Empyre Tie-ins Week of 7/22: Seeds of War

Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling
Chip Zdarsky & Anthony Oliveira – Writers
Manuel Garcia- Penciler
Cam Smith– Inker
Triona Farrell– Colors
VC’s Travis Lanham – Letters

Lords of Empyre: Hulkling #1 was a high point of the tie ins this week. Empyre is the story of three warring alien nations using Earth as a battlefield- which sets a pretty serious tone. Lords of Empyre: Hulkling, in contrast, is a fun but still impactful tale of how the Young Avenger came to lead an armada to Earth. Chip Zadarsky and Anthony Oliveira seamlessly jump from humorous quips of a drag queen, while Teddy and his friends fight off Skrulls, to the heart-wrenching choice Teddy must make between his destiny and his love. Manuel Garcia and Cam Smith have managed to create my favorite portrayal of Hulking, embodying the earnest and goofiness that makes the character so endearing in their art, and Triona Farrell adds vibrancy with colors.

Empyre: Avengers #1
Jim Zub – Writer
Carlos Magno – Artist
Espen Grundetjern – Colors
VC’s Cory Petit – Letters

Empyre Avengers #1 covers a lot of ground as three different teams of heroes deal with the fall out of the battles started in the main title. Due to the split focus, the issue is mostly setting the groundwork, but Jim Zub manages to add personality in the moments between beautiful action scenes by Carlos Magno and Espen.

Empyre: X-Men #1
Jonathan & Tini Howard – Writers
Matteo Buffagni – Artist
Nolan Woodard – Colors
VC’s Clayton Cowles – Letters

Empyre X-Men #1 delivers a fun concept, even if it leaves behind some continuity questions at its base. In all Wanda’s research, she didn’t notice that Death almost died, partially due to the X-Men’s resurrection protocol? Did she just make a mess of Genosha and then peace out to be in Empyre Avengers? And say nothing of super-powered zombie hoard? But when it comes down to it, who cares? Jonathan Hickman and Tini Howard give us Plants vs. Zombies vs. the long hinted X-Corp vs. a returning recent fan favorite. Between the ridiculous plot and the personality on the page in the art by Matteo Buffagni and Nolan Woodard, it doesn’t need to make sense.