Icon vs. Hardware #3 – Reginald Hudlin/Leon Chills, Writers; Denys Cowan/John Floyd, Darryl Banks, Yasmin Flores Montanez, Artists; Christopher Sotomayor, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: This series has been the strangest so far in the Milestone Universe reboot, serving not only as a blockbuster crossover between two of the Milestone Universe’s most iconic heroes but bringing in key players from the DCU to its cosmic plot. While the story is still divided between two main narratives, one absolutely seems to have taken over. Curtis Metcalf, in his quest to undo the mistakes of his own life, has taken on a much larger goal—using his control over time to rewrite not just the last few decades, but the last few centuries. He’s prevented the founding of the slave trade, which includes defeating its ringleader—Vandal Savage, who loses an eye to the crusading time-warrior. Centuries later, on another world, an alien investigator is warned about a person manipulating Hypertime and is deputized to stop him—and this is revealed to be the alien who would become Icon.
This is the first time we’ve seen much of Icon’s world before he came to Earth, and it’s fascinating. But when he returns to Earth, he finds a very different place—one ruled by Metcalf as an all-seeing God-king, who has recreated many of the same mistakes he prevented but targeted against other groups. It’s an interesting look at just how easy it is for a well-meaning person to become a villain. The interplay between these two heroes is the driving force of the issue, but Rocket does still appear in a brief segment where she faces Vandal Savage in the Alps. The ending reveals the potential involvement of another, even larger-scale DCU villain that sort of comes out of nowhere. It’s a very intriguing series, but the frequent art shifts—now three artists on one issue—are distracting and keep the story from feeling as unified as it could be. Still, major points for ambition on this series.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
