The Avengers have journeyed into deep space to join the Galactic Council against the powerful, mysterious invaders known as The Builders. As they reel from an overwhelming defeat at the hands of this new enemy, the Avengers’ home, Earth is in graver danger. The mad Titan known as Thanos has attacked and is seeking the last Infinity Gem. Join me after the jump for my review of Infinity #2.
Small Parts
From all indications this seems an Avengers story, but let’s be clear, Infinity is not. It’s very telling when the Avengers are listed second to last on the roll call page. Writer Jonathan Hickman is providing readers with a galaxy spanning epic of which the Avengers are only a small part.
Hickman is telling the tale of a war, this Infinity event, in broad strokes, and apparently in the case of Kelly Sue DeConnick with Captain Marvel and Avengers Assemble, letting others do the small character bits. That said, Kelly Sue did an amazing job of telling the same story from two different sides – Captain Marvel’s and Spider-Woman’s – last week.
More Please?
There was a lot to like about this issue, starting off with the art. Jerome Opena and Dustin Weaver create a tapestry to match Hickman’s epic storytelling. There’s no comparison to Jim Cheung, who I love, but the quality is consistent with Leinil Yu. Infinity so far has had some amazing artists and visuals.
I have always liked Abigail Brand of S.W.O.R.D. so I enjoyed her brief sequence. Hey, Marvel, how about another mini? Similarly I liked the short Gladiator scene. I would have loved more of him and the rest of the Imperial Guard, but then again, of course I would. I’m a huge Legion of Super-Heroes fan, and we just don’t see enough of them in the Marvel Universe.
The Tribute
Thanos has been doing a lot of talk about tribute, and here we find out what he’s talking about, by proxy at least. He sends Corvus Glaive, one of his Black Order to Attilan, the Inhuman city. There he confronts Black Bolt, Maximus the Mad, and Opena’s beautiful Medusa (although, what is she doing in a nightgown?).
The monster Corvus Glaive does much to demonstrate his monstrosity. Hickman should be proud in his creation of such a villain. Just to show you how evil he is, he passes along what Thanos demands as tribute – the death of every Inhuman aged sixteen to twenty-two, shades of King Herod. And it just gets darker after that, especially when we find out what Thanos is really after.
More Negative Space
What irks me here, and I’ve bitched about this before, is the use of space. When a comic book is just over thirty (most times twenty) pages long, and it costs four dollars, I’m sorry, but I think the use of space is very important. Yes, the blank title pages look cool and break up the chapters well, but seriously don’t make me pay for a blank page!
Of the thirty-four pages that could be utilized – four were essentially blank, one for the credits, one for the cast, four were essentially recapping what we already knew, and three were ads. That’s thirteen pages, and that’s not counting narrative and dialogue exposition telling us further things we already knew. Not cool.
All things considered, I am enjoying Infinity far more than the last major Avengers event without Avengers, Age of Ultron, and looking forward to more. I’m digging Infinity.
For previous reviews of the Marvel Comics Infinity event here on Biff Bam Pop!, check out Infinity #1, Avengers #18, and Captain Marvel #15 and New Avengers #9.
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