Advance Review: ‘Big Game’ #5 Is The Big, Bloody, Blockbuster Ending You Hoped It Would Be

With time travel now in the mix as we head into the climactic, dramatic and down-right dynamic conclusion to the Millarverse crossover two decades in the making, it’s not too far of a stretch to assume it would feature somehow, someway in the resetting of all that has gone before. After all, this series has seen writer Mark Millar and artist Pepe Larraz take a blowtorch to most of his creator-owned characters with such fury there’s hardly anyone left. But there are some, and thanks to Hit-Girl the Millarverse finally gets more than a fighting chance at defeating the seemingly omnipotent Fraternity, thanks to a little bit of time-meddling. And over the next 50 + pages, thanks to Hit-Girl and a few others, we get more than a few fan-pleasing moments that leads to a finale that’s big in scope and big on action in Big Game #5.

But, just as it takes more than an egg to make a cake, it takes more than a gutsy Hit-Girl to defeat a global criminal organisation. And it could surprise you who also uses their head, rather than their brawn, to bring everything and everyone together with some linguistic gymnastics that result in a huge power-shift to the good guys. It’s not just a clever inclusion, but leads to a huge change in the status quo of one of Millar’s much loved characters.And while Millar himself has billed this as a Wanted sequel, just like Cordelia’s Magic Order, Millar has been skilfully misdirecting us all along. The whole saga ends rather poetically, as even the Ambassador for Scotland confesses. It’s been a long and winding road over the past twenty years, but comes full circle in many ways. 

And all beautifully illustrated by Larraz who’s off-kilter, dutch angled panels, big-ass bombastic action sequences and double-page blow-outs just about contain the multiversal madness on display. As for Giovanna Niro’s colouring; it’s simply sublime. As on other Millar ventures she has been a part of – and there’s been a lot – she brings a quality not unlike watercolours to Lazar’s oft-times surprisingly delicate pen and ink art that elevates the whole affair, adding depth and texture and breathing even more life into each page. Which is ironic given how much death and destruction there is. Single floppy issues have never looked so good, and I can only imagine how cool this will look in the inevitable collection. 

The ending not only wraps up all that has come before in a nice neat, albeit bloodstained, bow while also forging a new chapter — as they say in the funny papers – for the winners and losers of this epic, old-school/new-school crossover. Another crisis averted, but with plenty of cracking, coarse obscenities thrown in. Comics may have grown up over the years, but what grabs a fanboy’s attention is still some old-school high stakes, and high risks. Fxxking great stuff, as Mark Millar himself might say! Now, try using THAT as a pull-quote, Millar!

Big Game #5 is out Wednesday 15th November from Image Comics.