Hunger #3

Background

After the space/time continuum was broken in Age of Ultron #10, Galactus was transported from the Marvel Universe to the Ultimate Universe. He came in the least convenient time: while the Kree and Chitauri were at war. Right before Galactus arrived, a swarm of Gah Lak Tus attacked the battling ships and, guided by the Watcher, Rick Jones also showed up. When Galactus came, the swarm of Gah Lak Tus was absorbed by him and he became even more powerful!

The Kree tried to blow Galactus up with a missile but failed, exploding many civilizations. Galactus still lives. A Gah Lak Tus fleet was accidentally teleported to Earth by Rick Jones and now he must stop the swarm from spreading with the Silver Surfer. The Silver Surfer was also knows Rick is the only way to stop Galactus...

Story Details

In deep space, Galactus orders his swarm to spread and they prepare for an invasion. Meanwhile, on Earth, Mahr-Vehl, also known as Captain Marvel, thinks about how he has been declared a traitor by Hala, his home planet, because he saved Earth instead of destroying it. Therefore, he lost his wife and daughter.

But before Mahr-Vehl can contemplate further, he is called up to observe the takeoff of a new space shuttle. He, apparently, is doing so instead of remaining in prison and is monitored by the army. But Mahr-Vehl, to the General’s despair, is alerted that a Gah Lak Tus swarm event is detected so he flies away in his armor.

Meanwhile on the Bahama Islands, the Silver Surfer and Rick Jones fight the Gah Lak Tus that combined with a crab. It starts getting bigger and Rick throws a portal at the crab. Risk tries to push it into the portal but accidentally falls in instead. While Surfer tries to communicate with the Gah Lak Tus crab, Captain Marvel arrives to help him with a mortar. He shoots the Gah Lak Tus and it is eradicated.

Silver Surfer and Captain Marvel introduce themselves while Rick Jones arrives through his portal. Surfer introduces Marvel to Rick Jones, the Watcher’s chosen. “Chosen or not, he clearly has much to learn,” Marvel says. While they discussed about how long it will take Gah Lak Tus to arrive with Surfer, Marvel notices that Rick is leaving.

The Surfer tries to stop Rick from going, but Marvel declares he will only get in their way. When Rick hears that Mahr-Vehl is Kree, he learns that he approved of his people’s missile strike on Galactus. Rick teleports away, saying he’s just a kid. “I’ll never understand why earthers are so whiny,” Marvel reflects.

Rick teleports to Forest Hills, Queens, and starts yelling at the Watcher. He stops when he finds a memorial to Peter Parker in front of his house. Rick is caught off-guard when he sees that Peter was killed as Spider-Man.

On Hala, Ro-Nan (speaker of the Supreme Intelligence) is busy ordering everyone to evacuate because of Gah Lak Tus. He says goodbye to his family one last time and prepares to defend his planet.

Meanwhile above Hala, Galactus’ Gah Lak Tus swarm is easily exploding the Kree space ships. Mahr-Vehl and the Silver Surfer teleport to the scene of mass destruction. There, Mahr-Vehl reveals that the Kree made Gah Lak Tus to “purify the universe” and it will not destroy the entire universe while he lives.

Back in Forest Hills, Rick is mourning Peter’s death when Mary Jane walks up. They greet each other and MJ asks Rick, “Peter told me you left to do great things. Did you do great things, Rick Jones?” He answers no, but he will.

Above Hala, Captain Marvel is shooting Galactus with his mortar. The swarm around him eradicates, but Galactus himself is undamaged. He tells them that their weapons are useless and zaps them. Luckily, before Galactus can cause any more harm, Rick Jones teleports in front of him and shoots him. Everyone is surprised that Rick came back and Galactus is hurt by his hit.

The giant purple man counters Rick’s attack by sending a swarm of Gah Lak Tus directly at him. Captain Marvel rescues him from the swarm, but the Gah Lak Tus direct their attacks to him instead. They begin to consume Mahr-Vehl but Rick and Surfer save him.

They teleport Mahr-Vehl to the surface of Hala and, in his final words, he talks about how the Kree sacrifice themselves to kill Gah Lak Tus and his armor is the only way to stop them. Then, he dies.

Rick picks up Mahr-Vehl’s helmet and dons it, saying, “It’ll stop that thing out there. That’s all that matters. Besides, what’s the worst that can happen?”

General Comments

This was another solid installment of Hunger. The wide scope of the event is captured nicely and Galactus is written as he should be: a force to be reckoned with. Fialkov doesn’t get choked up over the whole event atmosphere as many others have.

I was also impressed at how well he voiced everyone in the story. After reading Alpha: Big Time, I have come to expect Fialkov’s dialogue and all of his characters to sound like retards. Luckily, he has a great handle on Rick, Silver Surfer, and Captain Marvel’s personalites.

I’ve heard many people talk about Fialkov like he is the next Bendis (and I disagree passionately) but one thing we can all agree on is that he isn’t good with capturing sentiment. I appreciate that some emotion is tried to fit into the big cosmic event, but it doesn’t work. Captain Marvel’s death and Mary Jane’s pep talk all fall flat and it’s almost painful to read.

Leonard Kirk’s artwork is great. His dynamic and bombastic panels capture the script’s magnitude properly. I also appreciated the flow of his art. My one complaint is that the emotion wasn’t captured as well as it could in the artwork. Also, the characters look a bit chubby in the distant panels.

Overall Rating

This issue keeps the story going but the emotion isn't portrayed well.