Written by Kathryn Immonen
Art by Rich Ellis
Colors by Jordan Boyd
Published by Marvel Comics
Peggy Carter’s mission into the heart of the USSR isn’t off to a roaring start. Already her old friend Howard Stark has incurred the wrath of an enigmatic alien force, and that’s not including the shady girl, Tania, posing as Carter’s contact. With the assistance of a mercenary by the name of Woodrow McCord, they make their way into the Russian motherland to uncover the source of an alien beacon. Naturally, they’re in for more than they asked for.
Immonen wastes no time as the unlikely quartet head into the Soviet outback. While balancing Marvel’s cosmic and diesel punk gadgetry, Operation S.I.N. works in classic spy adventure pulp as everyone is working some angle. Stark is clearly hiding his own intentions, Tania has her own plans in mind for the group, Woodrow’s faith in everyone only stretches so far, and Peggy Carter is stuck trying to keep everyone alive. Speaking of, this issue retains the excellent interplay between Peggy and Stark. It’s lighter this issue, but made up in other areas, such as Howard’s guilt over dragging innocent people being caught in his crossfire. Peggy connects with the mysterious Tania and it’s a dynamic that deserves more time in future issues. Of course, even now things are a bit too easy as now this team is dragged into Russian folklore to boot.
Rich Ellis’ art is in solid form. Nothing stands out in particular, but he handles the multi-genre pile up well. He has a means of making things like laser guns and jetpacks pop out. There’s even some bits of famed Kirby Krackle going on.
This miniseries is suffering from some pacing issues. It’s two fifths over and barely the closest thing to an antagonist has yet to arrive. Operation S.I.N. has so far served as an entertaining distraction, but is far from a must read. Still, it’s nice to see Marvel try to branch out beyond typical superhero fare.