Holding Up The World With War Of The Realms: New Agents Of Atlas #1
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Wave, water-powered hero of the Philippines, and Aero, wind-powered hero of China, meet in the North Pacific. They are soon surprised by a charred-black island suddenly rising out of the ocean. Meanwhile, Brawn, Ms. Marvel, Shang-Chi, and Silk partake in a teamwork presentation for Jimmy Woo’s Pan-Asian School for the Unusually Gifted. Afterword, the share a meal, where Ms. Marvel and Brawn have a heated argument. An alert reaches everyone at the dinner, and they discover the in-progress invasion from Malekith and his allies. Ms. Marvel returns to the Champions, leaving Shang-Chi, Silk, and Brawn to be new recruits of Jimmy Woo’s Agents of Atlas. The team goes to challenge the invasion force at Seoul, where South Korea’s own superheroes are already fighting the forces of Muspelheim.
War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #1 introduces a litany of new superheroes while reuniting a few familiar faces under the Agents of Atlas.
Greg Pak accomplishes both a charming adventure that brings together heroes we don’t often see anymore, like Shang-Chi and Jimmy Woo, while highlighting the conflicts between them, like the schism between Ms. Marvel and Brawn. Pak balances the fun and drama well while situating it all within the ongoing War of the Realms.
That said, there isn’t anything that makes this required War of the Realms reading (yet), and, if you haven’t been following Marvel’s latest giant crossover, New Agents of Atlas #1 is still an easy read.
That’s good, because Greg Pak and artist Gang Hyuk Lim orchestrate a thoroughly enjoyable start that introduces new and interesting heroes.’
There is the obligatory initial conflict between the Agents of Atlas and the South Korean heroes, and it doesn’t add much to this issue. It also references “World War Hulk Two,” which I frankly had forgotten about myself.
Gang Hyuk Lim’s artwork is quite fantastic. It’s expressive, high-energy, and balances the manga/anime and western comic influences perfectly. The color work of Federico Blee is vibrant and explosive too.
War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #1 is a serious yet fun team-up of Asian heroes both old and new. It has got a solid pace, good character interactions, and great artwork. This one gets a recommendation. Check it out.
War of the Realms: New Agents of Atlas #1 comes to us from writer Greg Pak, artist Gang Hyuk Lim, color artist Federico Blee, letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles, cover artist Billy Tan, and variant cover artists Giuseppe Camuncoli with Elia Bonetti; Pyeong Jun Park.
