Secret Infinity Chaos War? We've been here before.

This week I happened to read the reviews before the comics themselves, especially the Twitter based #ramarev reviews, where I happened upon this following comment: –

“The set up of Chaos War reads just like the start of Crisis on Infinite Earths from the 80s! Am I right? #RamaRev“

Well, I had been looking forward to the Chaos War since I first heard of it. Of course I did, I love these huge team-ups and it’s about time that one of these cosmic level threats actually hit Earth. With an introduction like that as provided by @cavalock, I was even more excited. I mean, an intro like the Perez/Wolfman classic? How could that be bad?

Unfortunately, if only it was true. This felt more like the intro to Secret Wars II, or maybe the second issue of the Infinity War (a series I have always liked, but I will admit, not the most admirable in its execution). Uber-omni-mega-powerful being arrives, everybody is gathered together, and a threat to the entirety of existence.

Now, I cannot fault the build-up to this storyline, all the way through Secret Invasion and the Dark Reign, and I really really hope that the spin-off event series starring the deceased members of the Avengers and the X-Men help justify the event.  Let’s not forget the original Alpha Flight, who are long overdue their third or fourth resurrection. Now that I am pumped for. Mind you, seeing the various heroes active in the afterlife, as long as it’s not just some great slugfest is a great idea not seen since the days of Marvel UK’s Hells, sorry, Dark Angel.  It would be nice to see an ongoing or two come out of these. Are we ready for a Dead Avengers ongoing? (I’m not counting the X-Men, they get reborn at too high a rate.)

Yet the timing of this plotline is not exactly perfect either. Over in the Thanos Imperative we see the threat of Life incarnate infecting the universe, while here on Earth Amatsu-Mikaboshi is pulling what is basically a Nekron assault a la Blackest Night, wanting to return the universe to the state prior to it’s creation.  Both threats appear to be logical deus-ex-machinas capable of negating the other one. Now I know which of the two I am enjoying more so far, unfortunately it seems to be more underplayed. Hopefully given time, Chaos War will demonstrate why I should invest so much money in this ‘epic by the numbers’.

To be honest, I have read a lot of Greg Pak’s other work such as X-Men Phoenix Warsong, World War Hulk and of course the Incredible Hercules itself; and I do have my fingers crossed. I can’t help but feel a trifle disappointed however, when the preamble was reasonably intricate and the potential so great that this first issue was merely, well, bland.