Hunger #1 – Review

Joshua Hale Fialkov (Writer), Leonard Kirk (Artist) Jesus Aburtov (Colorist)

The Story: Rick Jones is warned multiple time that a huge and devastating event will soon happen. Cue Galactus.

The Review: If I have a certain sub-genre of comics I really love in comics, it would be the space-opera/ sci-fi vibe that some stories like Annihilation and Infinity Gauntlet possessed. The big scales, the problems, the conflict and how the players need to resolve some problems that are way beyond their capacities can lead to great stories. However, this genre is not always well-presented in comics, as many tries to mimic it, only to fail without reaching the height of those cosmic stories. Does Hunger, so far, relate to the former or to the latter?

Judging from the first issue, I’d say we have a big chance that it will be the former, as Joshua Hale Fialkov seems able to deliver on some very key front in terms of cosmic stories, the first of which being the scale. As we see the Chitauri–Kree war develop and how the animosity between those two races develop, we also see the Ultimate answer to Galactus, Gah Lak Tus, the Watcher, the infinite depth of space and more, all being led up toward the arrival of Jack Kirby’s creation himself. The pacing and the exploration of all these elements is done rather well, letting the readers escalate throughout the rapid flow of information and exposition. Fialkov let us know that the cosmic background of the Ultimate universe is different, as he shows it aptly throughout the issue.

How he does so, however, is quite befitting, as our protagonist, Rick Jones, is presented quite well too. His balance between cosmically aware, yet his utter humanity and his younger years do help us readers absorb the information, either by humor or by juxtaposing our own questions throughout his voice. However, the character isn’t exactly perfect either, as his utter cluelessness about his predicament do lead us to question why he has such powers, something that isn’t helped at all by the vague explanation provided by the Watcher. A good character he may be, his role as our window toward what is happening is a bit less effective due to a certain repetition of his lack of knowledge.

Nova #5 – Review

By: Jeph Loeb (Writer), Ed McGuinness (Penciler), Dexter Vines & Ed McGuinness (Inkers), Edgar Delgado (Colorist)

Review: A strange thing has happened. I think I’ve actually enjoyed a Jeph Loeb comic book. I don’t know if the events over in Age of Ultron somehow impacted on our own universe, but something is definitely up. This is not the natural order of things.

After reading Nova #5 – the finale to Loeb’s scene-setting inaugural story arc – I’ve been surprised to come away with a keen affection for its eponymous hero. He’s young, headstrong and cocky, three character traits that usually leave me feeling cold. But Loeb’s vision for Sam Alexander is fuelled by an infectious sense of energy and an emphasis on a certain Silver Age approach to superheroics (one that’s proved rewarding for Waid’s Daredevil and Fraction’s Hawkeye); these heroes enjoy the day job. There are tensions and tribulations outside of the mask but freedom and escapism behind it. Sometimes it’s just nice to sit back and watch a superhero have a good time.

Nova #4 – Review

By: Jeph Loeb (Writer), Ed McGuinness (Penciler), Dexter Vines (Inker), Marte Gracia (Colorist), Comicraft’s Albert Deschesne (Letterer)

Review: It’s a mystery to me quite how this happened, but Nova is undoubtedly the best cosmic book Marvel currently publish – this issue seals it. I never expected that from Loeb. I thought this’d be a big, dumb, brash piece of fluff – and it is, I guess – but it’s also filled with the fun of sci-fi, of explosions in space, of weird aliens aboard even weirder ships. Guardians of the Galaxy could learn a lot from this.

This issue starts with out with Sam Alexander, AKA Nova, apparently unconscious, left drifting through space at the mercy of the incoming Chitauri armada. Just as they’re about to scoop him up he blasts away with a glib cry (“Suckers!”) and weaves through the Alien hordes before crashing into the mothership: “All I have to do is find the generator or the power core or the thingy thing that runs this beast – and problem solved – Nova style.”