Imperial #4 featured image
Reviews

IMPERIAL #4 – Review

  • Written by: Jonathan Hickman
  • Art by: Iban Coello, Federico Vicenti
  • Colors by: Federico Blee
  • Letters by: VC’s Cory Petit
  • Cover art by: Marco Checchetto, Marte Gracia (cover A)
  • Cover price: $6.99
  • Release date: October 29, 2025

Imperial #4, by Marvel on 10/29/25, wraps Jonathan Hickman’s galactic war saga when Fulcrum Station shakes, motives fly, and readers will probably need a notepad to chart whose side is what, why, and for how long.

First Impressions

Confusion reigns from the first page to the last, with each twist snowballing into another layer of interstellar backstabbing. The art sprints ahead of the story, begging you to care about who’s winning when you barely know what game is being played. Finishing this series feels like waking up after a fever dream. Did I miss something or did the comic?​​

Recap

Last issue, Peter Quill, Richard Rider, and Shuri barely escape a firefight, heading for Fulcrum Station after direct routes are sabotaged, while the galaxy burns in the wake of supposed Wakandan aggression. Meanwhile, Hulkling and Wiccan are stuck in a bubble in space, strategizing desperately as outside forces ignore their pleas for help. Flashbacks reveal Grandmaster and Maximus of the Inhumans orchestrated the whole cosmic mess a year ago, plotting chaos for reasons as tangled as the script. Assassinations, betrayal, and one long war later, our heroes are chasing answers, but none are easy to find.​​

Plot Analysis

The story kicks off twelve hours after Fulcrum Station is cut off from Wakanda Prime, with the galaxy’s war fleets closing in and empires already splintering. The Skrulls overrun the Kree control deck, martial law sweeps the Shi’ar, and Accuser Ronan faces off with deep-cut traitors, hurling accusations and hammer blows as fast as the dialogue shifts. The main cast – Quill, Nova, Shuri, Hulkling, Wiccan, and others – hop station corridors, trying to outpace chaos with increasingly desperate plans to expose the true architects of war: the Inhumans, led by Black Bolt.​​

With the Skrull fleet massed outside and betrayals popping like popcorn on every deck, Maximus and Black Bolt stage another power play, exiling siblings as the station’s fate is sealed. Nova and Quill attempt to reveal the Inhuman plot to the galaxy, but their efforts are undercut by last-minute deals and rigged votes with every move turning into just another cipher in cosmic chess. By the final pages, a new Galactic Union is born, scars and loss swept under the rug, while the Inhumans and Kree prepare for yet another cosmic power shuffle, promising future drama that may (or may not) ever get sorted. The story closes with characters reflecting on the cost of power, trust, and ambition, but clarity and closure remain as distant as the stars they fight over.​​

Writing

Jonathan Hickman’s script spins out with the velocity of a collapsing star, packed with political intrigue, betrayals, and philosophical musings about guilt and leadership. Unfortunately, lucidity is the first casualty. There are so many factions maneuvering, plots overlapping, and time jumps that even obsessive fans will lose the thread without a spreadsheet. The stakes keep rising; so does the confusion. Subplots fizzle before they resolve, and dialogue drowns the action instead of clarifying the stakes. When the smoke clears, you’re left with big declarations but few real answers.​​

Art

Federico Vicentini and Iban Coello’s pages explode with kinetic energy, fighting for attention on each spread. The battles leap off the page; characters emote with palpable urgency; the cosmic settings pop with neon violence and moody shadows. Layouts thrum with desperation and urgency, lending momentum that the narrative sorely needs. Even when the plot loses coherence, the art keeps you flipping pages for the sheer spectacle.​​

Characters

This issue crams in a galactic cast: Quill, Shuri, Nova, Hulkling, Wiccan, Ronan, Black Bolt, Maximus, and more. Each gets a handful of punchy lines and a few dramatic panels, but few earn genuine emotional closure. Most dialogue serves exposition, juggling motives and revelations so fast that genuine character beats vanish beneath the rush. By the finale, everybody seems out of breath; motivations and loyalties shift mid-sentence. It’s a dizzying party but you’ll struggle to remember who left, who arrived, and why it mattered.​​

Positives

The kinetic art is an absolute standout, racing ahead of the story with vibrant fight scenes and urgent panel layouts. Every spread delivers light and speed, pulling you along even when the plot throws up speed bumps. When the characters do pause, Vicentini and Coello capture real emotional weight in a single glance. It’s cosmic Marvel at maximum horsepower, visually.​​

Negatives

But the plot… oh, the plot… finds new ways to bewilder. Rushed pacing jams too much drama into too few pages, while convoluted structures unravel any hope of narrative clarity. You will double back on scenes just to puzzle out basic motives, and by the finale, none of the big answers hit as hard as the script intends. When a miniseries this dense ends with more questions than it started with, something is profoundly off.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.Follow @ComicalOpinions on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Final Thoughts

Imperial #4 is cosmic Marvel firing on all artistic cylinders but spinning frantically when it comes to plain storytelling. The art is breathtaking, but the narrative burns out, leaving fans stranded. If you like kinetic spectacle, show up for the visuals, but bring a map to keep track of who, what, where, why, and how. Even then, it doesn’t help.

5.8/10

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