Infinity #1 Jonathan Hickman, Jim Cheung
Marvel Comics
$4.99 (oversized issue)
I’m a lifelong Marvelite and I almost didn’t buy this.
Why? Well, when it comes to Hickman’s writing I’m very
fickle. I loved his run on Fantastic Four and FF, but lost interest in his
Avengers titles very early on and I have no desire to read East of West or The
Manhattan Projects. I find he’s great at coming up with a very strong premise,
but he usually loses me in a delivery that’s bogged down by pseudoscience and
convoluted dialogue. Maybe I’m still just having a hard time seeing the
Avengers without Bendis’ words behind them.
Even though I’m not reading Avengers or New
Avengers, I found the story to be mostly accessible and self-contained. To his
credit, the lush, broad, sci-fi scope Hickman employs really does make it feel
pretty epic. Cheung’s art is nothing less than stunning in many places. Truly
excellent. He even sneaks in a few familiar faces from the Star Wars universe
into the background. That always
earns you points in my book.
I hope that this issue, with its unfamiliar characters
and concepts, serves to set the stage and that the focus will turn to the
characters that we know and love as they face Thanos’ latest end-of-the-world
scenario. I have my doubts that Hickman will deliver that, but I’m going to be
along for the ride to find out either way and I just might enjoy it regardless.
Oh, and that 4.99 price tag? That accounts for it
being a pretty thick funnybook, but it’s only longer because it includes the
Free Comic Book Day Infinity teaser. So, if you already have it, you’ll be
getting it again. It just costs more this time.
