After three months of extremely epic events in the pages of Jonathan Hickman’s ‘Infinity’, the Marvel Comics crossover has finally come to an end. After the Avengers saved the universe from the Builders, they learn that their home world is being threatened by frequent foe Thanos as he looks to rid this plane of existence of his last remaining offspring, Thane, by any means necessary, including taking the whole planet under his rule. But the remaining heroes on Earth managed to fend off the invaders long enough for Captain America, Thor, Captain Marvel, and the rest of the crew to return with their allies from the Galactic Council for one more battle.
This final issue picks up where ‘Avengers’ #23 left off with Black Dwarf being defeated on the Peak space station and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes breaking through the Mad Titan’s armadas to get back onto the planet. Once on the ground, the team disperses all over and above the globe to take on Thanos and his forces.
The only word that comes to mind after reading this issue is smackdown. From start to finish, ‘Infinity’ #6 was an all out brawl. Although it’s not like we should have expected anything less. After coming home from an intergalactic war, the last thing the Avengers want to deal with is another tyrant throwing his weight around. The whole roster is on their last legs, but they certainly made it count. It’s hard to even pick some particularly favorite moments from the battle too because it was all good. Doctor Strange, Hulk, Hyperion, Starbrand, Thor… Everyone got in some great hits before the battle was won.
But as many things on the internet tend to do, it comes down to the adorable dog. If I had to pick a favorite highlight, I think Maximus and Lockjaw dispatching Supergiant in Necropolis was pretty great. Maximus the Mad is like the Loki of the Inhuman royal family, so seeing him cause mischief when it’s for the right reasons is just fun. I assume that we’ll be getting to know him a bit better in ‘Inhumanity’, so that just gives me another reason to look forward to what Marvel has up their sleeves next.
Finally, one really bad thing about events like this one is that they often feel like an obvious means to get from one story point to another. I mean, that’s one of their primary purposes, but ‘Infinity’ didn’t feel like it when we were deep into the event. Though it clearly leads to ‘Inhumanity’, it managed to give a complete and satisfying story with consequences that I look forward to following up on. Also, it reestablished a number of the forgotten corners of the Marvel Universe. The epilogue did a great job of acknowledging a good amount of paths that could be explored down the line. For me, besides the Inhumans, I think that Thane is the most interesting thing to come out of ‘Infinity’. After all, under the guidance of the Ebony Maw, he’s on his way to becoming more dangerous than his father and that’s something that I definitely want to see on the page in the future. Of course, there’s the final panel, but I’ll save that discussion for my review of the epilogue in ‘New Avengers’ #12.
Basically, I cannot say enough good things about ‘Infinity’. The final issue was a great way to end one of the best comic book events in decades, especially since Jim Cheung returned to provide the artwork. There was a ton to squeeze into this issue, but I think Hickman managed to do it adequately. He covered all his bases and left this world in a much more interesting state than when he found it. Whereas picking up books after ‘Avengers Vs. X-Men’ and ‘Age of Ultron’ felt like going through the motions, ‘Infinity’ has me excited for whatever is coming next. It’s certainly a tough act to follow, but by the looks of the teaser on the very last page of the book, All-New Marvel NOW is looking to step things up again.
Final Score:
INFINITY #6
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Jim Cheung, Dustin Weaver, Mark Morales, Guillermo Ortego, Dave Meikis, John Livesay, Justin Ponsor, & Ive Svorcina
Cover by Adam Kubert & Laura Martin
