Against the fallout of someone mysteriously killing the rulers of the Marvel galactic empires, the fires of war are lit! As that conflict simmers, Nova and Star-Lord race to discover who is behind all these evil acts — a journey that takes them to the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda. Imperial #2 is written by Jonathan Hickman, drawn by Federico Vicentini and Iban Coello, colored by Federico Blee and lettered by Cory Petit and Ariana Maher.
Jake Murray: Praise Sharra and K’ythri, praise Bast, praise … her? … Imperial is back after a six-week break between issues. If the first issue was about delicately placing pieces on the chess board, this week’s installment was very much about subtly drawing them to the center of the board just to flip the whole damn table. Here to help me play 32-piece pick up is Tony Thornley. Tony, how did you enjoy this issue?
Tony Thornley: After an issue of political machinations, I did not expect this to go quite in this direction. And I liked it. Hickman is always catching me by surprise.
Skrullduggery
Jake: OK, so rapid-fire plot summary time. Everyone’s piling on Wakanda, convinced that their fellow Galactic Council members have assassinated a handful of their leaders. In the melee, the Shi’ar Superguardians capture Shuri, who proves false the accusations against her people. At the same time, the real perpetrators are revealed, as a Skrull masquerading as a Wakandan minister murders M’Baku. The Skrull plan this time? Murder Hulkling, separate the Kree-Skrull alliance and reinstate Skrull independence. The game is very much afoot then, as Skrulls infiltrate each Council member’s home base. However, they are merely a pawn in someone’s game. The long-con then comes into view. It’s all been a ploy to gather the major players as close to the Stargate as possible, simply to blow it to smithereens.
Tony, these Skrulls … they got us again. How did you feel about this reveal?
Tony: And you’re missing a big part of it.
They’re doing it in Veranke’s name.
That’s right, this isn’t JUST Skrulls being Skrulls. It’s a Secret Invasion sequel, baby!
I LOVED this. It’s an all-action issue, which is a trope that Hickman uses sparingly, but he uses it to create plots within plots within plots. T’Challa out-thinks three different empires to fight off the fleet. Shuri gets super-sciencey. Hulks hulk.
It’s all action, but in a very Hickman-styled “deeper than it appears” way. It’s all very fun, and just pure Marvel cosmic action. It sounds like Hickman is done with this story when the mini and its accompanying one-shots are over, and that’s just painful. I want a Hickman-written Cosmic Avengers out of this.
Jake: I really enjoyed this issue. It’s the sort of political spy-thriller masquerading as sci-fi epic that’s well within Hickman’s comfort zone. Think Infinity; the latter part of his Fantastic Four run; East of West. This is undeniably a good thing overall, but Hickman’s best stories are those where he challenges himself. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel like House of X/Powers of X, or introduce new cosmic mythology like his Avengers run, it’s very much Hickman playing by the Marvel story logic handbook. Imperial is a summer blockbuster with an eye on its sequel, and it works in that context for me.
Tony: You’re right, but it’s also doing a good job at establishing more relatable players as the protagonists in Cosmic Marvel. Here, it’s T’Challa and Shuri, without a doubt. Even with how out of character they were, it was Nova and Star-Lord, plus the Hulks, last issue. I think that’s maybe one of the biggest problems with Marvel Cosmic in general — the longer they’re spacebound, the less relatable the story is.
Jake: The one thing all summer blockbusters need is action, and boy does the art deliver on that. This is a phenomenal showcase of Iban Coello and Federico Vicentini. They both convey the epic scale and unrelenting chaos of this space epic with such clarity and dynamism. Their layouts, while there is space for expression, are by necessity fairly rigid. Although the dialogue is sparse, Hickman’s script is heavy on individual action components, so the art does a lot of heavy lifting. The reason this more structured approach works, though, is that it affords Hickman the flexibility to seamlessly jump from scene to scene, which contributes to the rapid pace and epic scale the issue is going for overall.
That said, the artists have limited opportunity to play with expression and emotion. The series still lacks an emotional core, but it’s clear that is simply not the focus or objective of this issue. Now that the short-play mystery has been revealed, perhaps the fallout will have both political and personal implications. It’s important that this series does both.
Tony: I totally agree. Both artists are knocking it out of the park. Honestly, before this series, if you had told me they’d collaborate in a way that I would have to reread each issue to pick them out, I would have laughed at you. They’re so complimentary, though, that the individualism gets lost in the moment. That’s a complement — too often artist switches are jarring and take you out of the story. Vicentini and Coello are like the artistic equivalent of a Jaeger neural handshake.
So I liked this a lot, and I think my only quibble is that I’m not sure who’s playing against the Grandmaster to the point that I’m not sure the reveal will be satisfying in any way. But hey, Hickman could surprise me there.
So let’s see what’s next.
Buy Imperial #2 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Jake Murray spends far too much time wondering if the New Mutants are OK. When he's not doing that, he can be found talking and writing about comics with anyone who will listen. Follow him @stealthisplanet.bsky.social.
Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist and all around awesome guy. He’s also very humble. Follow him @brawl2099.bsky.social.
