Now that the latest huge event of Marvel is finally done, with its 16 parts divided in three series being released and available, it’s time to take a look back at the whole thing. Jonathan Hickman, alongside he army of artists, inkers, colorists, letterers and the whole team, gave us something rather different this time around, with a huge story that did things in a way that diverted from the norm established by previous events. However, what were the strongest and weakest points now that the story is actually complete? Does the story, as a whole, ends up being good or a missed opportunity? Let’s find out with a look at the best and worst that Infinity offered.
The Good Points
1. The scale of things – The story, dealing with a huge war going on in the universe, was nothing short of astounding when it came down to its scope. Not only did it bring out every members of the Avengers alongside other species best known to the Marvel fans, but it also brought out Thanos on Earth, creating something that was impossibly huge, spanning worlds and galaxies.
2. The cosmic stuff – For many fans of the Giffen/DnA era of cosmic stories, this event as a whole was a godsend. With plenty of panel and pages given to the Galactic Council, formed by well-known characters like Annihilus, Gladiator, Kl’rt the Super-Skrull, Ronan the accuser alongside others, it was an all-star cast of cosmic stars. Not only did they shine and participate, but they also evolved in the story, giving old fans plenty to enjoy.
3. Thanos – It would have been easy to actually mess up the Mad Titan in terms of characterization. Plenty have done it, yet Jonathan Hickman went on and gave fans the character as he was meant to be: a cunning, dangerous and nihilistic being with a vision. His presence and dialogue in this was well-handled, never putting him as just a mere nuisance but a powerful menace, one that could have destroyed everything if he had but gotten his way.
4. The concepts – Hickman is a writer that is well-known for having rather grandiose ideas, of being a man with a plan. Despite the slow build to this story in the main Avengers title, he actually made a lot of the seeds he planted bloom in this story, bringing the whole war in the universe idea on its tail, while taking advantage of it to create a double narrative, with a situation in the stars and one on Earth. The way he used terrigenesis, the Inhumans, the son of Thanos, the Galactic Council, the weakened Skrull empire and dozens of other ideas made for a rather interesting read.
5. The opportunities – Many events are done in the prospect to tell more stories, to shake things up in order to sell other titles spinning off of it. It is basic marketing, of course, but Infinity went on and gave quite a lot to the Marvel universe in terms of change. The cosmic landscape is different, inhumans are now blooming everywhere and some characters are definitely not in the same place they were in before the start of this event. There are many stories that could come from this, with a good lot of these with plenty of potential already.
6. The art – The whole artistic team on these books were simply great. Leinil Francis Yu, Jim Cheung, Jerome Opena, Dustin Weaver, Mike Deodato, with colorists like Justin Ponsor, Sunny Gho, Frank Martin and a whole army of inkers. The story looked big thanks to a lot of excellent effort from these skilled artists, which made the books that much more enjoyable thanks to them. Marvel went all the way to make this good and it certainly showed in terms of art.
The Bad Points
1. No cohesion – Many readers were starting to wonder how everything would connect, when the war against the Builders and the appearance of Thanos would actually be revealed as an elaborate scheme or something else. A huge twist was expected, only it never happened. The two fronts never connected. Sure, the war against the Builders did lead to Thanos arriving due to the absence of the Avengers, but that was pretty much it.
2. The Builders – There were some strong ideas behind this big group of beings that had the task of building and shaping worlds. The fact that they went on to destroy them instead made for a very tantalizing mystery, something that could be huge in the shape of the Marvel universe. Instead, their motivation went on to stay rather mysterious, with hints an teases but nothing more. The way they went on to be defeated was also rather anti-climactic, to put it mildly, which made them look more like a really awesome-looking distraction, but nothing more than that. They provided plenty of action and moments for our heroes to shine, but as far as antagonists go, they were rather weak.
3. The focus on certain characters – I really like Thor, Captain America, the Illuminati, the Galactic Council, Captain Marvel and the other characters that were heavily focused on. Really, I do. But it seemed that this heavy focus on these specific characters was a bit too much, as many of the others featured in the story seemed to be delegated as either window-dressing or simple exposition statues. Fans of the earlier mentioned characters were sure to be rejoicing, but those looking for more on characters like Falcon, the Imperial Guard, Hawkeye, Starbrand, Nightmask, Spider-Woman and countless others were sure to be a bit disappointed on the lack of focus or importance that they had. Sure, some of them were presented a bit more in tie-ins, like Spider-Woman, but not all of them had that chance.
4. The terrigenesis – Despite me saying earlier that the use of the inhumans was great in this event, I mostly meant the lore around them, with Black Bolt, Maximus, Lockjaw and the concept around them being rather spectacular here. There was a certain event, a major one in fact, that happened that seemed ripe with amazing opportunity to turn the story around: the terrigenesis. While the use of the concept and how it changes the landscape is nothing short of wonderful, it wasn’t used very well in the main story, if at all. Sure, Thane went on to have how powers and some humans were seen changing in other titles and tie-ins, but the lack of focus on the main title seems like a huge missed opportunity in itself.
5. Several missed opportunities – It seems like a huge point, and it kind of is, but there were so many points in this story where it could have gone big or huge, but never kind of did. Many of the pages where the Avengers are depicted saving the universe on alien planets are great, yet it feels like it could have been a rather amazing story to see how Captain America, Hawkeye, Hulk and other members of the Avengers are actually seen on other planets after how they brought the pain to the Builders. While how the Avengers are seen was a point that was brought rather well, more individual and character-building points were almost completely forgotten, which is a bit of a shame.
The Conclusion: This is not a review, of course, so there shall be no grade attributed here. This is merely a way to look at the whole picture and to bring forth a certain discussion on the whole thing. After all, everything here is subjective to everyone. I will make it clear that I actually loved the event, as many of the good points are some that resonate more with me than the weaker one. However, for some, it can be the opposite. Some loved it, some didn’t.
However, what was it specifically for you? Did you enjoy Infinity or did you despise it? Do you agree with my points or do you think I’ve missed several of them? This is, of course, something that is worth discussing, so come on in and put your thoughts in the comments below and let us see what Infinity actually meant for others.
-Hugo Robberts Larivière