Jim Krueger

Alex Ross and Jim Krueger’s Universe X: Volume I collects issues #0-7 with new appendices, Universe X: 4, Universe X: Spidey, and Universe X: Cap illustrated by Doug Braithwaite with Thomas Yeats, Jackson Guice, and Brent Anderson; inks by Bill Reinhold with Al Williamson, Robin Riggs, Garry Leach, John Totleben, Ron Randal, John Romita Sr., Al Milgrom, John Stanisci, and Will Blyberg; colors by Laura Depuy with Pete Pantazis and Nick Bell; and letters by Todd Klein. The series continues to chronicle the end of the Marvel Universe in the same vein as Ross’ Kingdom Come did for the DC Universe. Beginning with Earth X, the series forms a narrative akin to Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Chapter Three makes this clear with a direct reference to the Divine Comedy and Purgatorio.

As Universe X begins, Reed Richards prevented the destruction of the Earth at the hands of the Celestials by summoning Galactus, secretly Franklin Richards who has reached the highest form of evolution and is susceptible to the identity others project upon him. Thus, Reed and X-51 – the Machine Man – must never acknowledge him for who he truly is. Meanwhile, Reed has installed Human Torches around the world to burn off the Terrigen mists that transformed humanity. Humanity is loath to relinquish its new abilities, but larger changes are afoot. Steve Rogers looks after the resurrected Mar-Vell, who promises to return the dead to life. He has begun by bringing back Susan Richards and now travels with Captain America to collect what he needs in order to achieve his victory over death. Kyle Richmond, the former Nighthawk, narrates this volume in conversation with the Gargoyle, Isaac Christians, revealing events going on elsewhere in the world including the actions of Immortus’ church and the Tong of Creel, who seek to gather the broken parts of the Absorbing Man. Flashbacks reveal that it was the Absorbing Man who defeated the Avengers, setting the stage for Hydra and Norman Osborn to further shatter America.

This volume only collects the first half of Universe X, which is the middle volume of the larger trilogy. It primarily sets up the final confrontation while using the epistolary format to deepen the background of the world that Earth X introduced. An interesting narrative experiment that served as a possible conclusion to the Marvel Universe, it never quite achieved the same staying power as Alex Ross’ Marvels, which looked at the early years of the Marvel Universe, or his Kingdom Come, that told a similar story for the DC Universe. Still, this narrative features gorgeous artwork and the storytelling helped to expand experimentation in mainstream comics.… (más)

Alex Ross and Jim Kreuger’s Earth X collects issues 0-12 and X of the monumental series illustrated by Ross and John Paul Leon; inked by Bill Reinhold; and colored by Matt Hollingsworth, Melissa Edwards, and James Sinclair. The series begins with X-51, the Machine Man who first appeared in Marvel’s ongoing 2001: A Space Odyssey comic following its adaptation of the film, being transported to the Moon by Uatu the Watcher to become Earth’s new Watcher following Uatu’s blinding. He sees a world set twenty years into the Marvel Universe’s future from the late-1990s.

The dystopian future features a world fully populated by mutants and other empowered beings. Reed Richards, in attempting to harness vibranium to solve the world’s energy crisis, believes that he accidentally transformed the planet. In truth, Black Bolt of the Inhumans blinded the Watcher and set off his brothers’ Terrigen bomb in order to transform the world’s population into Inhumans, thereby making the Inhuman nation safe from the effects of twentieth-century pollution as they left Attilan. X-51 learns all of this as well as the Celestial plan, in which they transform worlds to contain the eggs of future Celestials.

On Earth, as Steve Rogers recruits forces to fight the Skull, who has the ability to control all of humanity with his mind, the end of the world approaches an unknowing human populace. Reed Richards becomes aware of the Inhumans’ actions while Uatu explains to X-51 that the various empowered humans on Earth are part of the Celestials’ plan to ensure the world’s protection from outside forces until such time as the Celestial egg at the planet’s core is ready to hatch. Vibranium nourishes the egg and begins the process of mutation in humanity. Truthfully, no human has ever been unaffected by the Celestial plan. Galactus served as a check upon the Celestial population and – in warding him off all those years before – the Fantastic Four inadvertently doomed the planet. Now they must call upon him to counter the Celestials.

In his afterword, Jim Krueger notes that his and Alex Ross’ story sought to explain all the accidental heroes in the Marvel universe while also drawing upon the highest internal mythology underpinning the comics’ continuity. This story launched a trilogy with Earth X followed by Universe X and Paradise X. They form the Divine Comedy of Marvel Comics. While more than twenty years have passed since Earth X’s publication, it remains a critical Marvel text well-worth revisiting.… (más)

This volume had a pretty distinct shift in tone and story from the previous Season 8 volumes, and it was fun in its own (slightly gimmicky) way! The Satsu and Dawn issues were the strongest; they did a good job of continuing or wrapping up plot points from earlier all while developing the bigger picture (although Kennedy is mega-annoying here). Also three cheers for seeing more of the FaithxGiles team-up!! That issue felt like random filler but it was enjoyable to see them in action nevertheless. :)… (más)

Jim Krueger, Alex Ross, and Doug Braithwaite’s Justice volume 1 collects the first four issues of the eponymous series from DC Comics. The story begins with supervillains around the world experiencing a vivid nightmare in which the heroes of the Justice League fail to save the Earth, leading to the end of humanity. Led by Lex Luthor, they gather to take on the Justice League in order to study them while also taking a more active role in preparing humanity for the nightmare they shared. Luthor and the other supervillains believe that the League held humanity back by not allowing it to face challenges on its own. Using Batman’s files, the Injustice League begins targeting the League one by one, with each falling. This is a fantastic start to the story, but it's only the first ¼ of the tale.… (más)