8/14 Comic Reviews: The Big Picture

The Immortal Thor #14 written by Al Ewing with art by Jan Bazaldua

Thor’s foray into the realm of Greek myth continues in the latest issue of The Immortal Thor. Plunged into a dimension of darkness with his old friend Hercules, the two gods must now face off against a new, sinister incarnation of Zeus, the Greek Skyfather. But before the action kicks off, we’re taken back to the distant past and presented with a retelling of Zeus’s origins when his mother Rhea took her youngest child to seek the protection of Gaea. Rhea quickly recounts the threat of Cronus, Zeus’s father, who seeks to maintain the status quo by devouring all of his children after they’re born. It is Gaea who suggests substituting a stone and keeping Zeus in hiding, but demands the baby in exchange for his life. Rhea refuses, but Gaea has already taken the child. It’s here that we begin to see the scope of her plot as she has foreseen a sky god who is destined to play a role in some greater machination. Zeus bears a number of similarities to Thor, so it makes sense that he’d fit the bill as a candidate, but as Gaea takes the measure of this infant’s potential, she sees that he will never attain the wisdom necessary to fulfill her needs. Once again, it’s acknowledged that as great as Thor’s power is, it’s his virtues that define him as a hero. It also adds some darker implications to the Enchantress’s curse on Thor that even she may not have foreseen. As great as all this sounds, whatever Gaea has planned is unlikely to be pleasant for her son as she refers to the subject of her prophecy as “the sacrifice”. Despite the fact that Zeus will never measure up, Gaea sees in him the potential as an archetype, a story to spawn more stories which may better suit her purposes. The idea that gods are creatures of narrative and patterns continues to drive the story and reinforce the idea that all earthly deities are woven from the same thread. 

Back in the present, this darker Zeus storms and blusters with all the fury one would expect from his domain, but Thor is unfazed. He simply instructs each lightning bolt Zeus hurls at him to turn, and each bolt accedes to the Norse Skyfather’s wishes. As imposing as Zeus is, there’s no question of who is the better god between them. Of course, Nyx, goddess of night, hasn’t simply gone away either. She joins the fray and Thor once again proves his wisdom by getting himself and Hercules the hell out of dodge. Hercules is all understandably caught off-guard by all of this and confused about why Thor doesn’t seem to mind his sibling betraying them. Loki appears to once-again affirm that they will be the enemy Thor needs in order to make him stronger and that there will be no easy outs from this trial. The trial has been bound to the rune Uruz, a rune from Thor’s own name, and not even the greatest of gods can break its hold until the trial is complete. The rune Uruz is the rune of endurance and tenacity, and, together, Thor and Hercules reason that the lesson must be that Thor cannot avoid the trials he has in store. In the meantime, Zeus and Nyx have come to a resolution: kill the two gods and rule together. Zeus once again attempts to overcome Thor with thunder to no effect and, proving that Gaea was correct in her assessment of his wisdom, continues hurling lightning long after it’s proven ineffective against the All-Father. However, as mentioned, the trial is not one of avoiding pain, but of accepting it along with the strength it brings. Realizing this, Thor chooses to grapple with Zeus and accept a direct attack. All the while, Hercules faces Nyx in his own trial of endurance and learns that, for him, endurance does not mean a test of physical mettle, but of something far more difficult: forgiving past wrongs and moving forward. Each god proves up to their challenge, but as is always the case, there’s more than meets the eye. The issue ends with proof that the trial is far from over and the worst may be yet to come. 

In my review of the previous issue, I mentioned how I was looking forward to seeing how Jan Bazaldua depicted the clash of Skyfather’s in the realm of darkness and I was not disappointed. The flashes of lightning cut a sharp contrast with the plains of endless night and both Thunderers wreathed in their element look absolutely fantastic. Credit also goes to Matt Hollingsworth for the way he colors the various forms of magic being thrown around. We’d already seen that Bazaldua could handle depicting the human side of our heroes, but this issue proves she’s more than capable of delivering action of mythic proportions with some truly stunning visuals. There’s a scene early on when Rhea is recounting Cronus that clearly takes inspiration from Goya’s Saturn Devouring his Children but with her own twist that is a sight to behold. She’s killing it on this book and I can’t wait to see what she’s got in store for future issues. 

It should be no surprise at this point, that The Immortal Thor continues to be one of the best books Marvel is putting out. The creative team is firing on all cylinders and the story keeps moving forward with the force and speed of a divine thunderbolt. This is a book of mythic proportions that never loses sight of its heart. This is the definitive story of Thor and I can’t recommend it enough.

Ultraman X Avengers written by Kyle Higgens and Mat Groom with art by Francesco Manna

“Y’all have a lot going on, huh?” 

It’s finally here! I’ve been dying to read this book ever since it was announced over a year ago, and it’s finally arrived. Ever since Marvel’s deal with Tsuburaya which gave them the right to publish new Ultraman comics in the US was announced, it was only a matter of time before the two universes crossed over. Of course, there’s always the questions of how and why, along with who would meet who and which world they’d be spending most of their time in. This issue answers pretty much all of those questions right off the bat when the planet Zarab is attacked by an unstoppable foe who threatens to devour the world unless one of its people volunteers to be his herald. There should be no doubt who I’m referring to and that first look at Galactus is downright chilling. In a world where “big” is the standard for its heroes, he still manages to appear leagues stronger than anything Ultraman could hope to face alone. The story then cuts to the newly-formed “Ultra Guard” investigating what appears to be a portal to another universe. The fact that their group is the Ultra Guard and composed of Shin, Kiki, and Ide immediately makes it clear that this is taking place in the same continuity as Marvel’s Ultraman book and whatever happens here is going to have consequences for these characters. They proceed to investigate the portal and out pops one Spider-Man, aka Miles Morales! Normally, it’s crossover tradition for heroes to throw-down before settling their differences and facing a common foe, but this book understands that’s not who any of these people are. Miles is disoriented, but he’s been in this business long enough to understand what’s going on and the Ultra Guard is plenty familiar with multiversal threats as well. Miles reveals his dimension-hopping adventures have attuned his spider-sense to multi-dimensional energy and tells them that there’re bigger problems on the way. After the fallout of the previous Ultraman miniseries, Shin is hesitant to trust a stranger, but Kiki and Ide are both more open-minded and convince Shin to lend Miles an ear. They all pile in to their VTOL and head to Scotland to investigate whatever’s coming. Unfortunately, that “whatever” turns out to be Zarab empowered as a herald of Galactus. Normally, a master of illusions, Zarab has now gained the ability to copy powers as well. It grows to giant-size and Shin has no choice but to transform into Ultraman to face the threat. Zarab’s new powers put them on an even playing field, but Ultraman isn’t the only big gun in the Ultra Guard’s arsenal. The Monster Attack Team flies in and assembles their giant robot, Jack. Again, they find themselves confounded by Zarab’s powers, but Miles proves that size doesn’t matter and helps them turn the tables. They take down Zarab and the strange energy signature turns out to be the rest of the Avengers crashing the party. 

Captain America, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Wasp and a tag-along red and blue Spider-Man join the Ultra Guard at their secret headquarters and catch each other up. Tony Stark quickly tries to codify the Ultra Guard into superhero archetypes and it got a chuckle out of me when he referred to Dan Moroboshi’s berserk, trauma-driven Ultra form as a “Hulk”. It’s explained that, in an attempt to ward off Galactus, Reed Richards created a device capable of sending him to another universe, though it was not intended to be an inhabited one. Already well-familiar with people trying to push aside their problems by throwing them into alternate dimensions, Shin rightly calls out the Avengers on that irresponsible decision. None of them can argue with him and they make it clear they’ll do anything to correct their mistake and fight to protect Shin’s world. In fact, they’ve already got a device they can use for just that purpose. The problem is that the only thing capable of powering it is in the possession of the USP which, as readers of the Ultraman comics know, is being run by an inhuman being bent on subverting humanity in the name of an unknown master. The only option is to break into the USP and grab the power source, but they’re going to have to split their forces when we discover that Galactus’s impending arrival is triggering an influx of kaiju who won’t let themselves be ignored. 

As epic as this book is, it’s the character moments that stood out to me the most. When this book was announced, I’ll admit that I was slightly worried that all of the recent developments in Ultraman were going to be pushed aside in favor of dealing with the crossover. I’m happy to say that my fears were unwarranted as the writing team is clearly intent on continuing to explore and develop the Ultra-cast in the wake of where their series left off. On top of that, their chemistry with the Avengers is an absolute delight to read. From Miles and Ide bonding over their mutual curiosity to Wasp’s aversion to people with the power to grow giant, the history of these characters comes across without ever having to explicitly go into it. There are a bunch of deeper cuts for fans too, such as when Peter sees MAT’s giant robot and remembers Takuya Yamashiro, the mech-piloting Spider-Man he’d met during the “Spider-Verse” event. I also appreciated Shin’s adamant refusal of the title “superhero”. Unlike the Avengers, Ultraman doesn’t get involved with crime or human affairs. His job is to guard humanity from outside threats and leave them free to make their own decisions. It’s for this reason that he can’t simply break into the USP and haul its shadowy leader away. It’s nice to see Captain America acknowledging the virtue of his restraint and respecting his choices rather than trying to force him to do things their way. There are different codes defining these two worlds and neither is trying to impose their will on the other. It helps reinforce the core theme of cooperation that both do have in common. The book may have a ton of action and spectacle befitting its heroes, but the core of the book is its characters and I’m looking forward to seeing how they interact as the series progresses.

It’s such a blast having Francesco Manna drawing Ultraman again. The work he did on the first two miniseries was absolutely stellar and he’s not breaking that trend here. As I mentioned earlier, that opening shot of Galactus is breathtaking to behold. The smaller-scale scenes look great too. One detail I really appreciated was the fact that all the Ultraman characters look just a bit older than before. They’ve been through a lot and it clearly shows in their features even when they aren’t talking about it. It’s also impressive how despite the sheer amount of characters in this book, each feels distinct in body language and facial expression. Tony Stark is constantly smirking while Captain America is all business. Even the two Spider-Men feel distinct in their movements with Miles being the more expressive one. Of course, I’m not going to undersell the action. One of the most important things in an Ultra-fight is the sense of scale. A fight between normal-sized individuals needs to feel different from a fight between giants. Miles’s fast-paced, web-slinging combat style contrasts perfectly with Ultraman’s close-quarter strikes and long-ranged beams. Now that the full cast has assembled, I can’t wait to see what amazing action the next issue has in store.

It’s been a long wait, but this book has been more than worth it. It delivers an impressive spectacle while also providing plenty of delightful character moments. First issues can sometimes be exposition-heavy as the pieces are set up, but this book does an excellent job using both the action and character interactions to give the reader everything they need to know and have fun in the process. This is an ambitious crossover, but it’s got a creative team at the top of their game and I’ve got no doubt that they’re not only going to meet expectations, but blast far beyond them.