1. Hickman and Weaver continue their absurdly fun narrative of the secret history of the Marvel Universe casting major historical figures in key roles.
2. Okay, so we have Leonardo DaVinci, super inventor and former Shield leader vs. Isaac Newton, mad with power Shield leader who has Nostradamus chained in his basement with Leonid, whoever that is, as Leonardo’s hero of choice and a Celestial baby somehow involved. I’m… not lost… but damn this is a lot.
3. The main action of the issue is Leonardo rescuing baby Celestial from the sun while Leonid finds Nostradamus. Both are just teases of what’s to come, but both are big, intriguing ideas.
4. Leonardo’s knight armor with wings is an absolutely amazing visual, but nothing to the splash of him flying into the sun. The art really carries a slow story in this book- this is guaranteed to read better in trade.
5. The Celestial birth (Celestial Madonna) is a really interesting thematic variation, as is the involvement of the Han Dynasty (I’m a freak for Three Kingdoms era China).
6. The baby Celestial’s first words being 1+2=3 is telling and brilliant.
7. Going from the sun scenes to the darkness of Nostradamus’ existence is stellar thematic storytelling, as is that Leonid is the son of the Dark Man from issue one.
8. Nostradamus being a Catalyst for history not a Prophet or a Seer is an intriguing idea, but how did that work while he was chained?
9. What is with the Foetus of God vs. The Human Machine at the end?
10. Rating: 8/10 – The amazing breadth of imagination is still here for this book, but the story is so slow in unfolding that the rating was bound to go down a bit. Still between art and ideas, there is no better book being published today.
