Superpowered mercenary unit H.A.R.D. Corps gain a new member in Sam Yoon Kim-codenamed Flatline-and they go on a training exercise to break in their new recruit. Meanwhile, their enemy Toyo Harada, a malevolent supervillain, is plotting something sinister in Eastern Europe...
This is a perfect example of a comic done right! It shows the daily lives of the main characters, showing off their personalities and problems, then shows their downtime together, training, story leading into a villain's plan next issue, and the main training exercise, and all of this fits snugly in the 21 page limit, which is something comic writers nowadays REALLY need to learn to do!
The characters are all likeable, and get some development (mostly Flatline and Superstar this issue). The writing here is very good! There isn't any real conflict on display here, but that's ok, as after an action-packed first two issues, this is more of a downtime story, interested more in developing the characters, and showing what their lives in and out of HARD Corps are like.
The artwork is all fine. There are a couple of blank white backgrounds here and there, but that's not too big an issue. As for the cover, it's good, although that caption box is a little misleading. Like all V comics, the title page is a splash page, and the one here is pointless and wasteful. But like I said, HARD Corps #3 still manages to tell a complete story in just one 20-page issue! Even if you give this series as little space as possible, it'll still come out on top!
Do I have any complaints at all with HARD Corps #3? Uh, one panel is at a dutch angle which looks a bit wonky. That's it.
The HARD Corps is one of my all-time favourite comics, and I definitely recommend it if you're interested!
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