Infinity #4 – Review

Jonathan Hickman (Writer), Jerome Opena, Dustin Weaver (Artists), Justin Ponsor (Colorist)

The Story: The terrigen mists causes immediate change to the planet, as Thor negotiates with the Builder on Hala.

The Review: Events comics have many things to accomplish, but the most important one would be to possess a sense of spectacle. Things need to be big, memorable, surprising on an even grander scale than usual. In a world where resurrection and world-saving battles are the norm, it can be hard to excite readers that can be jaded with the constant event-mode that is on-par for the big two.

Well, believe it or not, Hickman delivered with this issue, as not only there are big moments and rather spectacular twists, but he also manage to actually deliver on a saying that has become some kind of a joke these days in the comic fandom: the ”nothing will ever be the same” paradigm. It may be too soon to say so, as the ramifications of this event will probably be felt in the coming months after this event is done, yet there is a huge sensation of importance in display.

The issue is split in two bigger scenes, with one dealing with Black Bolt and the terrigen mist while the other deals with the war against the Builders. The former one is actually much more focused on the results of Black Bolt and Maximus action’s rather than moving the plot forward. The strength of this scene, though, is on narrating the ramifications of such events, with a good number of people now being changed as Hickman does some massive change in the Marvel universe. The way things are narrated and the way the scene switch from the effects of the terrigen mist to Black Bolt and Thanos fighting makes for a rather neat reading experience, enhancing the tension and letting the gravitas of what Black Bolt has done reach the readers.