The future is looking brighter.
It's difficult to review Marvel Legacy #1 without drawing comparisons to last year's DC Universe Rebirth #1. The similarities are impossible to ignore. Both books feature a collection of interconnected stories linked by a common, disembodied narrator. Both are meta-heavy stories that reflect on the history of their respective universes and the storytelling mistakes made in recent years. And both strive to establish a lighter, more optimistic tone for their universes while also introducing a grand, cosmic threat lurking on the horizon.
Given all that, it was inevitable that Marvel Legacy #1 would fall a bit short of DC Universe Rebirth's mark. It just doesn't have the same novelty and impact given its "Me too!" status. But taken on its own merits, this issue is an engaging read that offers some hope that the Marvel Universe is destined for better things in 2018.
This issue is most notable for introducing the Avengers of 1,000,000 BC, a prehistoric team of proto-superheroes led by Odin and one central to the notion of legacies and mantles. This is both the strongest portion of the book and the one that does the most to differentiate Marvel Legacy from DC Rebirth. Writer Jason Aaron quickly builds a compelling team dynamic, particularly when it comes to the interplay between Odin and Phoenix. Within a couple pages I already found myself pining for a dedicated series for these Avengers (one which Aaron will hopefully provide next year). But in addition to being entertaining as a heavy metal-worthy look at the Marvel U's early history, these scenes also tie back to the present in compelling ways. Aaron has no trouble establishing a sense of scope and gravitas in this story.
It certainly helps that so much of the book is rendered by Esad Ribic. Ribic's art was crucial when it came to showcasing the sheer scale and wonder of 2015's Secret Wars, and in many ways this book sees him working in similar territory. Ribic really captures the surreal, larger than life quality of the conflict even as he delivers his impeccably rendered, detailed figures. Unfortunately, he doesn't draw the entire issue. Steve McNiven fills in on some of the present-day sequences. And while McNiven is a superstar in his won right, he's not well-served playing second fiddle to Ribic here. Their styles mesh poorly, and colorist Matthew Wilson work complements Ribic's pencils far better than McNiven's. McNiven's art has a strange, washed-out quality to it.
The present-day portions of the story are mainly devoted to setting various wheels in motion and paving the way for new status quos on books like The Mighty Thor, The Despicable Deadpool, Marvel Two-In-One, The Amazing Spider-Man, etc. There's a slightly choppy quality to the way the script bounces among these different subplots. That's especially true whenever other guests artists step in for a single page (such as Chris Samnee in the Captain America sequence and Stuart Immonen in the ASM sequence). I have to wonder if there wouldn't have been a more elegant way to craft this story so that some of the less relevant interludes (Deadpool especially) were included as epilogue vignettes rather than beats in the main story.
Still, there are plenty of strong character moments in this issue, regardless of how closely they tie into the overarching narrative. Legacy is nothing if not a reminder of how much Aaron "gets" the Marvel Universe and how well he's able to operate in its different nooks and corners. Between the rousing returns of several key characters and a handful of truly terrific plot twists, this issue singlehandedly succeeded in restoring some of my Marvel enthusiasm that's waned since the end of Secret Wars. It doesn't appear that Marvel Legacy will be the sweeping, immediate fix for Marvel that Rebirth was for DC, but at least the future is looking brighter.
The Verdict
Marvel Legacy #1 is almost eerily similar to DC Universe Rebirth #1 in many ways, but it also works for the same exact reasons. Legacy allows writer Jason Aaron and his artists to take a step back and reexamine the course of the Marvel Universe, while also just introducing some very fun ideas and bringing back a few fan-favorite characters in the process. It's a little choppy in places, but well worth a read for anyone who wants to see this superhero universe thrive again.
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