Imperative, Agents NOW

Well, I was half right, we could see the end of the The Thanos Imperative coming, or at least the defeat of Lord Mar-Vell and the Many-Angled Ones. Still, it was not disappointing in the slightest, I don’t want to offer any spoilers, but Thanos is up there in the uber-villain stakes again. My appetite is highly whetted for the sequel – The Thanos Imperative Devastation, as there are so many plotlines that have been left hanging during this event, and others that may well spiral out of it. How long will it be before Medusa is actually Queen of the universe, as her empire ‘assists’ the rebuilding effort? And what did happen to Vulcan and Black Bolt?

Sticking in the realm of the mega-event crossovers, Chaos War: Thor #1 was also released this week, and I have to confess I am impressed. A step aside from the gods measuring their mutual omnipotences against one another, Thor is cast from the battle and lands, well, somewhere, without his memory, where he is helped by a woman who moved to her family holiday home to mourn her deceased family. DeMatteis’ writing really manages to call into question the necessity for either gods or faith in a non-too-preachy fashion, leaving the reader with a few questions that may actually affect their real world lives.

As for where Thor is, well, isn’t everyone dreaming? What’s this woman doing here? Is this a dream? Is it the Land Of The Dead? I don’t know, but it enhances the value of the crossover above just that of a huge slug-fest. Too many super-hero titles seem to be in slug-fest season right now, so this is a nice change of pace.

The best treat I have found this week however has to be the relaunch of the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. Now I am too young to remember when the original series graced our news-stands but I was lucky enough to get hold of some issues a few years back. I rather think that Wally Wood would be proud.

This is one of those first issues that is a treat, rather than the standard fare, with multi-layered storytelling that does not thrust the characters origins down our throat. In fact, the central characters barely make an appearance until the last few pages, but we are given a full tour of the world they are emerging into. Either for lovers of the original series (and the many attempts of a relaunch since then), or for fans of series such as Checkmate or Suicide Squad, this will be a delight.