EMPYRE #3

I’ve been reading Empyre while mostly wondering what the heck kind of story is filling all of these side books the event has. The reason I’m wondering is because there isn’t exactly a hell of a lot going on in the main book. There’s an evil alien that controls plants. And there’s the Fantastic Four and the Avengers that are against him. There are the Skrulls and the Kree but they’re just kind of sitting on the sidelines not doing much. There are 53 books in this event…so what the hell is going on in the other 47 books? Well this issue, #3, kind of answers that. There’s a panel that explains that “Captain America is leading Earth’s heroes—super and otherwise—to fight the Cotati across the world.” And “Thor is on a mythical quest—seeking out powers only a God can access.” Okay. Sounds exciting. In this issue, The Thing is in Wakanda fighting the aliens. And Tony Stark is with Reed Richards. And a new, big bad shows up at the end of this issue. R’Klll, the Empress of Skrulls. I’m not entirely sure how you’re supposed to pronounce “R’Kill.” But she admits that she’s, “far more than a mere Skrull.” Okay. She’s “survivor of Galactus! Mother of Anelle, the Holy Matyr! Grandmother of Dorrek VIII, the King of All Space!” So there’s apparently a guy that’s the king of all space that I’ve somehow never heard of even though I’ve been reading Marvel comic books for the last thirty years. Makes sense. With the same writer (Al Ewing) and artist (Valerio Schiti), this book is pretty much just more of the same. I will admit that the Empress of Skrulls is a better villain than plant man. I suppose that’s something. *