Taking The Fun Out Of Chess — Reviewing ‘Imperial’ #3

Timing out when and how to pull back the proverbial curtain on any type of mystery is a careful consideration. You want to be sure to reveal who or what was pulling the strings without losing any potential excitement. You definitely want to avoid pages and pages of slow lore dropping.

Unfortunately, Imperial #3 stumbles quite a bit when it comes to this particular nuance. The penultimate issue of this comic miniseries comes from Jonathan Hickman, Federico Vicentini, Iban Coello, Federico Blee, Cory Petit, and Ariana Maher.

Oh, geez. This was something.

Marvel mysteries have been very lackluster and predictable when it comes to the outcome or string puller for years. Some more so and some less so than others. This one falls probably somewhere closer to the middle but leaning towards the group of more-so.

Hickman is a good storyteller. He’s really good at weaving plots and worlds. Character stuff isn’t always his strong suit, but that doesn’t always matter depending on what he’s writing. So far, this series has been a test on all of that. Characters are way off the mark with their personality, continuity, and current history, while the overall plot feels heavy and hard to parse at times. In this third issue that becomes even clearer as the reveal of the ringmasters occurs.

<<<SPOILERS FOLLOW>>>

Everyone and their favorite distant family member guessed Grandmaster was involved. Only more shadowy was their compatriot, which we learn is Maximus The Mad from the Inhumans. A group that was supporting for decades, they got a push to be the “It” group in the 2010s, and then the faction was offed and shuttled into character limbo until now. Rather than just a reveal, though, we get a whole more than half of an issue of their back and forth, including redoing panels we already saw in the two prior issues.

This is just words upon words upon words with some imagery sliding around. The players we’ve been following only getting some brief scenes and montage flashes. A third act reveal and shift of antagonists is not outlandish for storytelling. Generally, though, it’s done in a compelling way with compelling characters. There is a reason no one has been clamoring for the Inhumans to come back into play.

If you enjoy watching characters make slow methodical chess moves around massive expositional drops, this is the comic for you.

As a series, this is reminding me of the Hickman written Ultimate Invasion miniseries. It’s a convoluted expositional world builder that led to much more intriguing and diverse Ultimate Universe ongoing books. There are one-shots and then series being born out of this miniseries, so maybe history is repeating itself. If only the inciting incidents were far more exciting.

Vicentini and Coello have done a tremendous job artistically for these issues, really creating sharp, rough, and dynamically smooth action. While we still feel much of that in this issue’s formation, the static feeling of these talking heads and montage pages is hard to ignore. That’s not to say that there isn’t still the bold denseness from the previous issues.

Inherent born roughness accentuates the overall aesthetics, giving things a nice angular sharpness. Warm and cold are the default mixture of tones while the emotional energy is still being delivered.

Colors are still finding that sweet spot between light and dark under Blee’s care. This allows the flashier colors to really take root, especially as striking scene filters at times, with much of the backdrop staying pretty neutral natural. It also really ups the fantastical scale on things and works to give things a very distinct kind of look. Which I really like seeing.

I appreciate that the colors, even the more vibrant ones, are kind of kept at a specific toned-down range. It allows this space to feel fantastic, as I mentioned, but also more familiar. Sure, this is a cosmic space full of a multitude of being types, but at the same time it’s a story that has relatable situations. That’s all in the sense of what it takes to bring war to any space, the effects of that war, and that there can be string pullers. It allows us the viewer to step into the space and feel less like an intruder, so to speak.

Maher sure has a lot on the plate this time, because the characters are just spewing dialogue from start to finish. She handles it well, as she always does, making sure to capture the tone, volume, and unique voices with ease. She opts for a bolder and stronger font choice which the sentiments hit harder. Emotional resonance, what little there is this time, is felt in every letter. There isn’t as much room to be really innovative with visual letter delivery, but what is there stands out.

There’s one issue left before the one-shots and series begin to roll out. What happens there will really determine how this miniseries lands in the long run. Keeping these fingers crossed for the Ultimate Marvel sort of situation.

Imperial #3 is now available from Marvel Comics.