| Title | : | New Avengers, Vol. 3: Other Worlds |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0785154841 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780785154846 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 136 |
| Publication | : | First published January 15, 2014 |
COLLECTING: NEW AVENGERS 13-17
New Avengers, Vol. 3: Other Worlds Reviews
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The countdown to the destruction of the multiverse continues!
And, yeah, it’s a buzzkill.
The New Avengers are back.
There are so many different Avengers, Jeff – Mighty, Great Lakes, Uncanny, Astonishing, Lego. Who are these guys?
They’re supposedly the best and brightest (read: smartypants) heroes of the Marvel Universe. It would be as if your high school Latin club suddenly got super powers, but instead of clobbering stuff they sat around and brooded.
Abusus non tollit usum.
So Reed Richards now has invented a peep show machine that lets the eggheads peer into other versions of Earth (because Earth is the nexus for destruction everywhere) to see how other heroes are coping. If you’ve read the previous volumes, this volume rings of déjà vu apocalypse-porn – more Earths, with different heroes in charge, get brutally destroyed.
What’s going on with Dr. StephenCumberbatchStrange?
He’s MIA, in search for the ultimate power trip. Is the price of great power your soul? Heh, one can only hope so.
Who’s the weird hot albino alien chick who talks with reverse negative dialogue balloons?
That’s Black Swan. She was captured at one of the smash-ups. Her role is unclear, but she brought hors d'oeuvres for the end-of-the-world party. Pass the mini-hot dogs pastries my way.
I’ve never had Atlantean wine. What does it taste like?
It’s fermented from rotted whale carcasses and it has a bouquet that reminds one of sea weed that's been lying on the beach for weeks, with a hint of eel and should be served at room temperature.
Bottom line: Hickman’s epic storyline veers in quality from volume to volume and can be an obtuse read at times, but if you are interested, you really need to read these things in order and not jump around like I have.
Peek-a-boo! -
I still don't understand what all is happening in this story, but for some reason, I like it.
Not love it, but like it.
The multiverse is getting gobbled up by...some sort of powerful universe-eating monks...I think.
Every Illuminatiish group on every Earth is battling to fight it.
And losing.
It's a slaughter, then whatever Earth they belong to explodes, and that causes a chain reaction that wipes out that universe.
Except for one group.
They're doing something different. And it's sort of working...
Nothing really happens in this one, because you're watching the same damn thing play out (albeit different versions) OverAndOverAndOverAndOverAndOver again.
They learn something new about Black Swan, but (again) I'm still confused as to how it helps their situation any.
The ending with Namor and T'Challa put a smile on my face, though.
And I understood it! Yay!
I'm hoping that this storyline has a satisfying conclusion, and I'm not just getting suckered.
Time will tell, I guess. -
The art switched a few times in this volume and not for the better, unfortunately.
I felt like this installment was all over the place. I'm a sucker for learning more about the extended multiverse but this would drop us in with a universe we know nothing about and then leave us there for longer than I wanted. Granted, it conveys the struggle other worlds are facing but I wanted to see more of the Illuminati dealing with things. Maybe this was just Hickman stalling for the bigger stuff?
Anyway, I would've loved if we could've gotten a glimpse of earth 3490.
Alas, I was interested in the world where Reed died for Doom.
I loved the scene with T'Challa and Namor commiserating. Again, this relationship is the highlight of this series for me. The stuff between them is so complex and interesting. I could stay with them for soooo much longer, to be honest. -
Ok, so this is about 3.5 stars for me...it's kind of repetitive for the first half, because apparently the audience cannot grasp that the variables might change, but the outcome is the same, unless we see different Earth lineups of various Illuminati doing it. The art is OK, it works better in the Dr. Strange stuff than the rest...the Rags Morales stuff in the second half I prefer, it's got fewer loose lines and more realism to it.
What I loved, is that the gang is getting info from Black Swan and pretty much having to guess what she means, everyone eventually figured out what she means...except for Tony Stark...he gets quite pissy about it, and I love that Reed, T'Challa, Beast all get it before he does like it is super obvious. It was a needed touch of humour, or we risk running into DC grit no joke territory...
Dr. Strange embarks to another plane of existence or something...to literally sell his soul...
Black Bolt kinda just stands there...as we know, but his brother Maximus seems like a sharp dude...however...didn't he release the Terragen Mists into Earth? Shouldn't he be like a super villain or something?? Or am I totally wrong....even he gets to talk down to Iron Stark.
We see that through observing, there is the same outcome, except one world, which is run by some heroes who are a cross between the Authority and the Justice Society/League. There's a Sun God (Superman/Apollo), the dark knight (guy actually wears a helmet a la jousty days of ole) as the Midnighter/other Dark Knight fellow...Batsomethingerother? A speedster, who is Flash/Atomica from Crime Syndicate, a Green Alien who is Martian Manhunter, and a dude who's a sorcerer and has Dr. Fate's helmet...
I'm entirely unsure if this is intentionally a nod to these various characters, a knock, or Hickman just actually came up with them...
Anyhow, these guys seem to have done the impossible and fought off/survived the Incursion...may be the key for our Earth...
Oh, and Namor finally shows up, having pretty much said just gimme a shout when it's time to smash shit up, I'm sick of the brainy think-a-thon. Which I also love. He's nonchalant about it, figuring que sera sera....he and Panther then have an enlightening discussion which reveals Namor the philosopher...
All in all I enjoyed it a lot, but feel like we didn't move very far forward with the narrative. Sure there's some more revealed about Black Swan, so we know she's something to be unsure of, but still...the last page left a great image for us, and Morales' art is superb. Makes me jazzed to read it.
-
This was just a refreshing volume as we pick up with the team looking at other realities through the Bridge Reed created, probable futures and all that and we learn of the Mapmakers and see their origins and the dark words of the Black Priests and the way they eradicated those earths and finally we look at whats supposed to be The Great Society, Marvels archetype of Justice League, the greatest heroes and man was it emotional. The way Sun-God reacts to the incursions and how they will continue fighting for Justice for it is right and the way Hickman writes it is brilliant and seeing the Illuminati react to it and how they are geared for an inevitable confrontation is gonna be something. The art was weird in some places but picks towards the end and just the moral arguments between Marvel and DC are reflected here.
-
We are three volumes into this series and I feel like they are still hammering in the point they made in the very first issue: The world will be destroyed and there is nothing you can do about it. In fact this collection has not one, but TWO, issues that reiterate that very thing. Don't get me wrong, I liked seeing the different Illuminati line-ups of different earths, and wonder how they came to be a group, but did I really need to see it twice? The answer is no, I didn't.
Here is how you could have made the first three issues of this collection one page:
Panel one: The Illuminati stand together, Reed is standing next to The Bridge, the machine he built during Hickman's Fantastic Four run. Reed says "This is called The Bridge. It allows us to see different earth's at different points in time. With it I've been able to track other incursions from all points, and all times.
Panel two: Tighter shot of two or three members. Anyone says "And what have you found?"
Panel Three: Large panel that shows a group similar to the earth 616 Illuminati, but slightly different, fighting a group of Map Makers, or Black Priests, and losing. Caption Box reads "That on every earth a group similar to our own has tried to do the very same thing we are doing..."
Panel Four: Tight close up on Reed, the look on his face suggesting exhaustion and hopelessness. Reed says "And we always fail."
Bam! There you go! Then we can move this story along.
It's hard for me to write that, because I do enjoy this series, and Hickman's writing, but come on! This guy has such a decompressed writing style that when he spells decompressed it must be like 35 letters long. This book takes place post Infinity, the event that Hickman has been building to since he started working on the Avengers, but somehow, this story is still going?
I am not a fan of Simon Bianchi's art. In fact in gave me a slight headache to look at. What happened to the super tight, super moody, art that this series began with? I want that art back.
On the positive side of things, and I know this sounds super hypocritical, I like that the villains of this story are a very serious threat. The story does a really good job of showing you that. I keep reading thinking, "How the hell are they going to win this fight? It seems like they can't." A hero is only as good as his villain, and boy are these ones a couple of bad asses.
It was also pretty sweet to see the JSA show up in a marvel book. (You knew who that was, right?) This is a pretty cool concept I hope they stick with. With all the various earths out there, and infinite possibilities of what occurred on those earths, why can't the Illuminati run across the Marvel versions of different companies characters? That is a really neat idea.
Overall, I'm both happy and pissed at this series. I want to keep reading it, but at the same time I feel like I could just skip the next three volumes and not miss a damn thing. It just takes too long for anything to happen. -
I got really sick of this series and had to put it aside for a while. But coming back to it with more "fresh" eyes, I thought this storyline was pretty good. Hickman's Avengers might be better in smaller doses. In any case, I've felt that, in general, New Avengers is the better of his two Avengers titles. The stories are more self contained, while also still tied to Hickman's crazy ambitious larger narrative. I'm both intrigued by where he's going with this and tired of his crap at the same time.
-
3.5 stars, Pretty solid writing from Hickman. I'll admit this incursion stuff can be boring and tedious especially when you know the outcome. But I have to hand it to Hickman on this volume, well done. We get to see dr. Strange barter his soul, we see the avengers built the bridge, and see Namor and T'challa share a drink. The great society was a really fun addition, plus it gives insight into the inevitability on the incursions. Hickman can be cumbersome at times but it's a nice volume. The art is o.k. Some panels good some sloppy.
-
"Everything dies"
That was the title of vol.1 so I believe we should have gotten it by now. But after yet another batch of multiverse blah-blah-blah-destruction-blah-blah-blah-whatchawegonnado-blah-blah-blah it's me who dies. Of boredom.
The last 2 issues should lead to some closure but I thought them poorly conceived and they remained cryptic to me for the most part. I reckon I wasn't interested enough to try and make something out of it anymore. The same applies to Reed's techno-babble.
Doc Strange is up to something and that's probably the most interesting part of the book.
Simone Bianchi does some good issues but his baroque style kind of wears off after a while. He is a best suited as a cover artist imo.
Rags Morales does 2 unimpressive issues that didn't help raise my interest.
Another volume and I can finally call it quits. -
With this coilected volume, Hickman has started to deliver on the potential of his multiversal incursions, which would culminate in 2015's Secret Wars. Ir provided snapshots of alternate worlds and its dangers. As a reader from the very first issue, I was wondering how a Black Priest and Mapmaker differ, and how both inspired fear in the Black Swan.
If one more thing could be taken from this arc, is that mutants from any corner in the universe are easily dispatched. (I'm probably wrong but that is probably why Hickman never wrote the X-Men, or featured them more prominently in his prior Marvel work. -
Squiggly art doesn't exactly entrance me, but I'm trying to give a "different" style artist a chance. But what the hell with all the random blobs? Is this supposed to be "stylish" and not just distracting?
I'm a fan of the alternate realities, struggling to resist the inevitable annihilation. It's a nice counterpoint to the 616's Illuminati who seem to triumph without a scratch (which feels more and more implausible), watching heroes and villains just as capable, end up as so much pulp on the floor.
Or watching the successful struggles of the Great Society on Earth-4-million (who look remarkably like a harmonic variant of a Justice League) doing their best to beat back the incursions just like our 616 Illuminati. This feels like Hickman and Morales are both exercising imagination (just what *is* the range of heroism across the multiverse) and not "stealing a whole team's concept, then twisting it around for our entertainment". The Heroic Age parody/callback is kinda funny tho:
-
I read the comic books Avengers #13-23, and Endless War. Hickman's flagship Avengers book really picks up in this volume
New Avengers, Volume 3: Other Worlds and
New Avengers, Volume 4: Perfect World as the Captain America led team finally, truly gets involved in a pan universal war. Meanwhile
Warren Ellis's
Avengers: Endless Wartime is a great comic/movie Avengers hybrid with the team out to stop some sentient Nazi war machine that appears to be owned by SHIELD! 7 out of 12 for these overall.
-
Ugh. I get it, I get it. Can we please move on? It's like this whole volume exists so the students that should have been moved to the remedial class ages ago can catch up with the rest of us. Five issues and I don't feel like we've moved forward even a smidgen.
I do have to admit that the Doctor Strange stuff was cool but other than that...meh. -
i didn't decide reading
New Avengers, Volume 1: Everything Dies and then skipping the second volume, moving immediately to the third one. the editorial that sells these editions in my country made my decision for me and i, being an innocent creature of the world, assumed it wouldn't really matter.
silly, silly me.
it does feel a bit unfair to rate this volume considering i didn't understand what was going on. but i'm feeling a bit grumpy for it so i'll do it anyway. i don't know what was happening here or why out of the sudden there were some battery babies, the human embodiment of the universe, bombs in australia, fighting rocks, and what felt like the first act from the latest godzilla film. so, yeah, grumpy. -
What the fuck is happening?
-
First thing's first: I hate Simone Bianchi's art style. Always have, always will. All his trademarks are evident in his three issues here: the art is distorted, muddy, inert, and borderline incoherent. Which is a shame, because this is some of Hickman's most thoughtful writing. The Illuminati build a Bridge so that they can observe and catalog all the previous universal incursions. Essentially, this involves watching alternate versions of themselves get slaughtered over and over again. Hickman does a great job of illustrating the psychic toll this has on all the characters; his Black Panther is particularly interesting. Meanwhile, Dr. Strange travels beyond the fields we know to sell his soul in order to unlock #GODMODE for himself and stop the Incursions. This subplot ends on a cliffhanger, and I'm excited to see how it plays out in the next volume. In the final two issues (penciled by the always-reliable Rags Morales instead of Bianchi), Black Panther discovers a universe protected by a team of Silver Age DC Comics parodies. This is still more table-setting for the next volume, but it's entertaining and interesting table-setting. If you're invested in Hickman's long game here, this is another solid volume (and if you're not invested in Hickman's long game, you probably already bailed in the middle of
Infinity). -
In this collection of the Illumnati Avengers, our intrepid secretive society finds a way to peer into the past of other worlds that have been destroyed in the current Crisis on Infinite Earths. Wait, what, this isn't COIE? Sorry, my bad. Anyway, on some of these other worlds, we see different versions of the usual Marvel characters, as well as some nice homages/parodies of DC's Justice League. Namor and T'Challa have some nice banter even though they hate each other, and Reed Richards looks as oily and smarmy as ever.
The collection dragged for me because it was a bit too much of the same thing. One or two issues would have sufficed to bring the plot-device in this book forward, but instead, Hickman keeps adding more and more until I was ready to say, "Enough with the parallel worlds, already!" Sheesh.
Still, the art is usually nice, and I like the way Hickman delivers dialogue to his characters.
3.5/5 -
My good friend said the other day that he was far more interested in the build up to Secret Wars than the actual event. After reading this trade, I think I am going to have to agree with him. New Avengers is a pretty grim book, which features characters that are not usually "Dark" types- Mr. Fantastic, Beast, Iron Man, Doctor Strange. The Illuminati are faced with a pretty nihilistic scenario. In this trade, they spend their time literally watching the Earth die over and over again on their newly made cosmic tv.
We see versions of the Illuminati from other Earths trying to prevent the apocalypse by fighting off some of the nastiest enemies the Multiverse has to offer. This book is not for someone who has just seen Age of Ultron and wants to see what the Avengers are up to in the comics. This is as dense a super hero comic book as it can get, and like I said, bleak as can be. It is still a ton of fun. -
**second read***
I was in a better state of mind this time, and I enjoyed it more. The Archetypes of J.U.S.T.I.C.E. was an interesting pastiche of The Justice League. The tension and uneasy alliance between T’challa and Namor is fun to witness and very well written. I love the high stakes, and I also find the Sci Fi element easier to follow this time around. Also, the Black Priests are scary and cool.
I’m really enjoying this second read through of Hickman’s Secret Wars leadup material.
*****first read****
Not as good as the concurrently running Avengers story, but it still has it’s moments.
Doctor Strange is a badass here. The alternate Avengers dudes are fun to see. The fights are cool. I love how pissed everyone is at each other.
This is a good springboard for a discussion on morality.
The art was amazing. -
I'm done with this series.
-
İlk bölüm Inhumanity hikayesinin bir kısmıydı. Inhumanity yirmi farklı seriye dağıtılmış bir seri olduğu için buradaki tek bölüm kendi başına fazla bir anlam ifade etmiyor.
İkinci bölümde asıl hikaye başlıyor. Önceki iki sayıda da olduğu gibi "dünya yok olacak ve yapabileceğimiz bir şey yok" muhabbeti sürüyor. Seri aynı yerde debelenip duruyor ve ileri doğru bir adım atamıyor bir türlü. Aynı muhabbeti okuyup duruyoruz. En sonunda Reed "köprü" adını verdiği bir cihaz yapıyor ve diğer evrenleri izleme imkanımız oluyor. Farklı Illuminati ve kahraman gruplarının mücadelelerini izliyoruz. Büyük çoğunluğu hüsran bitiyor tabii ki. Seri genel olarak keyifsiz ilerliyor. Bir ileri iki geri gidiyor. Ana Avengers serisi de çok güzel değil mesela ama en azından bir şeyler oluyor. Okuyucuda merak uyandırıyor. Bu kitapta merak ettiğim tek şey Dr. Strange'in ruhunu satması. Neler getirecek bakalım. -
New Avengers volume 3: Other Worlds. A continuation of my reread of the series.
I feel mixed on this volume. The plot doesn’t move forward a great deal. The art for some of this volume also really does not work for me! Especially characters faces and expressions, they look very odd and unhuman (not to be confused with Inhuman).
There is some fun to be had here though. The incursions are increasing and the team have found a way to view how other parallel earths deal with this threat. This means we get to see different takes and members on the Illuminati team.
We spend half of the volume watching The Great Society from one of these alternate earths. This seemed a way for Marvel to include a DC comics like team in their universe, and is the highlight of this volume.
Still a decent addition to the series, janky art style aside. Thankfully that isn’t across the whole volume. -
Ambitious. Grim. Circuitous. Great addition to Hickman’s sprawling Avengers series.
-
Writing-wise this should be at least a four star rating, yet I feel I must offer my bratty/snobby protest at what I consider to be a BAD editorial decision/artist pairing.
Everything was going fine, Hickman was continuing his vague sci-fi threats to all creation with half (ok, I exaggerate) the Marvel universe i.e. The Avengers as the only thing that could stop it, ...
then suddenly they bring in this Rags Morales guy?
Who is he? Is he some old-timer from the '50's that I am supposed to respect because of his history?
Or was he just the only guy available to work on finishing up the art on one of Marvel's best selling titles?
Whatever the case, it was a tremendous let-down.
Sorry.
I am just being honest.
It is the difference between letting the writing and the art and our imaginations take us INTO a world and INTO a story,
and just reading a super-hero comic book. -
The problem with Crisis-style stories like this is that you need to be invested in the other worlds before they go kablooey. In the actual Crisis, that worked, because they were Earths people cared about. Here, though? Alternate Earths are introduced as nothing more than cannon fodder. We're supposed to care because the heroes have the same names as people we care about, but I'd be much more interested in reading about, say, Betsy Braddock as Captain Britain, than having her walk on stage and then get blown up.
-
The writing remains very good in this title ( as opposed to the Avengers), I am however having a lot of trouble getting used to the art. First we get Simone Bianchi and then Rag Morales and I can not get used to either of them ( and don't get me started on the coloring..), which prevents me to give this title the 4 stars it deserves...
Story wise, after the infinity interlude, we are back with incursions except this time we are looking at what is happening on parallel earths. -
Now we're getting somewhere! I cannot imagine having to read this title on a monthly issue-by-issue basis. There's just too much sci-fi epicness going on to wrap your head around in any other way than just one sitting. Looking forward to Volume 4, which is waiting on my shelf!
Side note: This Jonathan Hickman Avengers series (the other being simply titled, The Avengers) is SO MUCH better than its companion series, and can be read alone very easily. -
This is a lesser installment.
Of the two artists in this volume, I prefer Rags Morales to Simone Bianchi, as they have very different styles... But Bianchi's arc seems to matter more in this long run by writer Hickman. I can say this is al sort of intermediate, middle storytelling, without much resolution. the Morales arc even introduces ANOTHER JLA-type surrogate group in the multiverse, as if we don't have enough of those already. -
Ciąg dalszy, można już rzec, sagi Hickmana o końcu Marvelowego świata. Inkursje nękają Ziemię 616, czyli ten główny, prawilny świat Avengers, od czasu do czasu, zmuszając najtęższe umysły tego świata do najgorszych zachowań. Poświęcić czyjś świat, by ratować własny. Dokonać tego mogą tylko zdeterminowani herosi tacy jak: Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Mr. Fantastic, Czarna Pantera, Namor czy Bestia.
Kłopot w tym, że ich działalność, sprzeczna z etyką, gdyby wyszła na jaw, spowodowała by odpowiednią reakcję w ekipie Avengers i nie tylko, dlatego całość owiana jest tajemnicą. Działania grupy będą musiały być na pewno radykalniejsze bowiem na przeciw "herosom" wyłania się widmo walki z tzw. Kartografiami czy Sidera Maris, robotami-zwiadowcami, które wybierają co ciekawsze światy do skatalogowania.
Całe to zamieszanie pozwala Hickman'owi do sporej zabawy. Wiadomo, że Ziemia 616, jako główne kontinuum jest małym polem do popisu w aspekcie jakichś przełomowych zmian, ale już inne światy, jakie nam prezentują twórcy, to zupełnie inna para kaloszy. Bo w innych wymiarach również zdają sobie sprawę z zagrożenia jakie niesie inkursja. I tam powstają również dziwne połączenia herosów i nie tylko, w ramach grupy Iluminatów, którzy stają naprzeciw zagrożeniu. I autor nie oszczędza tu nikogo. Trup ściele się gęsto i nie rzadko giną topowi herosi, na których stratę nie można byłoby pozwolić w tym "właściwym" świecie.
Za przewodnictwem Czarnego Łabędzia Iluminaci tworzą coś w rodzaju soczewki obserwującej inne wymiary i inne inkursje, tak aby znaleźć odpowiedz na kilka pytań, a może jakieś drogi ucieczki z zaistniałej sytuacji. Jednocześnie gdzieś na boku działa samopas Dr. Strange, który ma już po dziurki w nosi tej całej nauki i sięga po magię. Po demoniczną magię, która pozwoli mu zwiększyć moc... tyle że w zamian za własną duszę. Czy taka ofiara jest w ogóle możliwa. Jakie będą tego konsekwencje. Tego się tu nie dowiemy, ale trzeci tom pozostawia kilka furtek na naprawdę ciekawe aspekty. Oby Hickman wykorzystał to jak należy. Podobał mi się też duet Namor-Czarna Pantera. Czekam na rozwiązanie tej kwestii...
Bianchi prezentuje nam niezły poziom kreski, ale nie jest to coś porywającego. Rzemieślniczy sznyt, ciemniejszy i na pewno lepszy niż operujący przy dwóch ostatnich zeszytach Morales. W przypadku tego drugiego postacie mają nieco siermiężny wygląd przez co nie podeszło mi to za bardzo. Hickman zaczyna prowadzić swoją historię nieco chaotycznie i co by tu dużo mówić: czy lubicie rozcieńczone piwo? Bo ta seria zaczyna takie coś przypominać. Nie posuwa się tu w zasadzie nic w głównej linii fabularnej, no może poza rozwinięciem kwestii pochodzenia Łabędzia, ale nie jest ono też jakoś szczególnie porywające. Mocne 3/5. Są zadatki na więcej i lepiej, ale konkrety proszę. Dość szarad, bo to zaczyna nudzić. -
Collects New Avengers (2013) issues #13-17
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW HERE: The stakes are getting even bigger as the Illuminati continues to struggle with how to stop the Incursions. In this collection the Illuminati become aware of a team of superheroes from an alternate Earth, and this team is made up of analogues for members of DC Comics' Justice League.
Another good thing about this collection is that explanations are starting to come to light for mysteries that have been around since Volume 1.
One bad thing about this collection is that the artwork for the front-half of this volume was worse than what I've seen in this series before. It gets better by the end.
SPOILERS BELOW. I actually read this collection issue-by-issue instead of in the collected book. Because of that, I would write up mini reviews after reading each issue. This was done because I knew that I would one day want to post a review of the book somewhere and I wanted to remember how I felt about the book. I also like to sometimes use my reviews as a journal of sorts, leaving thoughts about the things I found most noteworthy inside each issue. Finally, I use these mini reviews to help me remember what happened previously in the story, as typically an issue only comes out once a month. With that being said, sometimes reading the issues in a collected format is a better experience because everything is fresh in your mind. On the other hand, I often don't want to wait for the collection to be released, so I buy the comics in issue format so that I can stay up to date on the story arcs.
Issue #13: This issue opens in an awesome way, recreating a scene we’ve seen before, but this time on an alternate Earth (Earth-23099, to be exact). There, the Illuminati is made up of Reed, T’Challa, Iron Man, Shuri, Professor X, Captain Mar-Vell, Magneto, and Black Bolt. Back on Earth-616, Black Swan convinces the team to build a Mirror, which is actually just a screen that can watch other Earths. This can be used to scan for Incursions. Reed knows how to build it. What Black Swan calls the Mirror, Reed used to call the Bridge, and it was a central piece of technology used in Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four run. We get our first look at the Black Priests in this issue. They are seeming all-knowing, vicious and completely unstoppable. They destroy the Illuminati of Earth-23099 with special words or incantations. Meanwhile, Dr. Strange is working on something in the spiritual realm. Loved this issue…other than the Dr. Strange stuff. Also, the artwork changed, and in my opinion, it is for the worse.
Issue #14: This issue pulls the same trick as the last. It opens with an alternate Reed (of Earth-2319) speaking to his version of the Illuminati (made up of a Betsy Braddock Captain Britain, Yellow Jacket, Black Panther, Dr. Doom, a Brian Braddock Captain Britain, Iron Man, and Emma Frost. Their Earth has gone through the fourth Age of Apocalypse, and Magneto now reigns as the savior of the mutants. As an Incursion starts there, the sky is blue. That means Mapmakers! The 616 Illuminati look on (through the Mirror) in horror as the 2319 Illuminati and a team of mutants are decimated by the Mapmakers and their automaton surveyors. Meanwhile, Dr. Strange offers to sell his soul at a place called the Sinner’s Market in exchange for enough power to move worlds.
Issue #15: During an Illuminati meeting, Beast states that repeated viewings of various Incursions have shown much repetition. A world is either (1) protected by their Black Priests, (2) attacked by the Mapmakers who are mining the Multiverse for Earths to destroy, or (3) two universes die as their two Earths collide. Reed and Beast discovered that they could use the Mirror (or Bridge) to look into the past of the Multiverse as well. They were able to track down three instances where Black Swan appeared in the past of the Multiverse; just little glimpses of her actions. The most interesting one dealt with an older Reed and Tony working with Black Swan to save their Earth, only to realize that she had no plans to save it after all. She talks about Manifold, and again I am reminded that this character is important. In the flashbacks, Black Swan talks a lot about some being she worships, Rabum Alal. I wonder if he will end up being an alternate version of a character that we already know. In an epilogue, we see Terrax and Black Swan talking telepathically, simply waiting for the downfall of the Illuminati, which will ultimately lead to their freedom. The artwork is not growing on me. In fact, I’m liking it less and less.
Issue #16: This is an issue I heard about and have been highly anticipating. While Black Panther is observing other Earths with the Bridge, he comes across a group that appears to be analogues for DC’s Justice League. They are called the Great Society, and they formed four years after Archetypes of J.U.S.T.I.C.E. fell during their version of the Skrull’s Secret Invasion. These six heroes of the Anti-Heroic Age, outcasts that banded together, fought against the mad science of the Xeno-Geneticists.
Here is the Great Society of Earth-4,290,001 (with the characters I believe they are analogues of):
Superman = Sun God – Real name = Zoran
Green Lantern (maybe) = Doctor Spectrum
Batman = The Rider – Real name = Wayne
Dr. Fate (maybe) = The Norn
Flash = Boundless
Martian Manhunter = The Jovian
The Satellite = The Tower (the headquarters of the heroes)
The Society is aware of the Incursions, and of what Blue Skies mean. They see the Sidera Maris (heralds of the Mapmakers), and know what they are called. This is not the first Incursion that they’ve dealt with. Then, I’m not sure what happens…it looks like The Norn puts on a Black Priest helmet, and uses their language to blow up the other Earth that is coming into the same reality as their Earth. Namor and Black Panther see him do this, and remark, “That is something different.”
Issue #17: The Great Society goes head-to-head with four Mapmakers, and they are hard to beat. They adapt quickly. Sun God uses a power that Superman doesn’t have to beat them. He lights himself up, and seems to go nuclear to blow the Mapmakers (Adaptoids) away. Another Incursion occurs immediately after this battle, and Rider points out that they are in big trouble if Black Priests, or worse, an Ivory King, is on the next Earth. The issue also has Black Panther and Namor looking on, and they have a big talk on morality and the inevitability of the end. Then they notice that the newest Incursion that the Society is experiencing seems to be with Earth-616. It is the Great Society vs. the Illuminati. They even see themselves. This is possible because the Mirror they are using to view the other Earths is curved through time so that they are seeing events two hours in the future. They are viewing their own future.
