So what do six of Marvel’s oldest, most iconic and, arguably, most powerful heroes do when no one’s looking? Save the universe. What else? In Illuminati #1 , six of Marvel’s enduring “big guns” – Iron Man, Namor, Dr. Strange, Reed Richards, Professor X and Black Bolt – band together, whiz off to the far side of the galaxy and take on the Skrull army just after its defeat at the hands of the Kree. In the course of this five-part miniseries readers will get to watch as this powerful group, calling themselves the Illuminati, work behind the scenes to save the universe at various well-known moments in the Marvel continuum. This miniseries is a classic Marvel enthusiasts dream. It’s a chance to walk down memory lane as we get a chance to see “what else was happening” during such epics as the Infinity Gauntlet, the original Secret Wars and more.
As much as seeing these six dominating figures piled together in one comic made me tingle in my most special of places, Illuminati #1 may be too much of a good thing. Have you ever seen six Olympic weight lifters piled together in a two-door Honda Civic? Neither have I, but I imagine it would look an awful lot like this issue. Bendis & Reed try hard to give each character their own time in the spotlight, but there just doesn’t seem to be enough room here for characters of this size and weight. In order for the story to unfold, all of the characters are deflated of their powers—Dr. Strange seems to be only good for an occasional illusion or a nonspecific and unconvincing “I’m using my magic to hold the ship together,” Professor X’s telepathic powers are mediocre at best, Reed Richards never gets a chance to use that “smartest man alive” brain of his, and so on and so forth. While I understand the difficulty in making a good story when you’ve got a cast of characters who could break Mount Olympus in half, leeching these familiar characters of their legendary abilities feels like cheating.
The artwork of Illuminati #1 is nothing extravagant and, at the same time, nothing to frown at either. Cheung and Morales stand tall and deserve a hearty round of applause when the action panels start to fly, but they also appear to be plagued (more than a little bit) by the Curse of Indiscernibility that made Jim Lee famous. If it wasn’t for their costumes, a reader would have a hard time telling any of the characters apart in Illuminati. The facial features and body compositions of these much-loved heroes are all disappointingly similar which, combined with the fact that the characters have all had their trademark abilities toned down for the sake of plot structure, makes this “dream team” feel the way cloned beef must taste: satisfying on a basic, nutritious level, but possessed of a lingering, nagging aftertaste that suggests that something’s just not quite natural.
Overall, Illuminat #1 is a chance to play out those “wouldn’t it be cool if so-and-so teamed up” thoughts we all have. But will it really add anything new and substantial to the Marvel mainstream? The next four issues will let us know.
