Empyre #6 (of 6)

   It’s difficult to do a proper review of an “event” book until the final issue - and Empyre is a good example of that. 

   The series was a bit of a victim of COVID-19, and as the series was finally rolled out (after many of the lockdowns were lifted) the event was truncated a bit and rolled out on a (nearly) weekly basis.

   The series featured good art and involved nearly everyone in the Marvel universe, but the story stumbled badly several times over.

   The basic idea promised a new Kree / Skrull War - but instead we got the unification of the Kree and Skrull races, who came to Earth to fight a universal menace - the previously peace-loving plant-based race known as the Cotati.

 

   All that required was changing the entire concept of that race, and the character Quoi, the son of Mantis and the Swordsman, who was to be the Celestial Messiah. Instead, he’s just another crazed super-villain. 

   The series is full of twists that make no sense. The She-Hulk is killed, turned into a plant monster, then revived and altered with no explanation. An alien device about to destroy the sun? Just teleport a bunch of heroes to the sun (no spacecraft needed) to fix the problem - somehow? The Black Panther dies - or does he? Mr. Fantastic wears Iron Man’s armor - but it can stretch? 

   After a while, I just gave up and rolled on to the end. 

   Big ideas, but it was just a bit too much and spun badly out of control (which is actually a pretty good analysis of Marvel in general these days). 

   Stories don’t all have to be cosmic armageddon, folks. Let’s add some character moments, a little humor, focus more on story and internal logic - it would go a long way toward getting Marvel where it should be.

Grade: C

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Empyre #2 (of 6)

   Apparently now a weekly series (which is actually quite nice, let's move things along here), this issue of Empyre sets up the Earth-wide conflict and establishes the stakes.

   Which would all be fine, except the series is trying too hard to shock us all. 

   It does this by flipping expectations, as the apparent villains of the piece - the Kree and the Skrull, two alien races who hated each other and Earth, too - have now joined forces to fight a greater and deadlier menace. (Sure they have.)

   The menace is the kicker, since it takes the form of a group that has always been portrayed as pacifists, working toward universal peace.

   "Ha! Nope, guess what? We're evil now. Why? Just because! (Insert evil laugh here.)"

   So there's that.

   The series features lots of characters, lots of opportunities for double-crosses and mayhem aplenty.

   But it would be more fun if the story actually, I don't know, made sense? As it is, it just feels like the monster of the week.

   Still firmly on the fence here.

Grade: B

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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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Fantastic Four Empyre #0

   Empyre continues its rollout as we check in with Marvel's First Family as they meander around the universe.

   The Fantastic Four (and family) find themselves having some vehicle problems in the depths of space, and the solution involves a side trip to a space casino that also happens to have a fighting arena.

   There they find the representatives of two different races fighting it out - over and over again - while the customers place their bets.

   This does not sit well with our heroes, happily enough.

   It's all played fast and fun and in general good spirits, though it seems to have precious little to do with the impending intergalactic battle, although it does explain why the FF pop up at the end of the Avengers Empyre book.

   So, nice art, decent story, but not really the kind of shocking turn of events you might expect for the kickoff to the latest "Event."

Grade: B

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Avengers Empyre #0

   Ah, Marvel is wasting no time getting back into the "Event" business.

   On paper, the Empyre story sounds like it should be right in my wheelhouse. 

   The story of an alliance between two alien races - the Kree and the Skrull - hearkens back to the early days of Marvel, and the classic Avengers story now know as the Kree - Skrull War.

   The story finds the Avengers summoned to the Blue Area of the Moon (former home of the Watcher), where a third alien race has taken up residence - and is asking the team for help.

   The story uses elements from one of my all-time favorite storylines written by Steve Englehart in the '70s. 

   So I should love this, right? The art by Pepe Larraz is very good, with great character designs and loads of stylish world-building in evidence.

   And the heroes are even acting in character - Iron Man is thoughtful (he carries most of the narrative), Thor is his exuberant self, Captain Marvel and the Black Panther are analytical and efficient.

   But so far it's not quite working for me, though there's plenty of time to work it out - there are no less than 52 comics that tie into this series, which is probably about 46 too many. And no, I won't be buying all of them. Or most of them. 

   It's ambitious and epic - but the question is, will it merit such an investment of time and effort? Time will tell!

Grade: B+

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