“Yesterday’s” Comic> Hardware #16

Will the mystery guest sign in please.

Hardware #16

Milestone (DC Comics; June, 1994)

Now working for Alva (although not wanting Icon to know he isn’t just working undercover anymore), Curtis begins using the new resources at his disposal to build a brand new Hardware armor, and just in time as System Crimson (I think, this is the only issue of this comic I own or have read) breaks in hoping to stop the new armor from being created. They are both too late and get a butt kicking (probably happy Hardware doesn’t kill anymore). Plus, Curtis is wondering about his relationship with Barraki while a colleague shows interest in him. Meanwhile, a man goes to sleep in Dakota and wakes up in a strange new city every night…a city called Metropolis

What they got right: As a jumping-on point the comic brings us as up to speed as we need. From the history of Curtis and Alva’s association to how other heroes (or at least one) in the Milestone universe would react to that to what we need to know about the armor while introducing a brand new, less bulky but still a powerhouse battlesuit version of the armor, it hits all the important points, including his potential love interests. It’s all there.

What they got wrong: The interlude with Fred Benton, setting up the upcoming “Worlds Collide” crossover with the Superman group of DC titles, didn’t tell us much of anything. Fred Benton goes to sleep in Dakota and wakes up in Metropolis. Feel unnecessary. But it’s ignorable compared to the numerous pages of technical data on Hardware’s armor and other gear (but no character profiles) that pad out the promoted 48 pages. I applaud all the effort that went into creating the armor from a meta and in-world perspective but it’s not 48 pages of story. I’m also not a fan of the painted coloring Milestone used, but at least the lineart still shows emotions on the characters. It’s not always easy to tell because the colors are so dark but it still beats fully painted panels. Barely.

Recommendation: Hardware is not my cup of tea, and I’m saying that as an armored hero fan, but it’s not a bad comic and worth giving a look to. It’s not much of a setup for Worlds Collide but it will introduce the character of Hardware, which is why I bought it after seeing some of the event.

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