I really enjoy Paul Grist’s idiosyncratic British hero Jack Staff so I was interested to see how he would handle the introduction of a new team of British heroes into the mainstream Marvel Universe.

Unfortunately, while it has its moments of charm and Grist wit, it falls short as a by-the-numbers superhero fare with generally forgettable characters and telegraphed plot elements.

This collection also includes two of my pet-peeves of modern comics (1) a story being interrupted by a tangential tie-in to some “event” without any real impact on the plot. (2) The introduction of a flagship character who has supposedly been in action for decades but we’ve never actually seen before. ( )

I didn't realize this was a Marvel book when I put it on hold at the library. I was hoping it was a continuation of Grist's independent Jack Staff comic book, but it's just a work-for-hire yawner about yet another government-sponsored team of dysfunctional superheroes. The third Union Jack (still not the charm) is our everyman entry point to a group with supernatural goobers and an ex-villain whose biggest crime should be directly copying the story of Songbird/Screaming Mimi from Marvel's own Thunderbolts. The government handler and sponsor are of course quite suspect in their behavior and 10 Downing Street is aloof unless things are going well.

There's a brief tie-in to the King in Black crossover, but it mostly meanders around with some real D-list villains as the biggest enemy the group really faces is . . . dumdum dum dum (ho-hum) . . . itself.

This is a limited series, and I'd be shocked if we see a follow-up anytime soon. ( )