It’s that time, people. Can’t you feel it? Growing closer and closer. Lurking right around the corner. Dread it, run from…it still arrives. Oh my goodness, there it is! It’s another big crossover event! Dun Dun Dun! I’m not even looking at a solicit right now but ten bucks says that it uses a word like ‘huge’ or ‘earth-shattering’. Only time will tell what the impact of “Empyre” will be. Or if it’s actually going to be any good. It’s too early to call now since we’re not at the main event quite yet. Right now, we’re just on the “Road To Empyre”.
Written by Robbie Thompson
Art by Mattia De Iulis, Javier Rodríguez & Álvaro López
Lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna
The build-up to Marvel’s massive event series of the spring begins here—but in actuality, it began a millennia ago, with a challenge on the moon! In the wake of INCOMING, everything has changed for the Kree and the Skrulls. And out in the cold on Earth, the Warner family (MEET THE SKRULLS) need to work out what has happened and what it means for the future of their family and their race! And that means educating their kids on just how the Kree and the Skrulls first went to war!
That’s right folks, it’s a prequel issue! Oh you thought that “Incoming!” was the prequel to “Empyre”? Well…that kind of was too! I guess it’s Marvel’s policy that you can never have too many prequels or tie-ins. Is “Road To Empyre: The Kree/Skrull War” #1 essential reading? I would guess not but it’s still a pretty good read, I have to say.
This comic revolves around the ‘Warners’, a family of undercover Skrull agents on Earth. Cut off from the Skrull Empire, they reluctantly carry out their mission against the Kree as they reflect on what led to the millennia-spanning Kree/Skrull War in the first place.
It’s mentioned in the solicit but I’ll note it again, the Warner family’s full story is told in last year’s mini-series “Meet the Skrulls”, also by Robbie Thompson. While the first few pages of this comic give you the broad strokes of that mini, actually reading the full story can give you a deeper understanding of the characters in this issue.
A major strength in “Road To Empyre” #1 is the Warners’s strong characterization. The portrayal of Skrulls, the entire species that is, is usually monolithic. They are evil, shape-shifting aliens. Period. This comic continues to give the Warners the depth that the mini before it did. We see the negative effects that being raised in war, in a toxic culture that revolves around that singular cause, has on the family. All of them are tired of war, tired of their endless mission. Gloria, the mother, clearly loves her daughters dearly (and vice versa) but they don’t see eye to eye. The elder Skrull is determined to stay on-mission while the younger Skrulls can’t help but question their roles. Ivy especially is passionate in her campaign for peace. She arguably suffered the most for the mission and can’t imagine that the war was worth losing her father or all the pain she went through.
Artist Mattia De Iulis definitely does a great job with all of the Warner family pages. His art has a sort of realistic quality to it that’s heavy on detail. The Skrulls are often drawn the same too, practically identical, but the Warners are all distinct and unique here. Furthermore, a lot of the emotional moments in the comic’s script are made all the stronger by De Iulis’s artwork. I mentioned that the Warners were tired of war but a more apt word would probably be ‘exhausted’. It’s etched all over Ivy’s face how truly worn down this lifestyle has left her.
There are some stand-out moments, some really heartbreaking panels. I keep returning to the panel where Ivy is practically begging for Gloria to pursue peace, tears falling down her pained face as she clutches the back of the driver’s seat. Then there’s the moment where Ivy forgives the Kree for her father’s death and for her mother raising her to be a soldier and spy. It’s a powerful sequence and the silent, tense panels that follow with everyone in the car unable to look at each other, speak volumes.
Continued belowOn the other hand, the flashback pages are a bit of a mixed bag. This comic is mostly flashback/recap and while the segues into those moments manage to be natural in some spots, it’s noticeably awkward in others. You know how recaps like this can be. A character explains in detail something that the other characters should already know, stuff like that. The flashbacks also highlight some really weird parts of Marvel history. This might be my first time hearing about the Cotati, the Priests of Pama or a Celestial Madonna. It’s all truly strange and despite the creative team’s best efforts, it feels really disconnected from the Warners’s story.
Javier Rodríguez’s artwork in the flashbacks is great though. It contrasts very well with the De Iulis sequences. While De Iulis’s realistic pages feel very modern, Rodríguez’s style has a sort of classic, retro quality to it. Fairly recently, over in “Immortal Hulk”, he did the same thing to great effect, his work on flashback pages contrasting with the modern artist.
There are some standout panels on his pages too. I liked the Skrulls at a control panel, looking ominous under the lights. There’s also Emperor Dorrek descending from a UFO with ancient barbaric Kree on one side contrasting with wild, cartoonish Cotati on the other. I especially enjoyed the Hulking pages. I even laid eyes on Patriot a.k.a. Eli Bradley, always a plus in my book. I was all about Young Avengers when I first got into comics and it’s great to see his story retold here, however briefly. It will be even more interesting to see where Hulkling, as well as the Kree and Skrulls, are going. If this comic is a trailer for the movie, well, I’m pretty interested.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – War! Huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!
