Category: Galactus

Best of Marvel: Week of January 1st, 2019

Best of this Week: Thor #1 – Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matt Wilson and Joe Sabino

What a Thunderous way to begin the New Year! What better way to celebrate than with a glorious new #1 for the new King of Asgard helmed by the ever amazing Donny Cates, Nic Klein and Matt Wilson with awesome letters by Joe Sabino! This book hit so many good notes and lets me breathe knowing that one of Marvel’s most storied characters is continuing to be in good hands, especially after such an epic run by the awesome Jason Aaron.

The book begins with an amazing splash page of Mjolnir flying through space and then crossing into each of the Ten Realms as someone narrates Thor’s rise as the new King. It’s a beautiful sequence that alludes to the millennia of war between the realms, culminating in Malekith’s Invasion of them all very recently. Klein and Wilson treat the reader to a variety of landscapes from the bright pinks of Alfheim to the cold blues of Jotunheim. The pair do an amazing job characterizing these locales through visuals alone.

Of course, the reasoning behind the monologue and the throw itself is a show of force. Under Odin, the Realms fought each other as they pleased. Asgard was left in ruins because the All-Father was too stubborn to try and rally his people during Malekith’s Invasions. Under Thor, that would not be the case. As Mjolnir cracks through each Realm, without any of them hearing his words, they know to listen and fear him because of his power. This epic opening climaxes with Mjolnir crashing through the head of some monster the Avengers were fighting before Thor calls it back with a smirk from Asgard.

It is at this point that we finally see Thor, months after the War of the Realms. He is gruff, his hair and beard have grown out again and we learn through Tony Stark sharpie-ing a message on Mjolnir that Thor has retired. Sif the All-Seeing reiterates this as she informs the reader that Thor’s smiting days are over and that he must go and be King. 

This is…saddening in all honesty. Thor has spent many a lifetime fighting, drinking and avoiding his destiny for so long. He has always wanted to be king, but even as he walks down the Rainbow Bridge back to New Asgard, he looks as if there’s nothing but melancholy about him. The way that Klein frames this panel makes it seem as if there’s a wide divide between Thor and Asgard. The Realm flourishes now that life has been brought to it under Yggdrasil, but Thor is bored.

As he takes a seat on his new throne, we’re shown just how different he is to Odin. Instead of a shimmering palace, Odin’s hall is made of wood and stone because of the World tree with a rune etched just above his seat: Thurisaz, a symbol of defense and destruction (as the book describes) and perfectly fitting of the warrior king. He ushers his court out of his presence and sighs as he prepares to speak to his people and Loki appears from the shadows.

The brothers relationship here is far more confrontational than I would have expected. Granted, I didn’t read the Loki mini-series, so I don’t know if the Trickster did something to draw his brother’s ire. Thor is very terse with the King of Jotunheim and even throws Mjolnir in slight fury after Loki notes that Thor had to grunt when he lifted the hammer, something he’s never done before and a black portent for Thor’s future. Loki didn’t come out with any of his normal witticisms which was unexpected, but Cates does hint that there a potentially big things in store for the brothers through some narration.

Thor had been meant to speak to his people following the restoration of Asgard, but just as he’s about to regale his people of the new era of peace, his nervous butterflies turn to abject horror as a one armed Galactus crashes into Asgard, right on top of the Asgardians. Nic Klein and Matt Wilson spare no expense in making this one of the most epic double page spreads imaginable.

Galactus face of pain and sends a shiver down the spine as one wonders what could possibly have sent him crashing in the way that he did. The debris, people and smoke fly around the edges of the pages as Galactus’ impact and the snow that follows him creates a sense of unease. Klein makes sure that the reader can feel the weight of the crash and Sabino accentuates it with his EXCELLENT “KRAKOOOMM” sound effect. Wilson excellently blends Galactus varying purple tones to the fire just behind his head to create a sense of extreme heat. Klein creates a grand sense of scale as Thor appears miniscule to both Galactus and the incoming threat.

Not knowing what the hell had just occurred, Thor leaps a Galactus with every intention of sending him to Hel herself until the Eater of Worlds pleads with him to stop, warning him of something called “The Great Black Winter.” Part of said Winter had followed Galactus and caused the skies of Asgard to be cursed with rain and The World Tree began to turn black and die. Thor then calls previous Heralds of Galactus to see what is going on. At the table sits Firelord, Cosmic Ghost Rider and others until the Silver Surfer arrives, still black and intangible (See Silver Surfer: Black).

Thor is angry and demands answers which the Surfer is able to provide. We learn that The Great Black Winter was the event that destroyed the Universe before the one we know today and that the Surfer had hidden away powerful planets for Galactus to consume precisely for this occasion. Cates has done an amazing job in building a new lore and power scale for the Silver Surfer in particular as normally he’d have no secrets from his master.

As Thor dons his vestments of war, he thinks back to Sif and Loki’s words of his bygone days as a warrior. It’s a powerful set of panels as Thor seemed ready to enjoy his days of peaceful boredom. He grunts like an older man only snapping his cape on, but that doesn’t stop his kingly heart as when he approaches Galactus, he commands the World Eater to kneel to him. As The Surfer fills Galactus in on his plan, Galactus tells all about what lies in the void of the Great Black Winter; The form of ones own true death. Galactus reveals that he had gazed into it twice. First he saw the void because he couldn’t father the future things that he would see and next… he saw Thor.

The revelation comes as a shock to everyone as Galactus then blasts Thor with an immense amount of energy. Kein and Wilson make sure to shower the pages with bright light, intense lines and posing until revealing Thor: Herald of Thunder, similar to the cover of the book with Thurisaz as the new symbol of his chest. 

Donny Cates has a particular style when he writes. He scripts grand moments interlaced with shorter ones that build character. It worked when we got into the psyche of the Silver Surfer as he explored the primordial state of being and Thanos as he watched a future where he had killed all of life. Cates has an affinity for the cosmic characters and it shows as he’s taken the reigns of Thor and reminds us of why he and his lore have been able to capture our imaginations for so long. 

Thor has the ability to transverse the Ten Realms, the entire universe if he wishes, but even he suffers the melancholy of duty and boredom. He is a warrior at heart and he needs a great battle to fight in or he loses a part of himself that kept him motivated. With that in mind, Cates is looking to take Thor on a grand adventure in the stars with a buffed powerset that hopefully will expand on his greater strength in the Old King Thor future.

Nic Klein and Matt Wilson make all of this possible however with their amazing art. Klein is easily able to get into the groove of drawing these vast environments, amazingly dynamic poses and heavily expressive faces. Wilson brings it all to life with beautiful and vibrant colors that make you feel as though you’re in there, interacting with the characters. Without them, this wouldn’t feel as epic as it does.

This was a very explosive issue and I’m absolutely excited for the future of this series as I have been with all of Cates’ other work up to this point. It’s definitely a high recommend from me for a promising story and absolutely fantastic art!

Best of Marvel: Week of September 11th, 2019

Runner Up: Silver Surfer: Black #4 – Donny Cates, Tradd Moore, Dave Stewart and Clayton Cowles

Don’t read this if you’re high, Tradd Moore’s visuals are far more trippy and beautiful than any of the previous issues and this is a WILD ride.

After discovering the incubator of Galactus buried within the body of a young Ego the Living Planet, The Surfer has to make a choice of whether or not he should kill the destroyer before he is able to cause the sheer number of genocides that he will become feared for in the future, all the while his Power Cosmic is fading as Knull encroaches further on the hero. 

There are so many intricacies that make Tradd Moore’s art so exciting in this issue. Moore has a particular style where everything seems quite a bit distorted and stretched. His art flows like water and allows the eyes to move gracefully from panel to panel, even in the most trippy of pages because clear lines are drawn to attract ones sight through a page. The Surfer, looks smooth, mostly thanks to Moore’s use of shining techniques and dark inks for reflections. 

There are grand portions of the story where you feel like you’re peering into dimensions that your mind just isn’t prepared for. One such scene is when the Surfer takes Galactus’ incubator to a white dwarf star to absolutely destroy it. The sheer scale and magnitude of this thing was almost overwhelming, speaking nothing of its brightness as well. 

At a point, The Surfer decides to enter Galactus’ incubator to see into the dying days of the last universe he inhabited before this new one as he went to try and kill him. The Surfer almost looks as if he’s melting upon hearing the dying screams of millions. He’s heard similar cacophonous bellows of terror, but from Galactus these screams are multiplied many times over and the next half of the page is coated in a bloody red of fear.

Dave Stewart’s colors are also a main contributor to this spectacular look. Stewart has an amazing history of great stories that he’s colored and Silver Surfer: Black takes this to a whole new level. After the Surfer enters Galactus’ mindscape, we are met with a torrent of blood, fire and Galactus’ menacing shape standing above it all, acting as a warning to the Surfer. The shading of reds in the blood ocean, the flaming skies, Galactus’ towering figure and the HANDS REACHING UP FROM THE BLOOD OCEAN are absolutely amazing and terrifying. 

The Surfer stands out as being the only silver thing on this double splash page which speaks to Stewart’s sense of page awareness as we’re clearly able to start from where he appears and then work our way up to the massive Galactus up above.

Special hell yeahs given to Clayton Cowles and his expert lettering, capturing my imagination with how each bubble is used. Ego’s in particular resonate with me for the choice to have purple letters offset by a background of yellow and purple that creates a hazy, 3D look. It’s a small detail that ultimately gives the book and the Living Planet far more character, making them stand out very well.

Not only is the art some of the best I have ever seen, but the story told here is phenomenal as well. I have almost never seen The Silver Surfer so conflicted over something he was absolutely sure about just moments before. He meets Galan before he becomes Galactus and they have a conversation. Though the Surfer would avoid the death of thousands or more worlds, his hands would still be stained of blood, the Universe itself would face massive consequences and he will have used murder to justify his actions, making him a villain. 

This is amazing storytelling in that it is not too often that we see The Surfer speak to his master with a clear mind, even more so when he knows the outcomes of his actions and has to choose between the future he knows or a potentially better future or far worse one. The conflict gives an already layered character even more layers and guilt given the action at the end of this book.

With the next issue being the last of this miniseries, I hope that the ripples of this story will continue to be felt throughout the continuing Guardians of the Galaxy and Absolute Carnage storylines. The Silver Surfer has been around for decades and is in great need of some change and if losing the Power Cosmic through the spread of black on his body is the way to do it, then I am all for it. High recommend.