Writer: Al Ewing, Dan Slott
Artist: Valerio Schiti, Marte Garcia, and VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Price: $5.99
Release Date: July 15, 2020

It’s finally here, the Empyre Event kicks off, but was it worth the wait? I admit that I didn’t love the Avengers or Fantastic Four lead-in issues, but I still want to get pumped for the big show. So, let’s jump into it and see if this first issue is a winner.

The story opens with the Fantastic Four running into the Kree/Skrull invasion fleet and the Avengers in the Garden on the moon. If you haven’t read the Avengers and FF issues that set this up, don’t worry, Slott and Ewing recap the essential points as well as some significant MCU stuff. It’s a bit forced, but it gets the job done.

The issue jumps between Reed and Tony trying to figure out what they are going to do. The plans are not well laid out, and that leads to some confusing scenes and transitions. This is an oversized issue, but it felt like it needed more pages to clarify what is going on. Maybe even separate issues for the Fantastic Four and the Avengers.

I liked Valerio Schiti’s art, which I always do, but the close-ups in the big fight scene were unfortunate. It does focus on some fresh new character looks and equipment, but it lost the wow factor of the actual fight.

Like I said, the battle plans against the Kree/Skrull Armada, and their new leader are vague at best, even as we see them going on, but it doesn’t matter. Why? Because there is a big twist that changes everything and is interesting enough, but not something that has me fired up.

Overall, I was not fond of this first issue. The flow and pacing felt off from the start, and nothing (even the twist) convinced me that this was a must-read event. The worst part about it, though, was I was bored reading it. I know we have a ton (a ton!) of issues to get me excited, but I needed more out of the gates.

Final Thoughts:

The Empyre Event kicks off with an issue that had me more confused at points then excited. The art was good (though too close-up at times), and there is a twist at the end that might have some excited, but I needed more to convince me this is a must-read. I would never bail after one issue, but this one is now on a very short leash.

5.5/10