Don’t fear The Beard: it’s Ronnie’s review of Issue #1 of Hunger!

What happens when Gah Lak Tus from the Ultimate Marvel universe meets a more traditional Galactus? Joshua Hale Fialkov is going to answer that question with Hunger.

Hunger #1 serves as a nice introduction to the aftermath of the Age of Ultron storyline (the comic, not to be confused with the upcoming Avengers 2: Age of Ultron movie). It is not often that following a storyline that took place across three Marvel universes that we see a follow up with the implications in a fourth universe, but Hunger makes it feel natural. Fialkov really delivered a logical, easy to follow book, when it could have easily been an extremely confusing story.

The premise of the book is that all of the time travel shenanigans in Age of Ultron has damaged time, and now in the Ultimate universe Gah Lak Tus has fused with Galactus (honestly, I’m not sure if this is 616 Galactus or another similar version). This is easily the most exciting thing to happen in the Ultimate comics since the death of Peter Parker. The implications of this one event could change the entire landscape of Ultimate comics if the fusion is not undone by the end of this amazing event.

Rick Jones, the protector of the universe, chosen by the Watchers to be such, plays a heavy role here, primarily as comic relief in this issue, but he is definitely being set up to be a major player in this arc. The Watcher basically forces Rick to watch Gah Lak Tus and Galactus do the fusion dance, telling Rick that while he can do nothing now, he will act against the hybrid Galactus eventually. Fialkov really knows how to balance Rick’s comedic element with his knowledge of the heavy burden he must carry as the protector of the universe.

The real strength of this issue is the ability to stay engaging while serving as pure set-up. This ability seems to be lost on some writers these days (looking at you Kirkman). We can tell from the issue that Fialkov, Quesada and the entire creative team at Marvel have set some exciting things in motion for the Ultimate universe. Now they just have to deliver on the promise this book is showing.

While I do not normally fault a comic for its art, as long as it is acceptable, I could not help but think this issue was one of Leonard Kirk’s weakest issues ever. Normally, Kirk is fantastic, but he ranged from slightly above average to barely passable here. While his drawings of Galactus were wonderful, he really could not pin down a specific look for Rick in this issue. We can only hope that he will give us a better effort in the issues to come.

Overall, this books delivers on what it set out to do: Provide set-up to the most universe-shaking event in recent Ultimate comics history. I have not read anything from the Ultimate line since the death of Peter Parker, but I could not help but be engaged by this amazing issue. I guess you could say that Hunger #1 left me hungry for more. I give it a four out of five.