Wolfpack #12

It's that time again! It's time to join the Wolfpack in their greatest battle against the Nine for one final time. Last time, we saw the Pack make a new ally in the Missionary, a face from their past. He helped train them to face the Nine. 

The story begins, naturally, back in the Bronx. A group of hoods are robbing a bakery. The two aren't too worried about reprisals from anyone. Cops are useless, and the Wolfpack have been missing for the last month. Until one of them spots said Wolfpack on a nearby street. The hoods decide that maybe they should put the money back and vamoose.

(run away)

That night (6:55 PM, to be exact), the Pack discuss the plan to take down the Nine. Slag is not so sure that they can trust the ex-assassin. However, Rafael points out that they kind of have to. He saved their butts from getting some unwanted lead in their diet in the last issue, and he helped further their training. Wheels is in agreement with it. The argument is tabled when said Missionary arrives in a black van, and also bringing some heat.

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The group then head towards the Phoenix Club, the Nine's base of operations in the South Bronx. 

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The time is now 6:57 PM. Man, the group got there quick. Anyway, the gang get into position. Wheels flattens the tires of the Nine's cars, so escape will be made a bit more difficult. Slag and Sharon make their way to the Club's roof with a net. Wheels and Malcolm are at the exits, with some explosives. Rafael is up on the roof of a building across from the Club, rifle in hand. The time is now 7:00 PM. It's time for the Pack to go into action.

(It's time)

Rafael fires at the building's back door. The idea is that this will force the Nine's assassins there to try other ways of fleeing, ways the rest of the Pack has covered. Wheels and Malcolm have the sides covered with some special molotov cocktails. Two Nine assassins get out the front, only to be captures by Slag and Sharon's net. There are still five left, and the group has to act quickly, as the cops will come. Wheels throws a smoke bomb into the building, forcing the remainder of the assassins to flee...and to get KO'd by the Pack. They tie up the un-netted assassins. Rafael heads out back, presumably because he spotted Terrance, the blond man we met last issue. As the rest of the Pack prepare to take the captured assassins to the cops, it's shown one has a knife on them. And they're cutting their way free of the net.

(uh oh)

Meanwhile, Rafael follows Terrence, thinking he'll lead the young martial artist right to the Nine's HQ in the city. As this is going down, the Pack have taken the captured assassins to a nearby park, presumably waiting for the police to come collect them. Malcolm suggests that they just kill the assassins. After all, they have no qualms about killing the Pack. Wheels argues that the Wolfpack are not assassins. They do not kill in cold blood. Malcolm thinks that attitude got Slippery killed and allows the Nine to keep coming back. However, the argument is stopped by the knife-holding Nine assassin getting free of the net. Their comrades are also free.

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Wheels tells Malcolm to put the piece (his gun) away. This will be a fair fight. Just martial arts skills. No weapons, no tricks.

(fight fight fight)

The Missionary evidently is one heck of a good trainer, as the young Wolfpack are able to give these elite assassins quite the beatdown. One grabs Malcolm's gun, but gets her back blown out by the Missionary. As in, he shoots her in the back. 

We next go to the 666 Building, aka Bedlam Co., the legit face of the Nine. At least here in New York City. Rafael Vega has followed Terrence here. Rafael sees an elevator that will go straight to the building's penthouse. Thing is, Rafael should have kept something in mind: Just because something seems like the easy route, does not mean it is. Which he discovers when he finds himself surrounded by Terrence and a bunch of Nine goons.

(D'oh)

Now, Rafael is a good martial artist. Real good. But even he can't beat all these guys at once. And he knows it. Shouldn't have charged into that elevator, buddy. Terrence takes him to a special chamber in the building.

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This room holds a special supercomputer that is the "brain" of the Nine's activities. Well, I can imagine this computer helps monitor their activities in New York. More on this later. One of the Nine's heads appears on a screen, complimenting Terrence for his work. After all, the blond man did his daddy proud. Yeah, like Rafael, Terrence is a son of the Nine. He tells Rafael to look at a globe in the room. This orb shows the Nine's activities throughout the world. He asks the young Puerto Rican to come home, to his blood family. However, Rafael is not interested. He expresses this by spitting on the screen. Terrence puts a gun to his head.

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However, Rafael's got backup.

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Terrence calls for the guards, and a fight breaks out.

(fight fight fight)

The Pack deal with the guards with the help of a globe. Malcolm collects the guards' guns. Terrence and Rafael brawl, and the South Bronx boy gets the W. Terrence grabs a gun and shoots Rafael in the chest.

(ouch)

Well, he is hurting, but not thanks to a bullet in the heart. That's because Rafael was wearing a bulletproof vest.

(phew)

The Pack has Terrence at gunpoint. They don't want to shoot him, but they will if they have to. Terrence wants to decide his own fate. Earlier, when Rafael beat Terrence, the blond's old man called him a disgrace. The old man tries to convince Terrence to stop, but he's not hearing it. Terrence takes his gun...and blows his own brains out. 

(wince)

The old man vows to kill the Pack for this, but they're like "bring it on" and shoot the place up. Wheels blows up the room with a grenade. And that seems to be the end of the Nine in New York City. For now, at least.

That night, the gang meet up on the roof of Rafael's home. Missionary says what the group did today was a good start. They'll need to recruit and expand for the next battle. He plans to go to Detroit to start finding and training others to face the Nine. He asks the pack to come along. However, they choose to stay. This is their home, and there's still a lot of problems here. Missionary understands, warning them the Nine will seek revenge. He and the Pack wish each other well, and they part ways. The story ends with the group going to get some pizza. Mmm...pizza...

(Homer drool)

The story ends with a promise. The Wolfpack will continue the fight, and they will win, because they must.

I admit, the ending does feel a bit rushed to me. I do like the Wolfpack, and I do wish that we could have seen more of them. I would have loved to have seen them team-up with street-level superheroes like Daredevil or Spider-Man. 

So, whatever happened to the Wolfpack? Well, generally, they've languished in obscurity since the maxiseries ended. One member did briefly reemerge into the spotlight: Wheels. An adult Wheels would go on to appear in the Occupy Avengers series in 2016, implying that he and the Clint Barton Hawkeye had crossed paths at some point in the past. Rafael Vega was mentioned to be a potential Initiative recruit by Tony Stark, but that's really about it.

I would have had Terrence appear earlier, and set him up as sort of a dark mirror of Rafael myself.