There is plenty of evidence around the world of civilizations that existed millennia ago that somehow disappeared and we don’t know a thing about them. Mark Millar decided to take this idea and explore it a little with his newest comic series “Empress†with art by Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger and Ive Svorcina. The first issue is a resounding OK.
65 million years before humans, there was a race of advanced people who conquered the dinosaurs and space travel. They were ruled by a tyrant named King Morax. One day his wife, along with her children and bodyguard, escape. Now King Morax wants to find them and bring them back.
The idea of a lost civilization that was more advanced than ours 65 million years ago is a neat idea, but once you get rid of the dinosaurs, this world nothing more than a generic science fiction universe. You can replace the dinosaurs with any giant alien monster and nothing will change. -In fact, the empress and her family leave Earth, which makes this setting even less unimportant.
The story itself is OK, though a bit clichéd. A relative of a dictator going against him isn’t anything new. Of course, this is one of the rare instances where we see it from the point of view of the relative. There is a lot that can be done with this story if Millar plays his cards right.
Immonen, Von Grawbadger and Svorcina do a decent job with the comic’s art. The characters do have a decent design, the backgrounds are Ok and the colors are well done. The best-drawn thing in the entire comic is the t-rex in the arena. That is one of the best t-rexes you’ll ever see in any comic.
“Empress†has a neat idea, but the first issue is mediocre at best. The story, art and the world are nothing that amazing, but there is plenty of room for improvement. Millar may just be saving the best for the next issues.
Leave a Reply