Infinity

Just had to chime in, since I saw this was getting a lot of negative reviews. My review is based only on the story, which I've read several times, and has nothing to do with this particular hardcover package.

This is an excellent superhero/cosmic Marvel story. If you don't like Marvel and you don't like superhero stories, which seems to be the case with some of the other reviewers, you won't like the story. I'm not sure why you'd even check it out and review it if that were the case.

Is it predictable and formulaic? All in all, I suppose so... the good guys win, but, again, if you like mainstream type comics it's really good. If you usually read indie comics and think the Walking Dead is intellectual, go elsewhere, this is not for you. Hickman's writing is great and there is a great mix of sci-fi and superhero themes. There are some moments that made me cheer out loud and the artwork, which is always slightly more important to me than story, is excellent.

I would agree with one of the reviewers who said that they felt lost because they hadn't been keeping up with the Avengers. I would definitely recommend reading Hickman's run on Avengers (I think two trades, total) before this, as the entire thing from issue #1 is pretty much a lead-up to the Infinity story.

Collects Infinity issues #1-6, New Avengers issues #7-12, Avengers issues 14-23, and Infinity: Against the Tide Infinite Comics issues #1-2

There is a cosmic threat so big, that all of the Avengers are forced to leave Earth to address it. While in space, a Galactic Council made up of humans, Kree, Skrull, the Brood, the Shi'ar, Annihilus, and other aliens team up to address this seemingly unstoppable enemy. Meanwhile, with the Earth’s mightiest heroes away, Thanos launches a full-scale attack on Earth. He is acting with a purpose, however his goal is a mystery for the first half of the book.

Infinity: Against the Tide Infinite Comics issues #1-2 are starring the Silver Surfer, and the story acts as a prelude the Infinity storyline. Strangely, Silver Surfer doesn’t appear anywhere else in this entire collection.

Spoilers:

-New Avengers #7: This issue is setting the stage for future stories. Doom asked Richards and Strange about the battle with the people from the other world, but they denied knowledge of this. Wakanda decided to go to war with Atlantis even though Namor offered a truce. Meanwhile, Reed has built a lot of Antimatter Bombs for future Incursions, although none have happened for 28 days.

-T’Challa’s sister is Queen of Wakanda, and she is the one that declared war.

- Avengers #14: Issue opens with mayhem around the world and every single Avenger is trying to help stop the madness. All these events are due to the changing evolution of Earth because of Ex Nihilo’s origin bombs.

Avengers #15: More fighting. And something is happening in space. S.W.O.R.D. detects something menacing. Captain Universe speaks in more riddles about the beginning of the end as someone big heads towards the Avengers.

-Captain Universe tells Manifold to warn the Avengers that they haven’t finished the machine in time and that they need the power to destroy a world in order to protect their world.

Avengers #16: I was happy to see Starbrand and Nightmask back in the story in this issue. Nightmask tells Starbrand that they could have left their cell in the Dyson Sphere (see New Avengers vol. 1) anytime, but Kevin is still learning to be a Starbrand. He is no longer a man. Men have many limits, and Kevin now has very few.

In other news, that thing that was heading towards the Avengers (a robot or something) completely took them out. A.I.M. is trying to get it back because they were previously in possession of it even though Ex Nihilo is to blame for its existence.

Avengers #17: A.I.M. caught the machine/entity and trapped it using the same strategy they trapped Hyperion with. They put it between two dead universes, inside the infinite whiteness.

This issue gets pretty good when Manifold brings back a message from Captain Universe. She has warned them of a great danger that is coming, and has instructed them that the Avengers need to get bigger. She specifically indicated that four new members needed to join the team, and Cap and the others heed her advice. By the end of this issue, not only are Starbrand and Nightmask made members of the team, but Ex Nihilo and Abyss are asked to become Avengers. They accept, and the narrator (who I believe to be Starbrand) foreshadows that these were the last great days of the Avengers before a season of death. The book then tells us that this is the end of the prelude, and because I know what big storyline happens next, I realize that all of the series thus far has been set up for "Infinity."

-Infinity #1: I thought that Thanos was the main villain, but it looks like the Builders (ancient species shapers and system builders, the oldest civilization in the universe, creators and engineers) may also play a villainous role.

-New Avengers #8: Black Bolt is working on something with Maximus, and it is confusing. I’m not sure what is happening, but Medusa doesn’t seem to like it because she slaps Black Bolt. Meanwhile, T’Challa tricks Namor into thinking that peace is an option, while elsewhere Atlantis is attacked. The issue ends with a worldwide invasion by creatures I don’t recognize. Not sure what is happening here. This volume is harder to follow than the last. I wonder if reading Avengers Volume 2 will help some of this to make sense, because I may be experiencing an Infinity tie-in story since that is the name of this volume. I was hoping that it could stand on its own two legs, but it appears that New Avengers is being sucked into the crossover.

-New Avengers #9: Thanos reviews a stolen memory from Black Bolt’s brain. It is of the Illuminati losing the Infinity Gems. Thanos noticed that all were destroyed except one, which disappeared. He wants that one, and when asked why, he replies that even one Infinity Gem can make you a god. Thanos’ army attacks all the places where the different members of the Illumniati are, and Namor pretends to surrender in order to “admit” where the final Gem is. He then tricks Proxima to send all the armies of Thanos to Wakanda (you know, because he is at war with them). When it seems like things can’t get any worse, the Illuminati’s early warning system in their hands go off. An Incursion is about to take place! Meanwhile, Black Bolt’s mean bother, Maximus, is talking about things like he knows more than he should. Does he know why the Incursions are happening?

-Thanos’ team of generals is called the Cull Obsidian (which means Midnight Slaughter). They also go by the Black Order. The members are Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Black Dwarf, Supergiant, and the Ebony Maw.

-New Avengers #10: The Illuminati was scattered, but they come together in Black Bolt’s secret hiding place (a pocket dimension, maybe?). It turns out that Black Bolt has discovered Thanos’ true goal for attacking Earth. He is looking for his son, and he plans to kill him. Apparently, the son he wants dead is living amongst the Inhumans, and is between the ages of 16 and 22. All of the members of the Illuminati, except Black Bolt, spread out to find the kid, but Doctor Strange is under the influence of the Ebony Maw. By the end of the book, the Maw has released Strange, but not before finding Thanos’ offspring.

-In one of the Infinity issues, not sure which one, Black Bolt ignites a Terrigen bomb that spreads the Terrigen mist across the whole Earth, activating anyone with Inhuman genes.

-In this same issue, shortly after the bomb goes off, Black Bolt faces Thanos. Black Bolt uses his super strong voice powers, but it looks like Thanos killed him. This is all over Thanos finding his hidden, Inhuman son. When the mists reached Thanos’ son, Thane, his new power killed tons of people around him.

-I don’t know why it never occurred to me, but now I know why the Builders are attacking. Captain Universe confronts them and asks when death became their way, and they tell her that all the universes are dying and that Earth is the axis point. Their plan is to obliterate Earth to destroy the axis point for all of the multiverse-collapsing Incursions. Everything I’ve read so far in New Avengers has led up to this event.

-New Avengers #11: The issue opens in the wake of the fall of Attilan after the explosion of the Terrigen bomb. Meanwhile, the Illuminati members are preparing to act in light of the latest Incursion, when an Aleph robot from the other universe approaches them. The robot brings them to two beings from the other side, a Builder and an Engineer. These two are joined by beings that look like Ex Nihilo, however they are the color red instead of yellow. Also, instead of an omega sign on their torsos, they have two circles. One of the Ex Nihili notice that something is wrong with Dr. Strange’s mind, and literally shoves his arm into Strange’s head to pull out the outside presence. While attacking Wakanda, and taking over Necropolis, Thanos’ army finds the Illuminati’s antimatter weapons cache. They also find the prison with the alternate Terrax and the Black Swan.

-The alternate Builder explains that their kind used to be able to travel all through the multiverse until the destruction of their Superflow machine. They then explain that not just one Earth, but all the Earths of the multiverse must be destroyed because Earth is the axis point for the Incursions. The hope is that once all of the Earths are destroyed, the rest of the multiverse will be safe. Reed seems to agree with the idea, so they Illuminati are tasked with destroying their own Earth.

-Side Note: The cover of New Avengers Issue #11 is my favorite in the series so far!

-After Thor killed one of the Builders, the rest of the species fighting back against the Builders gained confidence. They fought back, under the banner of the Avengers, and won the war against the Builders. Before Cap and the team could enjoy the taste of victory, they got word that Earth had been taken over by Thanos.

-The Maw starts manipulating Thane, and eventually gets him to use his power to defeat Thanos. Thane wins the war for the Avengers. Apparently, his new Inhuman power is that his left hand brings death, and his right hand encases people in an amber cube. The Maw gave Thane a containment suit so that he would have control over his new power. Later, they leave Earth together.

-Maximus and Lockjaw start spending a lot of time with the Illuminati.

-The Kree, Skrull, and Shi'ar agree to fight alongside the Avengers to retake Earth.

-Cannonball and Smasher are beginning a relationship.

-Ronan kills Black Dwarf with his awesome hammer. He then re-enters the good graces of the Supreme Intelligence.

-I think Maximus kills Supergiant, but I’m not exactly sure what happens in the scene where he triggers the antimatter bomb. I think it somehow teleported away with Supergiant. I’m not positive if Lockjaw teleported too, or stayed behind with Maximus.

-Cap and Hyperion team up and kill Corvus. Proxima is mad, but gets trapped in the amber with Thanos.

-Before being trapped, Thanos easily takes out the Hulk, and even puts up a fight against Thor.

-Proxima had the power to change Hulk back to Bruce.

-Black Bolt reveals to Maximus that he always planned to detonate the Terrigen bomb to start a new age of Inhumans. This would have happened even if Thanos hadn’t attacked.

-Ex Nihilo and all his people start a new society on some world.

-There is some foreshadowing that the Skrull were born for conquest and expansion and will be a menace to the Avengers again (even though they helped them during this war).

-Annihilus and his drones from the Negative Zone gain access to the planet, Praxis-2. They take it over and rename it Annihilation World.

-“Under the discipleship of the Ebony Maw, Thane, son of Thanos, would grow to become something worse than his father could have ever dreamed. A fitting match for what we learned was a dying universe. A fitting match for the end of everything.”

-The Illuminati kept the imprisoned Thanos in case they need him during the fight against the collapsing multiverse.

-New Avengers #12: This issue appears in the collection for Infinity, but it comes after the Epilogue. The story starts with T’Challa getting shunned by his Wakandan family and friends because he has been secretly working with their great enemy, Namor. Meanwhile, something mysterious is going on with Black Bolt and Maximus. It sounds like Black Bolt intends to lie about some things. Elsewhere, Dr. Strange plans to use the Blood Bible to stop the Incursions, but it is very dangerous. Back at Necropolis, Beast, Reed, and Tony are meeting with Black Swan about how they should proceed with trying to save the multiverse. She starts naming off all these people and, although we have never heard of them before, it is implied that they are extremely powerful. Comparing Thanos’ might to theirs would be like comparing a dog to a demon.

I'm used to some pretty epic stories when it comes to Thanos (best villain in the Marvel Universe in my opinion). He has played so part in so many good well written universe shattering stories that I'm not used to seeing this lower quality use of the character.

First, the story as a whole teeters between confusing and boring. There are so many times you are just reading words on a page and it seems completely disjointed from what you are looking at. From the first moments it is just confusing. You have these word bubbles that use unfamiliar language syntax. I get what they are going for, they are trying to make this force seem alien, to make the audience as confused as the characters are supposed to be about what is causing this... but it largely fails on this front. It's because the characters don't seem confused at all, they just seem like it's just another day with another mystery that will be solved by page 20, there is no weight to the writing.

This lack of weight also carries through the rest of the book. The lack of tension in a story that is clearly suppose to filled with it makes it read like a newspaper article that is stating just the facts:

"A man got into a car accident"
"Reed Richards discovers secret to alien invasion"

I have been noticing a trend with these large stories for some time though. The issue is that such a big story with so many different characters makes for bad writing almost inherently. World War Hulk was good from the character books and was not nearly as good from the overarching book perspective. This is a mark against Marvel though. They constantly fill their stories with fluff like this. Infinity is not very good, but the Avengers books based around Infinity are (as an example). There is no reason to have these events happen in these overarching books except to sell more books.

Thanos is on the cover of this book. That is clearly faulty marketing. His character plays a very minor role in this story. His story is almost like a side story happening outside the main story of the book. It's almost insulting to someone who has loved Thanos as a villain since the Ron Lim Silver Surfer days. I partially get it, Thanos is what Marvel is pushing as the ultimate villain in the MCU, so they are now just throwing him into stories, but they seem to be doing little more than burning him out as a character for people like me.

I think the most insulting part of this is the cover price. Don't get me wrong, I didn't pay full price as I bought this from Amazon. But it was still pretty heavy on the wallet and am used to a higher level of story telling than this. The idea is that they were putting a whole lot into this, and for other books it worked out really well (AvX, for example), but this is just not a well written story. I could not suggest this to any but the most devoted of fans, but even then it would be a hard sell.

This is drivel, pure drivel, a huge colossal mess. This type of story is completely archaic and obsolete.Every played out stereotype and cliche is included within. I'm sorry, but what I complained about in one of the single editions, still applies, even more so. Sorry Hickman, we're in a Game of Thrones world now, this foolishness just doenst cut it. I for one expect major characters to be killed off constantly and if they arent, then comics are just stuck in perpetual and formulaic loop that no intelligent person could possible care about. Imagine all of the heroes of the entire universe, and the greatest of them all come from an earth that has no technology, and no empire,think about it. America is no longer indispensable just here on earth, its indispensable in all of the universe, nay, in all of the multi-verse even. These ancient intergalactic empires need Captain America and Thor? Where are the gods from the other empires? Captain American and Carol Danvers(gazing into each others oh so blue eyes before overcoming "insurmoutable odds"? This stuff is STRICTLY written for the 40 year old virgin crowd. No one dies, no one punks out, no one makes a mistake, from Reed Richards on down the line. Oh, we have the occasional idiot like Tchalla, who seemingly always has to be corrected,educated,informed, and never gets the last word or contributes anything of value, but other than that?
They "Worfed" Tchalla. Remember (of course you don't) in TNG, Worf was a genius when around Klingons because he had the most contact with humans, but whenever around the humans he was something of a fool, because ultimately, he was just a Klingon? Thats pretty much what Hickman does to Tchalla, even though in the end he's crap even in his own obliterated kingdom of Wakanda. But really, worlds become "Avengers worlds" they held here, they rallied there. Its just absolutely sickening. Bendis himself couldn't have done it any worse. The only redeeming part of the story were Thanos and his minions. They were cool, the story would have been much better if they had won. The entire marvel universe needs to be wiped out once and for all, NEVER to return. The product has become total garbage.

Avengers and cosmic allies must fight the march of the Builders as they sweep towards Earth, meanwhile Thanos attacks. Another OHC I'm just getting around to from my shelf in 2015, this is another Hickman outing (I erroneously read his Secret Wars before this) and it's an enjoyable read. Annihilation really whet my appetite for Cosmic Marvel and this has elements of that with a lot hearkening back to similar plot lines of Annihilation and Annihilation Conquest. It was amusing watching Annihilus spout his various asides and hiss menacingly during the various council meetings, while the Brood queen watched on. Some great art too, now I'm moving on to the companion volume. Recommended! (j4.)

Brilliant cosmic crossover event from Jonathan Hickman. With the Avengers off world fighting the Universe-seeding god-race the Builders, the mad Titan Thanos sees his opportunity to strike at the earth; his target is not quite what you would expect and a mystery from the Inhumans past bears bitter fruit. This leads directly to the (somewhat disappointing) Inhumanity storyline, and also to the more subtle and impressive Thanos; A God Up There Listening.

For one of the most hyped up Marvel events of 2013- I was excited to pick up the massive Infinity - a whopping 632 page space opera that I was hoping would bring back some of the Shi-ar Empire - era of X-men comics I grew up on in the 1990s. What I got was a mixed experience.

Pros:
Hickman is a high concept writer - lots of great ideas
Incorporates a ton of character cameos
Excellent artwork
Nice length incorporating multiple storylines into a cohesive bigger plot
Includes digital copy code at end of book (peel off sticker)
Also compatible with augmented reality app - some fun / stupid extras but more for diehards.

Cons:
Poor character development - few heroes have any personality
As others have mentioned, Captain America is given this impossible role as a master strategist (it would have been more plausible to give Tony Stark or Mr. Fantastic as they are considered smarter)
Manufacturing of the book is lower quality - thinner page stock, wrinkles in first few pages, potential damage if directly bought (had to return my first copy due to spine damage). This has been reported on Reddit. I will post pictures if I get a chance. Previous Marvel hardcovers issued earlier in 2000 are much higher quality- with glossier pages, better paper stock, etc.
A ton of characters are used such that if you are unfamiliar with some powers/background/etc., certain scenes might be lost on the reader

Overall: A good book, perhaps a bit overrated as one of the best Marvel arcs of late (I still am a bigger fan of Civil War / Secret Invasion). Jonathan Hickman's writing is still a mixed bag- a great broad stroke type of writer that reminds me a touch of Morrison's JLA run. The book introduces a ton of characters such that if you are unfamiliar with Inhumans for example, you might not get a few scenes that are critical to the story. Infinity is probably best enjoyed by a true diehard familiar with a lot of the universe mythology. Despite the flaws, I did enjoy reading it, but I'd say its a far cry from one of the best series I've read in a while. Also important is to read some of the issues that lead up to this that will introduce some of the major players - collected as Prelude to Infinity and is kind of an important read I think to appreciate some of the setup to this yarn. Good- but not amazing. At around the high $40s price mark it comes roughly to $2 an issue, which is decent, but I think the value ultimately just depends on if how much Hickman's writing resonates.

I have not been enjoying Hickman's run on Avengers and New Avengers. The incursion storyline, wherein other reality Earths are crashing into each other so that "everything dies," is actually pretty boring. It amounts to the Illuminati making bombs to potentially destroy a world that is set to collide with "ours" all the while Captain America and the Avengers race around the planet being too late or unable to change anything. All the activity is futile. So, I approached Infinity with mixed feelings. I hoped the incursion storyline would be resolved but was afraid it would be more boring talk about how they can't do anything to stop it. I was wrong on both counts.

Unfortunately, the incursion storyline will continue and recent announcements by Marvel indicate it will end with the upcoming main event, Battleworld. So, the Illuminati continue to wax on about how doing what is necessary will destroy their souls. However, Infinity managed to be entertaining because it introduced a new (old) enemy for the rest of the Avengers to contend with.

The ancient race of Builders is on its way to Earth and they are laying waste to civilizations, Empires, along the way. When the Avengers intercept distress calls from the Shi'ar, they head out in to space to confront the approaching fleet before it reaches home. Iron Man stays behind to prepare defenses in case the Avengers fail; his real purpose is to monitor and stop incursions (which Cap and the rest are unaware of). While the heroes are away, Thanos decides to attack and enslave Earth. And of course, he has an ulterior motive also!

A lot of plotlines overlap and run concurrently through the story, which kept me engaged. Further, the Builder fleet is so formidable it takes the combined efforts of the Shi'ar, Spartax, Brood, Kree and more to even challenge it. There are many epic battle sequences, but also drastic casualties. More than once, it looks as if the Avengers might only attain a Pyrrhic victory, except that Captain America is an unparalleled strategist. It was great to see the Avengers in peak form, showcasing what makes each of them special against unbeatable odds.

The downsides of this event is that it was essentially meaningless. Thanos and the Builders are nothing compared to the Incursions (and a host of other ancient species that Black Swan mindlessly rattles off) and this victory won't stop the universe from ending. *sigh* Overall, I enjoyed this mostly because it was a breath of fresh air after the stagnation of the flagship series. Recommended.

Returned, though listed for my STS Cadillac, wiper is wrong size, returned for refund

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This book has great art but a horrible story--it tries to juggle multiple plot lines unsuccessfully, there is a lot of convoluted subplots, space jargon, and weak attempts to convince the reader that there is real danger to the characters. I had to force myself to finish reading this massive book. In the end, its a forgettable "marvel event" whose only redeemable quality is to set up the Inhumans books/story lines recently released. I'll still keep the book for the art, but I wouldn't recommend it.