The Marvel Rundown: Past and future collide in BATTLEWORLD #1

FACE FRONT True believers The Marvel Rundown is back this week with reviews of Marvel’s latest and greatest Books. We begin Battleworld #1, a thrilling journey to Battleworld where the perfect timeline will be determined! For the Rapid Rundown we experience Kaiju Madness in Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #3, check in with everyone’s favorite member of the Fantastic Four with The Thing  #5, and drop in on the Ultimate Universe to learn more about their archer with Ultimate Hawkeye #1. Buckle up, Marvel faithful, because The Marvel Rundown begins now!

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Battleworld #1

Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Marcus To
Color Artist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham

Battleworld #1 sees Avengers antagonist Michael Korvac deciding to pull a Beyonder and assemble a Battleworld, a hodgepodge world that in this case consists of various Earths from various alternate timelines/universes. This is all in an attempt to rectify the messiness of the various timelines to create one perfect timeline because Korvac lived as a mortal for a while in the 2019 Iron Man series and that apparently has messed Korvac up for life. So we see an equally hodgepodge Avengers team assemble featuring the current older (and surely voiced by JK Simmons) Hank Pym and a slew of past and future heroes.

Writer Christos Gage is obviously having a blast here with Battleworld. The premise of a Battleworld is obviously a familiar one. Heck, Gage even has the more seasoned characters that experienced Secret Wars (Shooter and Hickman) and Beyond! bring this up. This iteration feels appropriate for the current zeitgeist of Marvel with its big emphasis on Nostalgia and the MCU’s affection for Multiverses. Gage gets to play around with some fun dynamics and still finds some heartfelt moments.

I have always loved how Gage characterizes Hank Pym either from the scripting on Avengers Initiative and Mighty Avengers to Avengers Academy. He brings a bit of humanity to Marvel’s most troubled Avenger. Battleworld #1 is no exception. Gage’s Pym always carries himself like someone who was the first modern Marvel Superhero and doesn’t really want to be that way. You can feel the character’s struggle with mental health as well as his years of experience on the page.  Hank is obviously the star of the book, and we get to see his experience play out with fantastic moments between him and the other heroes. There is one moment where Hank applauds a very young Spider-Man for doing well for himself in the chaos. It’s small, simple, but speaks to Hank’s character as a mentor to younger heroes.

While Gage’s character work is excellent, the plot of the book is a bit messy but that feels intentional as there is a conflux of worlds and timelines taking place without much explanation. One example of the cacophony of a plot is the fight scenes. There are two fights taking place between Sentinels from Days of Future Past and Maestro all in the same issue. While there isn’t much explanation or set up to the brawls, they do serve the character development and plot. Each one showcases small character beats and makes clear that these characters aren’t really that familiar with each other.

Marcus To’s art is quiet effective in its composition and expression. The panel and action composition are well done and framed. Each action beat hits with the intended impact and there is a sense of kinetic energy on the page that is palpable. To’s art captures the look of the characters very well to be evocative of their respective time frames. For example, Peter Parker looks visibly younger, King Thor looks grizzled and weary from years of combat, and Hank Pym is just over it all.

Battleworld #1 is a fun action-packed opening issue to this Hank Pym vehicle. I thoroughly enjoyed what Gage and To are doing here. It is a different flavor from the usual nostalgia series.

Final Verdict: BUY

The Rapid Rundown

• Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #3
  

  

  • Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #3 is another excellent issue by Gerry Duggan and Paco Medina & Javier Garron, even if again nobody really dies in this issue. (Come on, everyone, it’s Godzilla “DESTROYS” the Marvel Universe, we at least have to see someone get axed at one point ) My general desire for destruction aside, this issue features a great battle between Godzilla and the X-Men that really showcases why they’re one of Marvel’s best superhero teams. Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Rogue, Colossus, Gambit, Cyclops, Wolverine, Charles, and even Magneto all get in on some team-up action against Godzilla. From Magneto drilling Logan into the beast, to a supercharged deck of cards, the issue is a lot of fun, and for fans of the Kaiju, it’s fun to see how each attempt not only fails but also how Godzilla overcomes the attempts with pure power. The issue ends on a cliffhanger that promises the next one will be one of the most significant issues yet.
    The art is really well done and effectively conveys the tone of the story, making my earlier complaint about wanting some destruction somewhat moot. Medina & Garron make Godzilla appear rather silly while still making him look like a beast; the X-Men all look amazing, and the action is paneled really. There are excellent facial expressions involved, especially when Charles tries communicating with Godzilla; it makes a perfect reaction image. -LM
• The Thing #5
  

  

  • The great joy of reading this current Thing series by Tony Fleecs and Justin Mason is how freely it embraced what makes Marvel great. How Marvel comics can be way more fun when they’re casually interconnected instead of in countless crossovers. That Marvel heroes are heroic because they do the right thing when they’re at their lowest. Seeing an exhausted Thing fight Marvel’s bruisers as he attempted to return an old friend’s kid home was a simple premise executed brilliantly. This final issue nails everything that this book laid out in the beginning. Ben Grimm isn’t a hero because he beats people up but because he knows when he needs to fight. Fleecs’ script fully understands why Ben Grimm is the greatest of Marvel heroes. He could easily be a monster and be any of these people he fights in this series (well maybe not Hate Monger). Instead, chooses to do the right thing because that’s who fundamentally is even if he is a walking pile of rocks. Mason throughout this series showed a real faculty for moments of comedy, action, and drama. He draws the final fight between Grimm and Hammerhead as the explosive climax it’s meant to be. It’s a shame that this was only a mini-series as the creative team seems to get what makes Ben Grimm such a rich character. These five issues have been frequently exciting, very funny, and gets Marvel comics in a way most of the main line seems uninterested in being. If Marvel is looking for a team to take over Fantastic Four after Ryan North, these would be the folks to do it.- D. Morris

• 

  Ultimate Hawkeye #1

  • When they retooled the Ultimate line, most things stayed the same, Steve Rogers stayed Captain America, and Peter Parker is still Spiderman, but Hawkeye is a different hero, instead of Clint Barton, the Ultimates’ ace archer is a binary member of the Oglala Lakota Nation named Charli Ramsey. Ramsey has some things in common with Barton in that they are both a bit hotheaded and impetuous, but in this universe, it’s Ramsey who has the strong moral center instead of Barton who turns away from the hero’s life. With an arsenal of Stark tech super arrows, Ramsey uses them against evil corporations like Roxxon and Midas Inc. Before the main story, Ultimates writer Deniz Camp and artist Juan Frigeri tell a quick tale of Hawkeye hunting with their Stark tech. This is a very smart choice as it showcases the technological advantage that Ramsey has, foreshadowing the main story. And that brings us to writers B. Earl and Taboo with artist Michael Sta. Maria for this spin off which is a slight departure from the current mission that the Ultimates are on in their book as Ramsey is literally headhunting bad guys, but like De Niro said in Heat, “there’s a a flip side to that” and now Hawkeye becomes the prey in this book. What should be a simple infiltration mission becomes a twisted lesson for Hawkeye as they fall into a Roxxon trap. Highly reminiscent of the type of Murderworld death traps that Arcade uses in the 616, Hawkeye is faced with choices that wear him down for the final confrontation with Ronin. This isn’t a perfect book, but it is smart in that Ultimates way, it moves without sacrificing character, and Michael Sta. Maria’s linework is well-suited for this type of psychological superhero thriller. – GC3

Can’t wait for next week’s books? Catch up with past iterations of the Rundown!