Thanos Imperative #4 Review
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- Published on Monday, 13 September 2010 12:36
- Written by Kevin
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Thanos Imperative has been a spectacular event. DnA have been delivering on every level as they have showed how a big event should be written. With the supposed death of Thanos and the formation of the Cosmic Avengers in the last issue I cannot wait to see how DnA are able to step up their game with Thanos Imperative #4. Let’s see if Thanos Imperative #4 proves to be another gem or if it will be the first disappointing issue of this event.
Creative Team
Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artist: Miguel Sepulveda
Colorists: Jay David Ramos and Wil Quintana
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Cancerverse Captain Mar-Vell is torturing Namorita in order to find the 616-Universe’s Avatar of Death. Suddenly, the Cosmic Avengers appear on Mar-Vell’s ship. Mar-Vell is informed of the Cosmic Avengers appearance and sends out his army of Cancerverse heroes and villains to fight them.
We then see a huge brawl break out where the Cosmic Avengers are able to fight off the Cancerverse army that includes the Revengers and X-Men. Frustrated, Captain Mar-Vell decides to head into the frontlines and faces off against Nova. Even though Nova throws everything he has at Mar-Vell, Nova is unable to damage Mar-Vell at all. Mar-Vell proceeds to make quick work of Nova, Silver Surfer, and Quasar.
Over in the Cancerverse, the Guardians of the Galaxy are pissed over Drax killing Thanos. As they argue they see that Thanos has regenerated as Death has rejected him. Thanos, in his anger, kills Drax.
Back in Captain Mar-Vell’s ship, Mar-Vell senses that an Avatar of Life, Drax, has died in the Cancerverse. Captain Mar-Vell takes all of his army back to the Cancerverse. The Cosmic Avengers and the others on the ship think Mar-Vell is gone. However, a projection of Mar-Vell appears and he quickly uses his powers to cause his whole ship to explode.
In the Cancerverse, the Guardians are all shocked that Thanos killed Drax. But, before they can argue Captain Mar-Vell and the Revengers appear on the scene. End of issue.
Commentary
The Good: Sometimes, there are comics that you cannot say enough about how awesome they are. Thanos Imperative #4 is that type of comic. I cannott say enough about how amazing this issue and event, as a whole, has been. DnA are absolutely delivering what a real big event should be like with Thanos Imperative.
Just when you think things cannott get any bigger and better, DnA find a way to do just that. It is amazing seeing how DnA are able to top what they did in previous issues. Even though we do not get any scenes at the Fault or with Galactus and the other Cosmic Abstracts; the story never loses its feel of being an epic event. Everything feels big and more cerebral as we got to focus on the Cosmic Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy.
As awesome as the two page splash of the Cosmic Avengers line-up was in the last issue, it was even more awesome seeing them in action. If you were someone that did not know how powerful this line up could be then this issue absolutely sells you on this being the most powerful team in the Marvel Universe. Even though none of these characters are considered A-listers in the Marvel Universe, after seeing them in action in this issue you can be easily convinced that all these guys were A-listers. Watching how each member was able to fight off and take down the Cancerverse army, that included the X-Men and the Revengers, showed you just how powerful the team is.
The great thing about how DnA handled showing how powerful each member the Cosmic Avengers are is that they did not spend pages upon pages showing how awesome they are. Instead, each Cosmic Avengers got three or four panels showing them quickly fighting off the Cancerverse army before Captain Mar-Vell appeared on the scene. Each one of them was given a great moment. This made it a tough choice trying to choose a page to show during my Highlights of the Week post because they were all excellent moments.
No doubt the character that gets the best moment and lines in this issue was Silver Surfer. I am sure that made Brandon, our resident Silver Surfer superfan, quite happy. In this issue, Silver Surfer easily took out most of the Revengers. Surfer's line to Nova about how he will have to talk to Nova about Nova's definition of a "heavy hitter" later was great and cracked me up.
It’s also nice how DnA continued to push Nova as being the leader of the Cosmic Avengers. There is no doubt that, since beginning their run on the cosmic side of the 616 universe, that the character that has had the most development has been Nova. Therefore, it feels like Nova being the leader of the Cosmic Avengers is a direct evolution of that character development. It is a great payoff to a character that has been carrying the weight of the universe on his shoulders for so long.
Establishing how powerful the Cosmic Avengers are as a team also helped to show how powerful the Cancerverse Captain Mar-Vell is. It's kind scary seeing how Mar-Vell was able to take on Nova, Silver Surfer and Quasar at the same time and come out without a scratch. I actually forgot how powerful Captain Mar-Vell was and this issue was a great reminder to me of that fact. Seeing how Mar-Vell tortured Namorita and then blew up his ship with the Cosmic Avengers in it and not feeling any remorse makes you wonder how the heroes will be able to take down this villain.
I also love how DnA were able to draw parallels to how powerful Captain Mar-Vell is to how powerful Thanos is becoming especially now that his Death has rejected him. Throughout this event, Thanos has slowly been getting stronger and stronger to the point where our heroes cannot even try to control him. Now that Thanos is full of anger over being rejected by Death, he is the only character powerful enough to stop Cancerverse Mar-Vell.
The anger that Thanos feels over being rejected by the one person/thing that made him truly happy actually makes the character relatable. We have all had that something we wanted, but could never have. That feeling of anger over not being able to have that one thing we want is the same feeling Thanos is going through.
At the same time, DnA are able to maintain Thanos' status as an unstoppable monster with how he took down Drax. Thanos was already one of the most powerful beings in the universe in a calm state of mind. But, now that he has all this anger over being rejected by Death he is even more dangerous than before. This all helps to build the anticipation of the Captain Mar-Vell vs. Thanos fight. The fact that both characters are so unstoppable should make this an epic fight.
What also makes me look forward to the Mar-Vell vs. Thanos fight, is how will the heroes be able to defeat the winner of this fight. Star-Lord mentions that he has a plan B. However, with how powerful both these characters are it makes you wonder how the hereos will be able to prevail in the end.
I also liked how DnA used Drax as being the catalyst for Mar-Vell finding the Avatar of Death in Thanos. It was a good reminder of Drax being an Avatar of Life. DnA used that to help the story keep moving at a natural pace. The next issue should be a lot of fun with the Guardians having to fight the Revengers and seeing how the Cosmic Avengers survived the huge explosion.
To top it off, Miguel Sepulveda's artwork continues to get better and better with each issue. His pencils have always been excellent and what has held back his art from being amazing has been the coloring. Thankfully, the coloring has gotten better with each issue and you see that with this issue. The art perfectly captures how powerful the Cosmic Avengers, Captain Mar-Vell, and Thanos are. Everything in this book looks big. Sepulveda's splash shot of all the Cosmic Avengers appearing on the scene was truly awesome and should be made into a poster.
The Bad: I have no problems with this issue.
Overall: Thanos Imperative #4 delivers on everything it promises and then some. Things just keeping getting bigger and more epic with each issue as DnA continue their cosmic opera. With everything that happened in this issue the next two issues cannot get here soon enough. I cannot recommend picking up Thanos Imperative #4 enough. This is truly an epic event that you do not want to be missing out on.
Thanos Imperative
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