This comic starts out with an interesting premise: a team of cosmic powered superheroes dealing with the extra-galactic threats to good ol' Earth. But while it initially delivers on depicting the superteam, showing imaginative use of their powers, intriguing interactions, and moments that balance the heartfelt with the awe-inspiring, the story then begins to sidetrack.
After their initial transformation of Galactus himself, and their expedition to the Outside, the team never faces off against a problem of that scale again. They end up tending to fight rival superteams they are equally matched against, and diminish by issue into the background. It eventually becomes clear that they've simply become occasional witnesses to the real story about Galactus.
Making Galactus a Lifebringer is an interesting twist, and it must've felt cleverly meta to make the distaste over his new identity into an actual plot point. But what hurts the story about the necessity of his change is that very little things of interest are done with him as Lifebringer. What does it mean now that he creates life instead of consuming it? Does he bring new sentient species to barren planets? Does he risk overpopulating or invading an occupied planet? If his old incarnation has become a boring joke, then do something creative with his new version.
The comic can certainly deliver on providing beautiful and touching sights from characters of all scales, from America opening up to her girlfriend fueling her willpower for grand feats, to an Eldritch Abomination turning out to be just a friendly extra-galactic astronaut, to Galactus and Ego sharing a moment of companionship over their humble origins. But it doesn't provide enough of those for its team that's supposed to do the impossible.
A celebration of cosmic Kirby, but not very much of The Ultimates
This comic starts out with an interesting premise: a team of cosmic powered superheroes dealing with the extra-galactic threats to good ol' Earth. But while it initially delivers on depicting the superteam, showing imaginative use of their powers, intriguing interactions, and moments that balance the heartfelt with the awe-inspiring, the story then begins to sidetrack.
After their initial transformation of Galactus himself, and their expedition to the Outside, the team never faces off against a problem of that scale again. They end up tending to fight rival superteams they are equally matched against, and diminish by issue into the background. It eventually becomes clear that they've simply become occasional witnesses to the real story about Galactus.
Making Galactus a Lifebringer is an interesting twist, and it must've felt cleverly meta to make the distaste over his new identity into an actual plot point. But what hurts the story about the necessity of his change is that very little things of interest are done with him as Lifebringer. What does it mean now that he creates life instead of consuming it? Does he bring new sentient species to barren planets? Does he risk overpopulating or invading an occupied planet? If his old incarnation has become a boring joke, then do something creative with his new version.
The comic can certainly deliver on providing beautiful and touching sights from characters of all scales, from America opening up to her girlfriend fueling her willpower for grand feats, to an Eldritch Abomination turning out to be just a friendly extra-galactic astronaut, to Galactus and Ego sharing a moment of companionship over their humble origins. But it doesn't provide enough of those for its team that's supposed to do the impossible.