Colleen, Humbug, Shang-Chi, Tarantula and Misty herself all join the action and eventually manage to defeat the villains and hand them over to the cops.

Later, Misty recalls how she got into this mess. She and Colleen were in a meeting at the Baxter Building, headquarters of the Fantastic Four. There, they met with Spider-Man, Mr. Fantastic and Iron Man himself, all heroes pro the registration act. They wanted Misty and her partners to round up super-powered beings who are against the new law. Misty and Colleen agreed to help round up the villains, but refused to battle against the likes of Captain America and his allies, because no matter what, Misty still sees them as her friends. The deal got sealed and the Heroes for Hire were (re-)created.

Later at the team’s headquarters in Chinatown, the heroes all share dinner together and we get to see some flirting between Colleen and Humbug. The Black Cat, who is also a member of the team, returns after spying on Misty’s old companion, Vienna. Felicia learned Vienna is giving super-villains new I.D.s so they can succesfully leave America without interference.

The team asks Humbug to send out his ants to learn Vienna’s headquarters, which he does after almost being kicked by an impatient Tarantula. Humbug sends out his bugs and locates Vienna, and the team moves leaves for some more action.

Meanwhile, Vienna’s new clients aren’t really sure if they want to leave the country or not. But before anything more can happen, Misty, Colleen, Black Cat, Humbug and Tarantula all barge through a wall and are ready to fight. Vienna sends out the villains and some robots she built to attack the heroes, revealing she was aware of Humbug’s spies and therefore build some “safety procations.” During the battle Humbug rescues Colleen from injuries, but almost gets hurt himself. Luckily Tarantula rescues him. All the other heroes are taken down and Vienna offers the two to join her ranks, but they of course rather die.

The team gets backed-up by Shang-Chi, who brought some new allies into the fold: Paladin and Orka. With the aid of these two gentlemen, the Heroes For Hire manage to defeat all of the villains. Afterward, Misty thanks Vienna for her help, as Vienna apparently worked undercover to help the Heroes track these villains down. The Heroes For Hire speculate with Misty for keeping the deal with Vienna a secret for most of the members she doesn’t trust, like Tarantula and Orka, but they understand her motives. Misty speeches because of this mission, trust won’t be an issue anymore and doesn’t care if the other capes and masks understimate them. They will be ready!

Review: I really loved this first issue: an excellent team roster, an excellent story and beautiful pencils. What more can a real Marvel fan ask for? The two writers on this book approach the characters in such a way, which makes it clear not all of them are new heroes and make the readers aware they’ve been around for a while. They manage to do that during Misty’s rollcall during the battle with the Mandarin Avatars, where she describes each member individually and how she feels about them.

The heroes in this book used to be “B-list” characters, some even “C-list” and “D-list”, would such a category exist. I wonder how many people actually remember characters such as Orka from the former Namor ongoing books, or know what Paladin has done in his past and such. Myself, I mainly bought this first issue because of Shang-Chi, being a huge fan of him and martial arts in general. I’ve got a feeling that after the Civil War tie-ins, this book is going to be hot among the public because of the team members alone. Heck, even Spider-Man fans are going to probably be buying it because they will get to see the Black Cat on a regular basis now. How hot is that?

Humbug and Tarantula are also weird characters to use. Humbug probably became insanely popular after his Spider-Man one-shot and his last appearance in that “nuff said” Deadpool story from a while ago. I found it strange he wasn’t seen since and am glad to see him still alive and kicking. I wonder how his relationship with Colleen is going to work out, as he’s apparently attracted to her. Tarantula is an interesting new character that debuts in this issue, and seems to be different from the other male Tarantulas from the past. I can’t wait to see what’s up with her.

In overall, the first issue was just excellent and I hope the series will be around for a long time. Hopefully more than 16 issues this time!