The cosmic crossover epic from writer Gerry Duggan continues. With multiple infinity stones, mashed-up heroes and unlikely team-ups; this easily digestible adventure is an absolute blast.
***SPOILERS LIE AHEAD***
Emma Frost, Ms. Marvel, Hulk, Ant-Man, Loki, and Kang investigate the circumstances of the soul stone and discover a way to stop Gamora. At their moment of triumph, Loki screws everyone over and pursues his own agenda. Meanwhile, Adam Warlock and the mashed-up heroes continue to fight the universe-eating Devondra.
Gerry Duggan is a talented, veteran comic book creator. Having him and fellow veteran Mike Deodato Jr. at the wheel of this cosmic crusade has kept it from becoming overly complicated. This could’ve easily been a convoluted and confusing plot that lost people right out of the gate. Instead, it’s presented in a perfectly crafted package ready for consumption by any comic book reader.
Gamora’s motivations for remaking the universe may be shaky, but it doesn’t detract from this highly entertaining tale. Infinity Wars has been tapping a similar vein to the cosmic Marvel stories of old. Underneath the action-packed surface is a love letter to those old stories by Gerry Duggan.
Marvel as a whole has been going a little overboard with the mash-up heroes lately, but within Infinity Wars it’s a lot of fun. They don’t really play a huge role in this story so far, their stories are being told in the tie-in issues. Adam Warlock’s realization that these people are not going to consent to being undone is a nice touch that will make our finale all the more complicated.
Duggan does a really great job with our main team of heroes figuring out how the duplicate infinity stones work and how they divvy them up. Deodato makes it clear and interesting why each of them got their respective stone.
The turn of Loki is something we all saw coming of course, but it was no less effective. He’s also been getting a lot of play recently across the line of Marvel’s comics, but Duggan deploys him in a classic fashion that we never tire of.
Deodato and colorist Frank Martin really turn it on once the stones begin getting used on Gamora. Each attack on “Requiem” is creative and different. When Loki trust-falls into a pile of rocks is a great sequence. Deodato has always thrived with bigger, bulkier characters so naturally all of the Hulk scenes are superb.
The reveal of Peet and “Art” at the end of the issue ramp-up excitement for the finale chapter. Whether you’re following the tie-in issue or not, Infinity Wars is an absolute blast that hearkens back to the glory days of cosmic Marvel stories.
