Squadron Sinister #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Guggenheim fills in some of the details of the various plots and counter-plots in this issue, though, as I said in my review of last issue, I'm not entirely sure that the story is actually all that interesting.

It turns out Nightwing paid Sandman to steal the argonite gun, explicitly so that he could blame Whizzer for the crime.  He tortures Paste-Post Pete into confessing to Hyperion that it was Whizzer that did it.  Whizzer realizes too late that Nightwing has betrayed him, and Hyperion kills him on the spot.  (Nightwing also kills Pete for good measure.)  And then there were four.

Nightwing later reveals to Dr. Spectrum that Warrior Woman is working with the Nutopians.  He also tells him that she was the one that killed the Thor and that she plans on framing him for it, since he's the most powerful member of the Squadron after Hyperion and it'll hurt their image in Doom's eyes.  (Nightwing doesn't explain how she managed to do so in a way that mimicked Spectrum's power signature.  I'm assuming that it was Nightwing with the argonite gun.)  Spectrum subsequently bolts to avoid a fate like Whizzer's. And then there were three.

At this point, the Starbrand-ed Nutopians attack.  Spitfire manages to hurt Hyperion, but the remaining Squadron members make pretty short work of them.  Warrior Woman convinces the remaining forces to retreat, and we learn that she goaded them into attacking in the first place as part of a deal with Nightwing.  She'll flee Utopia, but I'm still not sure what she gains in return.  It seems a pretty one-sided deal.  At any rate, it leaves Nightwing with Hyperion, and the last panel reveals that he has Dr. Spectrum's power prism.  Dun-dun-DUN!

Again, we get a lot of answers here, but we don't get all of them.  For example, I don't see what Nightwing stood to gain, vis-à-vis Hyperion, with the failed invasion, though I suspect that we'll learn next issue.  It still seems too easy of a story to me, basically just showing the behind-the-scenes machinations that go into a coup.  Guggenheim does little to show the characters as anything other than evil; Nightwing in particular isn't given any real reason for revolting against Hyperion than power.  It makes them all feel like puppets putting on a show.  We'll see if something more interesting happens next issue.

** (two of five stars)