Marvel’s Imperial has arrived. With it we have been given a new hope of revitalizing the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe. The reason there is that hope is because Jonathan Hickman is working on this new cosmic event. Hickman has a track record of giving brand-new directions to franchises for Marvel. Most recently he’s done that for the X-Men and Ultimate Universe. Will this Marvel cosmic revamp by Hickman work out? Let’s find out with Imperial #1.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artists: Iban Coello and Federico Vicentini
Colorist: Federico Blee
Letterer: Cory Petit
IMPERIAL #1 SOLICITATION
“JONATHAN HICKMAN, FEDERICO VICENTINI AND IBAN COELLO TAKE ON THE UNIVERSE!
A sweeping Marvel cosmic event! Imperial is a story of intrigue, mysteries and war, which takes place against the backdrop of the formation of new galactic order in the Marvel Universe. Featuring HULKS, BLACK PANTHERS, NOVAS, GUARDIANS and COSMIC KINGS and QUEENS. It’s the must-read book of the summer!” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
Imperial #1 does everything you want from a big cosmic event to nail out of the gate. There is an epic scope. There’s political intrigue. And most importantly the characters involved have a sense of importance that their decisions during this event will have a major impact.
With this being a Marvel cosmic event Jonathan Hickman doesn’t shy away there being a lot of continuity that going into Imperial. What’s most impressive is that Hickman isn’t intimidated by that fact. He is not looking to reboot the Marvel cosmic side. Instead he is looking to give the Marvel cosmic side a new starting point. Which is exactly what Imperial #1 feels like. A starting point to jump in to find out what the new status quo will be moving forward.
Starting off Imperial #1 with Hulk, She-Hulk, and Brawn as our first point of view characters is a great call. This immediately gives fans who may not know anything about the Marvel cosmic corner a familiar set of characters to discover the purpose of this event. Through them we get that Hickman is using everything that other creators have done before to heighten the importance of what is going on.
Centering the opening around the Planet Hulk direction also worked incredibly well. Planet Hulk is an iconic storyline that has inspired other stories including the MCU’s Thor: Ragnarök movie. Using this setting helps to inform that we are getting different versions of Hulk, She-Hulk, and Brawn. They aren’t being presented as superheroes. Hulk, She-Hulk, and Brawn are warriors, which is further shown with the titles they are given when they land on Sakaar En Nevo.
The investigation how what happened with Hulk’s son being killed works as a connection point to the story of cosmic leaders being assassinated. The no nonsense way Hulk gets back into his Worldbreaker mode to establish his family’s leadership on Sakaar En Nevo accomplished multiple things. It set the stage for Hulk and She-Hulk to establish themselves as leaders within the Marvel cosmic side. And it created a sense of urgency to find out who is killing the galaxy’s leaders.
That all helps to give us a transition into the more continuity heavy side of the story as we learn the leaders of Sakaar En Nevo, Spartax, Empty Orion Chair, and Xartan Deviants have all been killed by a mysterious drug. There is immediate political intrigue with this as the power structure is being shaken. Hickman addressing if J’son was behind this was a nice callback to his past interpretations. It gave the opportunity to get over Star-Lord’s relationship with his father and who J’son is now after seeing his daughter be a leader and that taken away.
This scene set-up Star-Lord’s new role he gets later as he is thrusted into a cosmic political role. That is not something he nor the reader are used to seeing him in. Which made Star-Lord going to recruit Richard Rider to help him was a cool development. Richard has had a tough decade. Setting up Nova to become Star-Lord’s righthand man in this story is a great evolution of their chemistry, which Hickman shows off really well.
It all set the stage for the big galactic meeting that J’son was leading. Starting right away with J’son saying they already know who was involved was a strong statement. It emphasized that no one will be messing around. There is no time to be wasted as answers will be found.
The initial answer being that the Kree-Skrull were involved was a good way to play into the obvious direction many Marvel fans expected. The Kree-Skrull are easy characters to buy as being the villains for a big event. That is the role they’ve served in so many Marvel stories.
That helps provide the big swerve we get that the Wakandan’s are the ones being positioned as the antagonists for Imperial. It was a great surprise that created so many intriguing possibilities for the direction things could go from here. With all the players involved there is a high likelihood we will get many twists and turns right up to the end. And that is a very exciting place to be at the end of a big event.
The way the artwork responsibilities were split up between Iban Coello and Federico Vicentini was as well done as it could be done. Having a chapter structure made the transition between artists a smooth one. Both Coello and Vicentini got the chance to shine with how they portray the Marvel cosmic corner. They give a big, epic scope to every scene. Even when it only involves a few characters there is a vibe what is being discussed has a greater impact. That is a credit to the artwork.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Imperial #1 knocks it out of the park making this feel like the premiere comic book event that is going on right now. The scope of the story is properly epic as what happens here has a great sense of importance. The surprise of who has turned out to be the antagonist creates a lot of intrigue for what will be the new status quo when all is said and done.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
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