Imperial #3: Wheels Within Wheels

“Who benefits?”

Read any good mystery (or, let’s face it, any Batman comic), and your chances are good that this phrase will pop up at some point. As the chaos of Imperial has unfolded, asking this question has yielded several deliberately unsatisfying answers, as many people, empires, and races benefit. But it’s not until now that writer Jonathan Hickman has tapped the brakes to unveil the true nature and scope of his intergalactic mystery… much to my delight.

It could be said that stopping the narrative midstream to backtrack would undermine a story’s flow, but Hickman knows what he’s doing. And even when he reveals the true nature of this conspiracy, readers will pick their jaw up off the floor when another twist reveals the true mastermind. It takes a lot to get this reviewer’s attention after three decades-plus of reading comics, but I can genuinely say this reveal caught me off-guard.

The scope of Imperial remains undiminished. Despite just being four issues long, HIckman has woven a tale that does not disappoint. There’s a density of writing here that crams enough ideas per page to put the final nail in the coffin of decompressed storytelling; fans of old-school cosmic Marvel are apt to be excited both by this execution and by the sheer nature of heartfelt detail written into every page. That said, the story’s momentum does – out of necessity – slow down as the true nature of it is revealed, which by its own virtue throttles forward pacing. It’s unavoidable, unfortunately, but now that the stage is set for the finale, I expect huge fireworks.

The art by Iban Coello, Federico Vicentini, and Federico Blee continues to sing. These three make a formidable team that are capable of pulling off both character-driven intimate moments and large-scale conflict with equal aplomb. Blee’s coloring, in particular, brings the two artists’ styles closer together than I would have thought possible, making for a seamless transition between the pair.