It feels like I’ve waited a very long time for this book. To start with it’s the only Empyre book that’s made any sense, as Chip Zdarsky and Anthony Oliviera deliver the oddly out of sequence lead-in to how Hulkling becomes emperor of the Kree-Skrull alliance. It’s character, character, character, making the main book look very weak in comparison. The transition of ‘the hot twunk with the enormous arms’ into a Shakespearean hero capable of bringing about universal peace is masterful in the attention paid to every level of the story. The nod to Mar-Vell, Teddy’s acceptance of his legacy, the multiple levels of skRullduggery in his court, the relationship between Tommy and Prodigy, it’s all note perfect. Who’d have thought all but one of the Young Avengers would turn out to be gay or bi? I love it, and I love that this is in a Marvel comic.

What matters more than anything to me as a gay reader though is the attention paid to Billy and Teddy as a gay couple. It took Marvel years to allow them to kiss and now Zdarsky and Oliveira have given them a sex scene, and this book is fundamentally about their love, in ways that haven’t been risked in a mainstream Marvel book before. The homophobia both driving Teddy’s installation as emperor to its historical precedent for the politics around them adds immeasurable value to both the boys as players in the Marvel Universe, and ups the stakes for Teddy. So right they’d respond with Star Trek quotes! So right too that Teddy would check in with his Dad at his graveside. Mar-Vell was the greatest hero of all – can his son live up to his example?

Where Empyre is dull this is unmissable. This really is a Shakespearean drama, contrasting sharply with the Michael Bay-esque vibe of the larger crossover. It leaves me wondering what will become of the two boys by the end of the story, but leaves me in no doubt they’ll be together (and can we have an ongoing for them at last?). Manuel Garcia’s art doesn’t hit every height_f, but it does where it matters. The small, character moments both look and read wonderfully, I nearly cried at certain scenes, and there are some great, subtle camera angles too, but Triona Farrell’s colouring is insane. How many rainbow flags can she smuggle into each page? Superb. For the open heartedness of one gay man to be the key to universal peace, and his love for his fiance to be his guiding light to be the theme of a key Marvel book fills me with joy and has the the power to change lives.

writing	★★★★★
art	★★★★½
colouring	★★★★½
overall	★★★★½