Tony has asked Ms. Marvel to lead his new Avengers team, and in return she asks to also be given a smaller team (“Operation: Lightning Storm”) that would hunt down the worst of the worst. Her goal? She wants to be the greatest hero on Earth–which was the concept of this book ever since issue #1, when the title launched after Danvers had the experience of being the most famous superhero during House of M. That’s the first of two deals that could be the reason this story is titled, “The Deal.”
Operation: Lightning Storm is made up of “normies” so far–it’s like a mini-SHIELD.
For her first strike team adventure, she hunts down the fugitive Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter, who now goes by Arachne). Parterning with Wonder Man, they capture her–which leads ot her being separated from her daughter.
Separating a child from her parents–especially one who is a former Avenger–upsets Carol. When Carpenter’s daughter subsequently goes missing, Carol helps track the girl down. She’s being hidden by her own father, who is trying to protect their daughter from her mother the fugitive–which isn’t unreasonable.
In the end, Julia makes a deal of her own. She agrees to join Omega Flight in exchange for a full pardon and the right to visit her daughter, who is left in custody of her grandparents.
This story is a bit of long road to get to the payoff, but it’s solid. This series has been consistently good from the start.
At the end of the issue, we get a set up for the next MODOK-based storyline. He’s working on a “DNA Bomb.”
This story starts Aaron Lopresti’s artistic run on this title.