Imperial #3 Delivers Answers and Epic Twists (Review)

Imperial has taken Marvel readers back to space and it’s glorious. Writer Jonathan Hickman has been the best sci-fi writer at Marvel for a long time now, and letting him play in the vast sandbox of the greater Marvel Universe is always a good idea. Imperial is one of those twisty, turny narratives that Hickman does so well, and readers have been wondering about what exactly Hickman was building in Imperial since its first issue. Well, Imperial #3 gives readers a lot of answers, and the issue takes a series that has been pretty uneven (not bad exactly, but its pacing has been a problem and the mystery box is very complicated) and blasts into a new, jaw-dropping directions.

Imperial #2 ended with everyone on fire, and Imperial #3 picks up in the aftermath. The second issue’s pacing was a little too fast for its own good, but Imperial #3 takes the time that the second issue didn’t. Hickman has taken a large task with this book — rebuilding the cosmic Marvel Universe — and this issue goes a long way in setting up the conflicts that are going to be the key to the whole thing. Hickman loves cosmic Marvel and is giving it a much needed reboot. There are so many little teases in this issue, as well as the return of some Marvel favorites that are definitely going to surprise readers. I know I’m being vague with all of this, but I feel like the minutiae of this book is so good, that you really need to experience it without too many spoilers. As I was reading this issue, I found myself constantly surprised in the best possible way.

There are a few particular things I can talk about that won’t give much away, though, so here goes. The issue has some excellent pages with Hulkling and Wiccan, two characters that Marvel should be pushing to the moon but seems to scared to. There’s a line where Wiccan says that he misses Earth and it feels like one of those little in-jokes that Hickman makes to show that he’s as frustrated as we are about some of Marvel’s decisions. The scenes between Star-Lord, Nova, and Shuri are all pretty great; a lot of fans want to see Nova and Star-Lord together again, and this issue teases that it’s a possibility in the future. Finally, the book’s twist at the end is so wild that I have no idea exactly what Hickman’s playing at, but I’m here for it. Imperial was sold to us as massively important, and Hickman isn’t disappointing on that count with issue three.

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Artists Federico Vicentini and Iban Coello do some excellent work in this issue. Personally, I like Vicentini’s pages better. His panels are very busy in the best possible way, and he’s able to pull it off magnificently. There’s so much detail in every panel, especially the aftermath of battle scenes and when the Milano makes its trip to Fulcrum and than to wrecked Xandar, and Vicentini doesn’t get sketchy once. You’ll see how impressive that is when you actually read the issue — these panels are packed with everything you can think of and you can tell Vicentini worked his fingertips off to make sure each panel looks as great as they do.

While I like Vicentini’s art more, it isn’t because Coello’s pages are bad. Far from it, in fact. Coello’s pages aren’t as busy as Vicentini, but the craft still shines through. His work on the Grandmaster is amazing (I’ll talk about the Grandmaster, but not the other people in the scene because that would be too spoiler-y). Coello is able to capture the devilish cleverness of the character, giving him the smile of someone who knows everything and is playing a game multiple steps ahead of everyone else. This is tremendous visual storytelling, and his surprise when he learns what has really been going on is a thing to behold. Hickman’s twist is brilliant, and it works so well because of Coello’s deft pencils.

Imperial hasn’t exactly been everything that readers hoped for up to this point, and the third issue changes all of that. This is peak Hickman Marvel sci-fi, taking so many pieces and putting them together into an intriguing new shape. There’s not a lot of action, but this issue has so much going on in every page that it doesn’t need it. This issue is a jaw dropper, and it definitely delivers. Vicentini and Coello are on fire here, both of them bringing their considerable skills to bear on the script and bringing it life in the best possible way. Imperial #3 heats this series up and it’s honestly about time.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Imperial #3 is on sale now.