Marvel begins a new story with the Stones.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Art: Mike Deodato Jr.
Colors: Frank Martin
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit.
What They Say:
As the Infinity Stones come to Earth, so too comes the war for control over them. But none who wield the stones know the truth about the power they contain…or what it would take to bring them to their END. The nature of the universe itself hangs in the balance as we learn the answer to the question on everyone’s lips since “Infinity Wars Prime”: WHO IS REQUIEM? Gerry Duggan (DEADPOOL, INFINITY COUNTDOWN) and Mike Deodato Jr. (ORIGINAL SIN, OLD MAN LOGAN) look into the Infinite and bring the truth to light!
Content: (Warning. spoilers)
Perhaps cashing in on their new movie, Marvel’s Infinity Countdown has brought us to this new event. In the Prime issue, Thanos hatched a new plan to gather the Infinity Stones to him, and he had taken control of the Chitauris’ planet somehow. Before Thanos could enact any plans a mysterious hooded figure with a mask shaped like an infinity symbol appeared and killed him, ending any schemes he planned. Now, in this new time, Dr. Strange has called a meeting of the new bearers of the Stones, the new Infinity Watch, for better or worse. Not all the stones rest in good hands, and the new wielders are a diverse bunch. Notably, Black Widow has the Space Stone given by a revived Wolverine, and Daredevil’s old villain Turk Barrett now owns the Mind Stone. The meeting doesn’t exactly start well. Loki, meanwhile, is continuing his quest for answers. He wishes to know what his place in the universe is, and to that end, has undertaken a large quest that leads him to a new plane of existence, where things are notable different for him.
Back on Earth, all hell breaks loose as Turk uses the Mind Stone to see that Peter doesn’t have the real Infinity Stone he claimed to. A fight breaks out but is quickly broken up by the figure who killed Thanos, now calling themselves Requiem. The identity of Requiem isn’t a mystery for long however-It’s Gamora! She seems to want the stones for her own purposes, and Peter finds that out the hard way-via a Power Stone fueled sword to the chest!
In Summary:
It’s easy to dismiss this event at first due to event-fatigue. Marvel has given us Venomverse, Infinity Countdown, and now this, but the start here is actually pretty decent. Throwing a self serving villain like Turk Barrett into the mix as a wielder of one of the Stones makes for an interesting dynamic in seeing whether Strange and the other heroes can get him and his cadre of villains to play ball. The only real question raised here are very important though. How does Loki’s quest have to do with this event, and why is Gamora trying to get the Infinity Stones for herself? She called herself Thanos’ Requiem, so is she planning on doing something similar to what he did? This new Infinity Watch seems very dysfunctional honestly, with Black Widow keeping tabs on Turk and his buddies and Turk not fully trusting anyone else. The art is pretty good, and both Deodato’s art and Gerry Duggan’s writing do manage to evoke some sense of emotion in characters like Gamora. The big problem here is that no central theme seems to be here yet. We’ve set up a villain scenario and some fights but no real theme that connects the varying parts of the story yet. This ultimately is the big flaw of the book, but leaves it as a decent starting point at least if the ensuing books build up our theme and characters. If you aren’t tired of Marvel events yet, give it a look and see what you think.
Grade: B
Age Rating: T+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: August 1st, 2018
MSRP: $5.99
