More stuff with the Russian Molina mob’s super-powered employees, none of whom are worth tagging. That’s not to say it’s not a fun story. It is. They have names like Confessor (who uses Russian Orthodox-themed weapons), Sickle, and, of course, Ivan the Terrible.
They put a hit out on Maverick.
This leads to the final three issues of the series, which are titled “Red Reign.” I grouped them because they don’t make sense unless you also read issues #8 and #9.
Molina, AIM, and Hydra are all involved. Molina hires Omega Red. They manage to capture Maverick and tie him to the ceiling, for some light bondage fun.
They’ve also captured the original Red Guardian.
Molina need Omega Red to help Hydra rob an A.I.M. munitions sale. Maverick and Red Guardian escape captivity and try to stop them. During the action, Maverick loses an eye. He cauterizes the wound with his powers, and that apparently makes the socket glow…
It ends with Maverick in the Russian mountains, struggling through snow, and Elena waking up from her coma (the pain of having his eye put out traveled through their shared mind link, and woke her).
That’s the real lasting effect of this series: Maverick looks like Cable now.
I wonder if this was intended to be the last issue when it was created–it sure seems like there’s more envisioned (no eye joke intended) based on this ending.
Overall, this was a solid series–especially coming at a time when so many X-books were miserably intertwined, confusing, and pointless, and so many other Marvel books were just bad.