Issue(s): Nomad #1
Cover Date: Nov 90
Title: "The big fall apart"
Credits:
Fabian Nicieza - Writer
James Fry - Penciler
Mark McKenna - Inker
Len Kaminski - Assistant Editor
Howard Mackie - Editor

Review/plot:
Since i grew up in an era where everyone from Jack of Hearts to Gargoyle got a mini-series, the idea of Nomad getting one doesn't strike me as that odd. But what's interesting is that this mini will be followed up with an ongoing series. That kind of boggles my mind. Part of the explanation is that Marvel was expanding its line in the 90s, and it sometimes seems like anything could get greenlit. But at least at the time of issue #2 (per a note in the lettercol), it seemed like at most what they were hoping for was a second mini-series, if this one did well. So that may indicate that sales and fan response was positive.

There's no doubt that this book has captured the zeitgeist of the grim & gritty 90s. One look at the cover of this issue will tell you that. The updated sleeveless costume. The pony tail. The mirrored sunglasses. The shotgun, of course. And the blurb: "He's found his own way to fight for the American dream... and he has the hardware to do it!'.

The note in issue #2 does let us know that we're not necessarily supposed to be taking this guy at face value, or rooting for him. The note reminds us that Jack Munroe's first appearance in the modern era was as an unstable product of the paranoid 1950s, and that Gruenwald had been pushing the character back in that direction in his later Captain America appearances. So it's with that in mind that we should view Nomad shooting the knees off of drug dealers.

But as with the Punisher, that was probably lost on a good percentage of the audience. Captain America does show up to sternly disapprove of Nomad's current methods...

...but the appearance probably reinforces the idea that Cap's methods are stodgy as opposed to indicating that something is wrong with Nomad. Cap is following up on info that AIM is operating in the area, and Nomad's response is "AIM? Weapons developers with buckets on their heads, trying to take over the world? Right." Nomad is dealing with real problems.

Personally i find the stories here to be pretty boring. Instead of the sparse, no nonsense stories of Mike Baron's Punisher, Fabian Nicieza goes for complex and busy plots and a lot of twists. In this first one, Nomad rescues a young woman that was being attacked by drug dealers, and he's thanked by the father. But as the investigation continues, it seems like the father is working with the drug dealers. But then it turns out that he's working with the Feds to get the dealers arrested. And then he gets killed, and Nomad gives the money from the drug deal to his family. At least, i *think* that's what's going on. The twists and turns are a bit hard to follow since we're dealing with a bunch of characters that aren't introduced very well, and who don't have distinct looks.

And the art is generally not very clear. It does seem that Umberto Safilios, the crimelord that Nomad came into conflict with in his last two appearances, is killed in this issue.

More interesting is an end scene showing the Super-Powers Commission taking an interest in Nomad.

Sometimes i like Fabian Nicieza a lot, and sometimes he's not that great. This falls into the latter category. I remember being intrigued by Nomad's new look, especially once he starts carrying a baby Bucky around with him, so i'm hoping that this story picks up.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: This takes place after Nomad's story in Captain America annual #9. Cap's appearance is context free. One thing we have to watch for is Valerie Cooper, who in the X-Men book has been replaced with Mystique after Uncanny X-Men #266, something that isn't resolved until the Muir Island saga. Each issue of Nomad takes place in a new locale, so i am keeping each issue in its own entry to allow for a little travel time.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

I have a hint of what "liberate the target" may mean, but I am really not sure. I hope the context makes it clearer (and also why Gyrich would be so lenient).

Then again, the Commission is a bit of a hard sell for a book such as this.

Fnord, couldn't you just place the entire Nomad series before Uncanny 265-266? Is there some reason that wouldn't work? Alternately, why can't Val be Mystique in disguise?

As i say in the today's Added Today note, this is just floating in 1991 until i decide what to do with it. I may very well drop the whole thing before UX #266. But i won't be reviewing Nomad #3-4 for a while. At least a little time passes between issues #1 & 2 as well.

I wouldn't want to make the call that the Val here is really Mystique unless it was really necessary. So far i don't think that will be the case.

Wow, Nomad had a miniseries before his regular one. I totally missed that.

Already we're seeing two Nicieza trademarks:

1) His huge embrace of the 90s
2) His love for overly-complex, triple-agent plots something that manages to be a great joy (a few Cable and Deadpool storylines) and a big flaw (The less said about the "Revanche" storyline the better.)

Since this IS (apparently) a precursor to Nomad's unlimited series, this might just be a deck-clearing exercise, getting rid of the "baggage" before we move on to the series proper.

Jon, the reason why the Revanche story was ridiculously complicated was because nobody told him that British Betsy had appeared with the Hand after going through the Siege Perilous- his original idea was simply that Revanche and Betsy had parts of their minds in each others' bodies.

I really hated the revamped look of the character -- "Lorenzo Lamas: Nomad," blech.

Nicieza stated in Comics Interview #96 that he was "very disappointed" in this limited series, but he didn't specify what about.