too much of a risk to go out in the open for shopping and recommends that, in the future, they send his servant Wong on such errands. Cage, however, is a proud man and refuses to not do what he can to provide for his wife Jessica Jones and their daughter.[6]

The risk of casually going outside is also of concern to the other members of the team, particularly Wolverine. Logan and Luke almost come to blows before Iron Fist changes the subject on others that might join their cause.[7] That’s when Spider-Woman arrived at their hideout and told them that she heard news that Captain America (Steve Rogers) isn’t really dead. In fact, Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) told her that SHIELD is keeping him locked up.[8] While the others think it is a trap, Jessica is confident that Carol wasn’t lying as she let slip that they are keeping Cap at the Raft Super-Max Prison.[9] Still, even if it is a trap, they all agree that rescuing Cap is a priority as he would do the same for them.

To verify these claims, Doctor Strange sends his astral form out to the Raft to verify that what Carol said is true. He arrives just as SHIELD Commander Maria Hill arrives to look in on the body. He follows her down into the maximum security facility where they have a man fitting Steve’s description strapped down in a coma in one of the cells. Strange hurries back to his physical body and tells them that they are holding Captain America and it doesn’t appear to be a trap. The team then has Strange teleport them into the prison so they can rescue their friend.

They quickly fight their way to the holding cell where they are allegedly keeping Captain America. However, when Wolverine examines the man with his enhanced senses he tells the others that this is an impostor. As it turns out, this was a trap after all laid out by Iron Man (Tony Stark) and his new team of Avengers — the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne), Black Widow (Natasha Romanov), Ms. Marvel, Wonder Man (Simon Williams), Ares, and Sentry (Bob Reynolds) — who have come to apprehend them.

Now

Maya begins screaming as she fights off the effects of the drugs that she was subjected to. When they explain to Ken that she was put in this state by the Hand, he tells them that the ninja cult will come here and attack them in his home. When they ask who the Hand are working for, Harada tells them that they are only ruled by their leader — Elektra — and the clan has taken over all of Japan’s organized crime while the heroes were off fighting their civil war.[10]

That’s when Wolverine senses something. Before Logan can warn his friends, Harada pulls his sword and buries it into Wolverine’s neck. As his teammates fight Kenuichio off of their ally, Spider-Man’s spider sense begins going haywire. This is because Elektra has arrived with an entire army of Hand ninjas!

Recurring Characters

New Avengers (Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Wolverine, “Spider-Woman”, Echo, Iron Fist, Ronin, Doctor Strange), The Hand (“Electra”), Silver Samurai, Jessica Jones, Dani Cage (unnamed), Wong, Mighty Avengers (Iron Man, Wasp, Black Widow, Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel, Ares, Sentry), SHIELD (Maria Hill)

Continuity Notes

The woman who appears to be Spider-Woman here is actually a Skrull impostor named Veranke. This will be revealed in Secret Invasion #3. As per New Avengers #42, she took the place of the real Jessica Drew ahead of the Skrull invasion of Earth. This happened during the events of Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1.
Echo (disguised as Ronin) was asked to keep an eye on the Asian underworld for the New Avengers back in New Avengers #11-13. She was captured by the Hand and rescued last issue.
The Hand have a technique to bring the dead back to life, as we first saw in Daredevil #190.
It is mentioned here how, during their least encounter, the Samurai cut Wolverine’s heart in half and Logan — in turn — chopped off Kenny’s right hand. See Wolverine (vol. 3) #36-37 and Wolverine: Origins #2.
This story happens immediately after the events of Civil War #1-7. In that event, the US government passed the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA) a new law that required superhumans to register with the government. This split the superhero community in half. The current roster of New Avengers are all heroes who are against registration.
At the time of this story, Luke and Jessica have not come up with a name for their newborn daughter (she was born in The Pulse #13). She will be named Dani Cage in New Avengers #34.
He states that he hasn’t seen the Falcon since Captain America died. Steve Rogers was seemingly killed by an assassins bullet in Captain America (vol. 5) #25. In reality, he was struck with a chronal bullet that caused him to relive his life in a constant loop. He will be trapped in this state until he is rescued in Captain America: Reborn #1-6.
Carol told this obvious lie to “Jessica” in Civil War: The Initiative #1.
It’s mentioned that it was at the Raft where the members of the New Avengers first came together. See New Avengers #1-2.
The woman they believe to be Elektra is another Skrull spy, as we’ll learn in New Avengers #31. Mighty Avengers #16 reveals that she took the place of the real Elektra prior to New Avengers #1.

Topical References

Among the buildings in Tokyo, we can see the iconic golden arches of a McDonalds franchise. This should be considered topical as this is a real world business.
The Silver Samurai is depicted watching the 2004 film Mean Girls, starring Lindsay Lohan. Specifically a scene where the iconic line “Stop making ‘fetch” a thing.” This could be considered a topical reference as it can be replaced with a more contemporary teen comedy.
Specifically, Strange’s Sanctrum is supposedly going to be replaced with a brand new Starbucks. This is another real world brand and its reference should be considered topical.