Empyre #1 (of 6)

   Obviously Marvel's newest "Event" series, Empyre, is suffering from the aftereffects of the COVID-19 industry shutdown.

   The original plan was to run dozens of tie-in series to the main book (of which this is the first issue, though there were several lead-in comics, so if you just joined with this issue, you've  been dropped into the middle of the action).

   But now they've cut out about a dozen of those tie-ins, which leaves a still bloated three dozen (or so) comics joining together to tell the saga. (The ones dropped may or may not be released digitally.)

   The story has a major war breaking out, as the Kree and the Skull have ended their millennia-long feud and have joined forces - and they seem to be on the verge of attacking Earth.

   Standing in their way: the Avengers and the Fantastic Four. There's another party involved - the race of intelligent plants known as the Cotati, which figured prominently in the original Mantis / Avengers storyline from the '70s.

   So it's a big tale unfolding, with lots of twists and turns involved, with surprising betrayals (wait, that character is a bad guy now?), strange actions (what was Thor hoping would happen when he hurled his hammer into the Kree/Skrull command ship?), and lots more stuff.

   The art by Valerio Schiti is certainly stunning, with enough characters and alien landscapes to poleaxe a lesser talent.

   It's still too early to see where the story is going, and I'm certainly on the fence so far - liberties are being taken with characters that don't sit well initially - but I'll wait before rendering a full judgment.

   It's a strong start, but as always, the conclusion will decide the thing.

Grade: B+

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