Cover: Denys Cowan & Jimmy Palmiotti

Hardware #2

May 1993 · DC · 1.50 USD; 1.85 CAD; 1.00 GBP

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“Reprisals”

★ 1st appearance — Barraki Young

About this Issue

Hardware #2 is the second chapter of what was, at the time, the most prominent Black-creator-owned superhero line in American comics history — a direct product of Milestone Media's landmark partnership with DC, which gave Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle creative ownership of their characters at a moment when such autonomy was essentially unheard of at the major publishers. The issue deepens the series' central moral argument: Curtis Metcalf, an exploited Black genius who has turned to lethal vigilantism, is forced to confront the human cost of his methods when his closest confidant Barraki Young is horrified by his lack of remorse — a narrative beat that distinguishes Hardware from simple revenge fantasy and grounds it in ethical complexity rarely seen in superhero comics of the era. Scholars have since placed Hardware squarely within the discourse of Afrofuturism, as the series repurposes technology as an act of liberation and agency for a Black protagonist fighting structural exploitation rather than costumed supervillains. Issue #2 also includes a 'Hardware's Arsenal' backup feature and an Icon preview, functioning as a world-building sampler for the entire fledgling Dakotaverse.

In "Reprisals," Hardware's latest mission takes a brutal turn when a setup by Alva forces him into a deadly confrontation with gun-runners—only to barely survive. Afterward, Barraki arrives at Curt's apartment, revealing she knows his secret identity and confronting him with the consequences of his actions, leaving him unsettled by the cost of his justice. Written by Dwayne McDuffie and brought to life by Denys Cowan’s dynamic art and Jimmy Palmiotti’s inks, this 1993 issue explores the moral weight behind a hero’s choices, with cover by Denys Cowan and Jimmy Palmiotti.

writer Dwayne McDuffie · artist Denys Cowan · inker Jimmy Palmiotti · colorist Noelle Giddings · letterer Janice Chiang · cover Denys Cowan, Jimmy Palmiotti

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $1

CGC 9.8 · 5 in census $21*

CGC 9.6 · 2 in census $20

CGC 9.4 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 9.2 none in existence

CGC 9.0 none in existence

CGC 8.5 · 2 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

More listings for this title

NM · Direct $1.95 MINT $1.99 NM $2.25 VF $2.8 Newsstand $2.99 VF/NM $3 VF/NM $3.96 VG · Newsstand $3.98

Related listings we couldn't confirm as this exact issue · 47 total · seen 25 days ago

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History

Milestone Media was founded in 1993 by Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle — all Black creators who had built careers in a comics industry they found structurally hostile to diversity. Their DC distribution deal was deliberately structured to preserve creator ownership of all Milestone characters, a significant departure from standard work-for-hire arrangements. Hardware was chosen as the line's debut title, shipping in February 1993, with McDuffie scripting and Cowan penciling throughout the early run; Jimmy Palmiotti served as inker on the series' opening issues, contributing a clean, restrained line that Cowan and the editorial team felt conveyed controlled fury rather than the cluttered maximalism of many contemporary books. Issue #2, published in May 1993, carried on that same creative team and continued the tight serialized structure McDuffie designed for the opening arc.

Trivia · 8 facts

Hardware #2 (titled 'Reprisals') was published in May 1993 by DC Comics under the Milestone Media imprint, written by Dwayne McDuffie with pencils by Denys Cowan and inks by Jimmy Palmiotti.
The issue advances the opening arc's core conflict: Edwin Alva deliberately leaks intelligence about gun-runners to lure Hardware into an ambush, revealing that Alva is already maneuvering against his armored adversary.
Barraki Young discovers that Curt Metcalf is Hardware in this issue — a pivotal identity-reveal scene that introduces the series' moral conscience and becomes a recurring check on Metcalf's more ruthless impulses throughout the run.
Barraki's horror at Curt's casual admission that he killed without remorse plants the first seeds of doubt in Metcalf's vigilante campaign, shifting Hardware from straightforward revenge narrative toward genuine character examination.
The issue includes a 'Hardware's Arsenal' backup feature profiling Metcalf's weapons and technology — an editorial device used across early Milestone issues to build out the Dakotaverse's internal logic and encourage readers to sample the wider line.
An Icon preview (penciled by Joe James) was also included, part of Milestone's coordinated effort to cross-promote its four simultaneous launch titles: Hardware, Icon, Static, and Blood Syndicate.
The Hardware series ran for 50 issues (April 1993–April 1997) before Milestone ceased publishing; issues #1–8, including #2, were later collected in the trade paperback Hardware: The Man in the Machine (DC/Milestone, May 2010).
Hardware #2 appeared during the same early-'90s creator-rights ferment that produced Image Comics; Milestone's founding, like Image's, was a direct response to Black and minority creators finding their opportunities and ownership limited by the major publishers.