THE FATE OF A WORLD RELIES ON THE POWER OF PHOTON! Still searching for answers as to why the universe has gone all topsy-turvy, MONICA RAMBEAU blazes into a forgotten corner of the cosmos. But even as she seeks help to put her friends, family and life right side up again, she encounters a group of wanderers who desperately need her assistance to survive… Monica Rambeau: Photon #3 is written by Eve L Ewing, art by Ivan Fiorelli and Luca Maresca, colors by Carlos Lopez and letters by VC’s Clayton Cowles
The issue begins with Jericho Drumm hosting Monica Rambeau and The Avengers at the alternate universe version of Monica’s apartment. I love seeing superheroes and a known supervillain like The Beyonder just casually eating beignets and drinking coffee together.
It’s too bad that Monica is too weirded out by Jericho Drumm to enjoy anything. She thinks that when she flew out into deep space in issue 1 of the series, she crossed over into another plane of existence and The Beyonder influenced her. Of course, everyone else thinks Monica is imagining things due to being traumatized by her mother’s death.
Just then, Monica gets a phone call from her mom, who says that her cousin Caleb has been asking about her. Relieved to seemingly have some sense of normalcy, Monica brushes off Jericho’s attempts to placate her and teleports to her parents.
Although Monica’s parents are alive and well, her cousin Caleb is much younger than the adult Caleb we were introduced to in issue 1. Realizing that something is still off, Monica tries to teleport back to The Avengers and Jericho Drumm, but ends up in a different version of her apartment. Everything is half-packed up, like someone is moving out and there is no one in sight.
At this point, it seems that Monica isn’t actually in a parallel universe, but rather teleporting between different versions of her life as it exists in the multiverse. For instance, Monica’s empty apartment could be a version of her life where she and Jericho Drumm got divorced and moved out of their apartment. This leads me to believe that there is something wrong with Monica’s powers and that it is affecting where she teleports in the multiverse.
However, Monica thinks the problem is the Stone of Hala, the magical artifact that she delivered to her universe’s Doctor Strange back in issue 1. When she tries to pay another visit to Doctor Strange, it is not Strange who answers, but Wong. In the current universe Monica is in, Wong is the Sorcerer Supreme and Doctor Strange doesn’t exist.
Some brief exposition from Wong explains how the Stone of Hala was discovered by the Kree. It originated from a place where different worlds in the universe collided, and has the power to blur the lines between realities. It is also sitting safe and sound in a magic jar, and so isn’t the direct cause of Monica’s current problem.
However, Monica still wants to pinpoint exactly where in the universe it came from in order to see if handling the stone might’ve affected her powers. Closing her eyes, Monica uses her powers to trace the energy signature coming from the stone and then teleports into space again.
I really love Carlos Lopez’s colors in the pages that show Monica standing in the middle of space, especially when the colors change from purple to blue to reflect Monica tapping into her powers. You see, Monica’s electromagnetic spectrum abilities allow her to see anything, even planetary areas that aren’t visible to the naked eye. This is the case for where Monica teleported to in order to find the space origins of the Stone of Hala.
After walking down a glowing path of light, Monica finds herself inside some sort of spaceship filled with blooming plants and seemingly no one around. Monica commenting, “Somebody’s been watering these plants. I leave town for a week and my plants be dead,” gave me a chuckle.
Anyway, Monica soon finds a green alien named Tahem, who explains that Monica is in a place known as the Guardian Hall of Charos. When Monica mentions the Stone of Hala, poor Tahem burst into tears. It turns out that Posa, another green alien, knows more about the stone, but is gravely ill along with every other alien on the ship except Tahem. Since Tahem is no medical doctor, he has been helplessly watching over his dying lover Posa and the other Charos beings.
Eve Ewing has created a promising bit of lore here with Tahem and the Charos people. Based on Tahem’s explanation, they are a nomadic group that have cultivated a sense of home and belonging through their bonds with each other rather than a particular planet. This makes their current situation heartbreaking to see, especially when Monica uses her powers to perform an X-ray on Posa and discovers a tumor.
In another clever display of her powers, Monica then does low-level radiation therapy on Posa to get rid of the tumor. While it takes a few tense moments to take effect, it is a success that allows Monica to cure every other member of the Charos.
Given how Monica has felt useless to others in previous issues and discombobulated by popping up between alternate realities, it is nice to see Monica do something helpful for others that doesn’t involve fighting someone.
Clayton Cowles’ lettering in the panels where Posa states, “The lives of our people, Monica Rambeau, have always been connected to the cosmic balance of the universe, that which is knowable, and that which remains hidden,” is notable because it hints at Monica’s potential to somehow use her powers to fix whatever is going on.
Once Posa and the others get their bearings, Posa explains that she thinks the universe is folding in on itself and that there is something in the universe that shouldn’t exist. Maybe the Stone of Hala is related to it, but Posa can’t know for sure until Monica brings her the stone.
The issue ends as Monica teleports again and runs into Dr. Karla Sofen, Moonstone, the woman Monica fought in issue 1. As Monica tries to explain her situation, Karla states to Monica’s dismay that Monica broke the universe. As I mentioned earlier, I believe that Monica’s powers, as well as her current mindstate, affect where she has been teleporting. However, I can’t see how that would affect the entire universe unless Monica has some unexpected cosmic origin. Hopefully, we’ll get some answers in issue 4.
Latonya Pennington
Latonya Pennington is a freelance contributor whose comics criticism can be found at Women Write About Comics, Comic Book Herald, Newsarama and Shelfdust, among others.
