The following originally ran in the Weekly Planet 7/25/18.
I don’t know if you heard, but a movie came out earlier this year called Avengers: Infinity War. You might have heard of it. Tiny little indie film. Most ambitious crossover in history. Think My Dinner with Andre but there are twenty-three Andres and they’re fighting one large Andre and four smaller Andres. The film was produced as apart of some “Marvel Cinematic Universe.” And I’m told that when one of these movies comes out, there’s often a comic to catch that wave.
Hitting stands this very day from Marvel (perhaps the lads behind this MCU?) is Infinity Wars Prime #1. Marvel mastermind Gerry Duggan (Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy) is taking the helm of the biggest Marvel event in a long time. He’s a phenomenally fun and witty writer. He knows how to make a comic page crackle with life. Duggan respects the legacy of this universe and characters but is always willing to have fun with it. He’s been warming us up to this series with a few issues of Infinity Countdown and they have been some of the wildest and most inventive in big event history. Drax the Destroyer played a saxophone solo boosted by an Infinity Stone. Groot learned to speak. Wolverine left the Space Stone in the tank of a toilet. He is IRRESPONSIBLE. It was wonderful.
And it’s all drawn by Mike Deodato, Jr. (New Avengers, Secret Avengers). And what a choice that is. Look at that cover! Deodato is sublime at bringing larger-than-life heroics to believable life. He can make you feel every punch in a close quarters brawl and drop your jaw with grand cosmic landscapes. He is so uniquely suited for this sort of book that it seems foolhardy to have even considered anyone else. He’s the best around. Nothing’s ever gonna bring him down.
Marvel is being very cagey about the finer details of this series beyond the bold proclamation that “Death Wins!” I believe this to be a good thing. Let us be surprised by these events. Let us not spoil both of this summer’s big comic weddings days before their release, eh?
Everything about this book promises that it will be more than worth your time and attention. Often these big comics events can feel perfunctory. But Duggan has been laying the seeds of this one for years, since all the way back in his excellent Guardians of the Galaxy series. And the time has come to finally pay it all off. I’m sure all of my favorite characters will be fine, right?
Right? …right?
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