Infinity has nailed the larger than life scope that is expected from blockbuster comic book events. Jonathan Hickman has created a situation in which every character in the Marvel Universe must get involved in. There have been some problems with the structure of this event but the size of this event has been incredible. With all that has happened in this event through Infinity, Avengers and New Avengers so far things should only get more intense. Now let’s find out what happens next with Infinity #3.
Creative Team
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Artists: Jerome Opena and Dustin Weaver
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 6.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: The Builders continue their invasion, destroying various space stations and causing havoc on various planets. The Avengers and Galactic Council are only capable of watching the Builders continued invasion and trying to survive one of the attacks. These attacks grow to such a degree that they force the Centaurians, Kymellians and the Supreme Intelligence to surrender.
On the remnants of the Behemoth Ronan the Accuser informs the Avengers and the rest of the Galactic Council that he is returning to fight with the remaining forces of the Kree Empire. Ronan wishes everyone luck on their decision on what to do next and leaves the planet.
J-Son of Spartax is the next to speak up and tells everyone that he is going withdraw the remaining Spartax forces and make the decision that is best for his peoples survival. Gladiator looks at Kl’Rt the Super-Skrull and says that the Shi’ar will stand and fight. Kl’Rt says that he will do the same as the Skrulls do not back down from their foes. J-Son tells everyone that they are fouls for fighting back, especially the Avengers after some of their members have become the Builders prisoners. Captain America asks J-Son what he means by that. J-Son tells Captain America that he wouldn’t be able to comprehend his way of thinking and teleports back to his planet.
While Annihilus can’t believe that J-Son betrayed them Gladitor says that they will deal with J-Son later but for now they must figure out how to stop the problem at hand. Captain America says that this problem cannot be solved with Gladiator’s usual overpower solution, instead they have to play this smart. Gladiator asks Captain America if he has a plan. Captain America says he does but he will need one thing. Gladiator wonders what that is and Thor responds by saying that they need some bait.
One day later, above Hala, the capital world of the Kree Empire, the Builders’ Creator and Engineer discuss the surrender of Ronan and the Kree. Just then the Caretaker informs the other Builders that their sensors have detected a mass amount of ships entering the system and that they are already on top of them. The Builders know that it’s the enemy trying to launch an attack which they believe is futile but a good final lesson.
Inside one of the warships Gladiator says that the Builders took their bait and Captain America tells his team to begin attack. Inside one of Builders Planet Killers the Bruce Banner leads a team on an infiltration mission. Captain America tells the frontline group to buy the infiltration team more time. Even though the frontline group is quickly overwhelmed Captain America tells everyone to continue fighting.
Inside their main ship the Builders are confident in their swift victory. Just then their sensors pick up another attack coming from one of their own ships.
The infiltration team are shown to have successfully taken over one of the Planet Killers but the Builders quickly shutdown the ships power. Gladiator tells Captain America about the infiltration team’s problem but Captain America stays cool because he sent in second infiltration team to infiltrate another Planet Killer. Thor and Kl’Rt are shown having successfully taken over a second Planet Killer and they begin destroy the last of the Builders Planet Killers.
The Builders order their remaining ships to retreat while they teleport away before their ship is destroyed. Before teleporting away the Builders state that this action will not go unnoticed.
With victory in hand Captain America calls Manifold for an update on the rescue team. Manifold tells Captain America that they have rescued the captured Avengers. Before Manifold can tell the Avengers that they have to leave Black Widow tells Starbrand that it’s time for him to take action. While Starbrand tries to play stupid Black Widow says that he has the power to end this war and it’s time that he showed them he can. The Avengers then teleport away with Starbrand the only one left behind. With everyone gone Starbrand activates his powers to destroy every Builders ship near him.
On Earth the Thunderbolts and Mighty Avengers are doing their best to fight off Thanos’ forces. In the midst of the Earth invasion the Illuminati continue to search for the son of Thanos. Doctor Strange locates the son of Thanos but has a malicious look in his eyes when he reunites with the rest of the Illuminati due to being under Ebony Maw’s control.
On Attilan Thanos and his army have come make their way into the Inhumans throne room where Black Bolt sits alone waiting for them. One of Thanos’ soldiers informs Thanos that Black Bolt is the only Inhuman there.
Deep in the bowels of Attilan Maximus tells all of the Inhuman to move quickly into the teleporter. Medusa wonders where they are being sent to. Maximus tells Medusa that they are going somewhere far away and when they get there she will want to look up into the sky. With all of the Inhumans gone Maximus and Lockjaw head into his lab where he gets a crazy look on his face as he prepares to launch his armed device.
Back in the Attilan throne room Thanos tells Black Bolt that he knows that Black Bolt will pay the blood oath. Thanos proceeds to ask Black Bolt what his choice is. Black Bolt yells out ‘NO’ which sends a powerful sonic scream at Thanos and activates the device Maximus had ready to launch. With the device activated a massive explosion destroys Attilan. End of issue.
Commentary
The Good: The stakes of the latest Marvel event have been effectively raised with Infinity #3. With all that has occurred in the early parts of this event it’s incredible to see how Jonathan Hickman continuously raises the bar with each issue of Infinity that he writes.
As soon as I opened Infinity #3 what stood out to me was the scale of the event. This is not simply an event that is confined to one or two locations. This is a true space opera that spans the entire Marvel Universe. By seeing the major alien races in the Marvel Universe surrendering one by one to the Builders we witnessed that the true ramifications of Infinity is not just all the destruction going around the universe but who is governing the most powerful empires.
What is most enjoyable about Infinity #3 is how it reminds me watching a Star Wars and Star Trek movie. Much like in the Star Wars Universe we are seeing a battle between the Evil Empire and the Rebel Alliance. The difference is that this time the heroes are teaming up with the empires in the Marvel Universe that are fighting a villainous rebel group looking to control everything. At the same time Hickman draws into the whole Rebel Alliance by making the Avengers actions be that of a rogue group looking to do whatever it takes to defeat the Builders. And I love that it was Captain America leading the Avengers and Marvel Universe empires with a successful two pronged infiltration mission which captured that feeling of “Holy $#@% that was awesome.”
The way that Jonathan Hickman breaks up the different sections of Infinity helps to further strengthen the idea that we are witnessing a universal power struggle. Hickman shows that he has a great understanding of the fact that the hero is only as good as the villain that he or she must overcome. Through each section of Infinity #3 we are getting the full picture of how each side of this conflict is reacting to what happens in this issue.
In the middle of all this Hickman inserts good amount of drama in this issue. The fact that J-Son and the Spartax’s abandoned the Galactic Council in such a selfish was a good character moment. Hickman makes J-Son out to be the biggest jackass in the room while keeping in line with the fact that J-Son only cares about the well-being of his people. On the other side of things Starbrand’s moment to shine feels like it is a payoff to the characters build up leading into Infinity.
With all that happened out in space the end of Infinity #3 properly propels us to the next stage of this event while elevating Black Bolt’s stature within the story. Black Bolt’s confrontation with Thanos shows how fearless and selfless he is as he willingly sacrifices himself to save his people. The little action of Black Bolt buying time for the rest of the Inhumans to escape by letting Thanos continue to talk goes a long way in showing what kind of leader Black Bolt is. Maximus also plays his role to perfection as we get to see the sadistic side to his personality finally show itself in the final moments of this issue.
When it comes down to the artwork in Infinity #3 it is a big mixed bag with the backgrounds and set pieces looking incredible while the characters looking inconsistent. The only time the artwork truly looks incredible is in the final section with Thanos and the Inhumans. It’s the one time that the artwork comes together to tell a cohesive story through the artwork.
The Bad: One of the biggest problems with Infinity #3 is the lack of connection between the Builders and Thanos invasions story. When reading this issue I felt as though I was reading an issue of Avengers and New Avengers instead of an issue of Infinity. This lack of connection between the two stories makes it hard to think that they are occurring at the same time. Even the narration at the beginning and tail end of this issue fails to connect the two stories. This failed connection causes Infinity to look more like a support series to the Avengers and New Avengers series instead of it being the other way around.
The other problem with Infinity #3 is the fact that it makes no effort in being friendly to readers that are only reading the Infinity mini-series. While Hickman and fans can point to the chart provided in the back as proof of the reading order the truth is that it is just an excuse for not being able to fully flesh out story in this mini-series. As a consumer that is buying a mini-series I expect Infinity #3 to continue from where Infinity #2 left off. Instead I feel cheated because I have to spend more money to actually understand why the space Avengers team went from fighting the Builders to being in the desperate situation they are in. Then I also have to read another book to understand what the Illuminati have been doing since they barely appear in Infinity but are still featured as important players to both conflicts. As a fan it’s frustrating because I feel like I am being forced to buy another comic book instead of wanting to buy it out of my own interest.
Overall: For those reading the Avengers and New Avengers tie-in issues Infinity #3 will be an incredible reading experience. Jonathan Hickman is hitting it out of the park with all the stories he is telling in the Infinity titles he is writing. Every character involved is being shown to play an important role in this series with both the heroes and villains getting time to shine. The problem is that if you’re not reading the Avengers and New Avengers tie-in issues than it is hard to get fully invested in the story within the Infinity mini-series. If you’re willing to invest the money in the Avengers and New Avengers tie-in than you will love Infinity #3, but if you’re not than be ready to be cheated out of a complete story.