Bring on the Bad Guys is attempting to accomplish multiple goals. It’s celebrating the 50th anniversary of the comic book collection that featured the origins of several iconic Marvel villains. It’s also meant to be an update of the concept, as these villains are at the center of a sort of “mini event” that brings them all together. So, how does this update fare? It depends on which of these villains you’re a fan of, or if you’re willing to follow the origin story of an entirely new one.
The new Bring on the Bad Guys centers on Mephisto and his quest to acquire the Soul Forge, a mystic artifact that will extend his control of every soul in Hell to every soul that ever lived. To reactivate the Forge, Mephisto needs five daggers, each containing the soul of the descendants of the magicians who created it. Those daggers lie in the hands of certain villains, who are manipulated over the years by Mephisto’s servant, Sister Sorrow. But what is Sister Sorrow’s tale, and what happens when one of these villains seeks the power for his own?
Though Bring on the Bad Guys focuses on a collection of villains, the main character is arguably Sister Sorrow herself. Series architect Marc Guggenheim, who penned the Doctor Doom and Mephisto one-shots that bookend this collection, also writes a series of one-shots expanding upon Sister Sorrow’s origins and how she came to serve Mephisto. Like any great villain, she has a life filled with tragedy and bloodshed, making her quite a compelling character. Michael Sta. Maria brings Sister Sorrow’s tale to life and highlights her transformation into an eldritch villain, complete with chalk-white skin and a demonic-looking black robe with red accents. Kudos should also go to Alessandro Cappucchio (Moon Knight, Ultimate Wolverine) for coming up with Sister Sorrow’s design; it’s hard to draw a villain that stands out, but Cappucchio more than succeeds.
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While Guggenheim succeeds in chronicling Sister Sorrow’s story, her appearances throughout the other one-shots lead to some inconsistencies. One minute, she’s a mysterious, menacing figure out to enact Mephisto’s will; the next, she’s openly rebelling against him. That same inconsistency plagues some of the one-shots themselves. While Bring on the Bad Guys: Loki by Anthony Olivera and Jethro Morales explores how one person can pour their soul into a piece of art (and just how compelling the Lord of Lies can be), Bring on the Bad Guys: Abomination by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Sergio Davilia feels like more of an interlude to Johnson’s run on Incredible Hulk and Infernal Hulk.
The real standouts of the entire Bring on the Bad Guys saga are Bring on the Bad Guys: Green Goblin and Bring on the Bad Guys: Dormammu. In the former, Ethan S. Parker, Griffin Sheridan, and Matteo Della Fonte showcase the dark deeds that Norman Osborn was willing to commit, and prove that he was truly a force for evil before he ever met Spider-Man. The book even takes a first-person perspective, literally placing readers in Osborn’s shoes – and the end results are truly disturbing. As for the Dormammu one-shot, Alex Paknadel and Javier Pina reveal the cost one gives up to Dormammu when asking for his protection, providing a clever spin on the old “deal with the devil” story.
Bring on the Bad Guys has its ups and downs, but overall, it is a solid glimpse into what drives some of the Marvel Universe’s most notorious villains. Thanks to a collection of talent, including some stunning covers by Lee Bermejo, being bad never looked so good.
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