Korvac Saga #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

I've mentioned in reviews of this series and other ones how "Secret Wars" lets the authors put everything -- even a terrible ending for the heroes -- on the table.  As the tie-in series begin to draw to a close, we get our first taste of such an ending here.

With Korvac revealed, Doom sends his troops to destroy Korvac and "cleanse" the Forest Hills and the Holy Wood.  Before they get there, the Guardians are able to convince the Avengers to stop attacking Korvac, allowing Starhawk enough time to show the two teams the origins of Battleworld as he saw it on the Astral Plane.  (I think that we also learn that the Astral Plane itself was essentially Korvac's hidden telepathic powers.)  Now fully in charge of his powers, Korvac realizes that he hid his powers from himself in the hope of eventually overthrowing Doom.  (Here, I think that Korvac is talking about his full powers.  I think Abnett is saying that even the "unrestricted" version of Korvac that the world saw during the Ultron Wars - before he pledged to Doom that he would limit his powers in exchange for the baronship - was less powerful than it could've been.)  In other words, he was hiding his powers until he was strong enough to take them back and defeat Doom.  Unfortunately, he may have the powers now, but he doesn't have the strength to take down Doom and remake the universe.  As such, the Thors are able to defeat him, as well as the Avengers and the Guardians.  His last act is to resurrect the Guardians, as he did the Avengers at the end of the original "Korvac Saga."  They're now the guardians of the truth about Battleworld.

This series is one of several -- "Amazing Spider-Man:  Renew Your Vows," "Spider-Verse," etc. -- where a character (usually a villain) sees Doom as a threat and wants to gain enough power to overthrow him.  What isn't clear yet is whether Doom is really a villain.  Hickman has taken a sympathetic view of him in "Secret Wars," as the man willing to take on the power and responsibility necessary to save what he could of the previous multiverse.  Sure, he put himself on a throne, as Mr. Fantastic accused him of doing in the main title, but it's just as clear that he did so to keep Battleworld together.

In other words, no one's proposed a viable alternative to what Doom did to save the multiverse...until possibly now.  In explaining the nature of Battleworld, Stakar says that Korvac wanted to use his powers to remake the lost multiverse, but Doom didn't want him to do so, because he wants to keep the power.  It's a more cynical view of Doom than we've seen in the main title, but we also know that the main title is running late.  This series seems to posit a scenario where Doom had some other option than create Battleworld, but he did so specifically to keep the power.  If it's true, then I can't wait to see what the heroes do to him in the main title.

In the meantime, Abnett allows Korvac to be the good guy that the Avengers didn't allow him to be in the original "Korvac Saga."  Stakar holds out the possibility that Korvac also saved himself at the last minute, and you've got to wonder what role he, and the Guardians, might play in the denouement of this event.  Looking at this series itself, though, I'd consider it one of the essential tie-in series of this event.  It's not only a good series in and of itself, but it's also the one that fleshes out the details of the main event in the most interesting way.  If you pick up one tie-in series, it should probably be this one.

**** (four of five stars)

Korvac Saga #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Man, this series just keeps reminding me how much I really miss Abnett.

An open question during the first two issues of this series was where Michael's powers were.  Everyone else had the same power that they had in the original Marvel Universe, but Korvac was presented as a normal human.  I didn't particularly take note of it before this issue, but Abnett highlights it here when Michael is forced to use his cosmic powers to save Starhawk.  In the process, he reveals just how powerful he truly is, since he essentially reassembled Starhawk's soul to resurrect him.  Simon encourages Korvac to use his powers to purge The City of the Madness, but Korvac reminds him that he swore an oath to Doom to "curb" his powers to become baron.  (He made an exception in Starhawk's case due to their friendship.)  The issue is forced when the Madness swiftly overtakes Mar-Vell.  Vance urges the Avengers and the Guardians not to kill him, due to their friendship, but Mar-Vell pushes them to their limits as he becomes an Abomination.  Korvac decides to help, regardless of his oath to Doom, because it's his domain.  But, in the process, he learns what Starhawk had learned on the Astral Plane:  he is the Madness, a side effect of his repressed power.

Obviously, the developments here spell trouble for everyone, including Doom.  It's pretty clear that Doom wanted Korvac to curb his powers because, at least in the original Marvel Universe, they would be somewhere on par with Doom's.  Simon tell us that Korvac used to use his powers more freely (for example, during the "Ultron Wars"), but Abnett doesn't clarify whether he was using the full range of his powers at that time.  If he was, it raises the question why he didn't make a move against Doom back then (and would agree to curb their use).  If he wasn't, it's unclear why he would've imposed self-limited his powers even before he was offered a domain of his own.  Either way, the fact that he's now fully in control of his powers doesn't sound like something that Doom is going to take lying down.

*** (three of five stars)

Korvac Saga #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Ho boy, shit goes down here.

Carina turns into a monster, like everyone else that the Madness affects, and Captain Marvel "sanctions" her without realizing that she's the monster.  In the aftermath of her death, Simon implies that he may abandon the treaty that he's in Forest Hills to negotiate, since Doom is likely to wipe out the Hills soon to prevent the Madness from spreading.  (Since the "Madness" involves the victim realizing that the stars have disappeared, you could see why Doom would be anxious to eliminate it.)  However, Vance wryly notes that the Holy Wood might not be all that safe from the Madness, given its proximity to the Hills, and Simon might want an ally in case Doom comes calling on both of them.

But, it's Starhawk and Moondragon's adventure on the astral plane that really raises the stakes in terms of the larger "Secret Wars" story.  Moondragon initially approaches Starhawk to help, offering to augment his powers with her own powers to try to track the Madness.  However, Starhawk's assistant, Geena, notes that the victims don't appear to be suffering from a mental disorder, but an altered sense of reality, given their focus on the absence of stars.  Although Moondragon and Starhawk caution her that she's going down a path to blasphemy, they're intrigued by her comments.  Starhawk wanders the astral plane, with Moondragon using her powers to bolster his form, and he comes to realize that Battleworld is really stitched together of other realities.  However, he encounters a large indistinct figure that utters the word "Doom," destroying him.

I'm really intrigued where Abnett goes from here.  This series (behind maybe "Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps") seems to be the one that could spell the most trouble for Doom and his grip on Battleworld.  I can't wait to see how it connects to the larger story in the end.  Plus, it's just nice spending time with the original Guardians.  I forgot how much I liked them.  This longing is thanks to the fact that Abnett does a great job capturing everyone's voice here, be it Nikki's brashness or Hercules' obnoxiousness.  As much as I don't need to be adding another title to my list, I'm really tempted to jump on board "Guardians 3000" now.  Decisions, decisions!

*** (three of five stars)

Korvac Saga #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

So far, the "Secret Wars" tie-in series have fallen mostly into one of two camps:  either an extension of a story previously told assuming a different outcome, like "Inferno" or "X-Tinction Agenda," or a completely new story using familiar characters, like "A-Force" or "Amazing Spider-Man:  Renew Your Vows."  This one falls into the latter camp.  In fact, Abnett probably takes the best advantage of anyone of the opportunity that "Secret Wars" provides him by presenting an impressively original story here.

We learn that Michael Korvac and Simon Williams are the barons of two neighboring domains, the Forest Hills and the Holy Wood.  (Just these names alone are almost too clever.)  The (original) Guardians of the Galaxy (led by Major Victory) serve as Korvac's guardians, and the Avengers (led by Captain Marvel) serve as Williams'.  Williams is coming to the Hills on a state visit to negotiate a security and trade accord just as the Guardians come across the seventh person infected by "the Madness," a disorder that causes them to ask where the stars are as they begin to remember the pre-Battleworld reality.  The latest victim is Emil Blonsky, and the Guardians are forced to kill him when his disorientation turns him into the Abomination (as it has previous victims).  Starhawk and his protégée, Geena, are working to solve the problem, and Starhawk underlines the stakes:  the greatest crime on Battleworld is heresy, and, if Korvac cannot combat it in his own domain, Doom will send the Thor Corps to purge Korvac and the Guardians.  Meanwhile, Williams arrives and makes it clear that he plans on shenanigans as he whispers to Korvac that he's not there to sign an accord.  To make matters worse, Michael's wife, Carina, begins showing signs of the Madness as the issue ends.

We have a lot to unpack here.  First, I'll say that I had the same problem here as I did with "Squadron Sinister," where the exact nature of domains and provinces are unclear.  If you look at Marvel's Battleworld map, this series takes place in a domain called "The City."  As such, Korvac and Williams' "domains" appear to be sub-domains within the larger one, though Abnett doesn't clarify that.  At some point, it would be nice for some to clear up these definitions.  On the plus side, though, this confusion doesn't weigh down the issue like it did "Squadron Sinister."  Abnett makes the political realities abundantly clear, as the charismatic Williams seeks to expand his power at a time when Korvac is already weakened.  To make matters more interesting, Carina asks Michael about his mental health earlier in the issue.  She's referring to how tired he is, though it raises the possibility that he might be unstable like the original Korvac.  (Plus, sleep disturbance is apparently a symptom of the Madness.  Is he also affected?)  Finally, it's interesting to me that Starhawk doesn't realize that they're stuck in a world created by Doom.  He is after all the One Who Knows.  I wonder if that won't come into play at some point.

In other words, Abnett has really managed to present a fully realized world in just one issue.  It's an impressive feat and really continues Marvel's impressive streak when it comes to these tie-in series.

*** (three of five stars)