It’s the year of crossovers, with DC and Marvel having their fun, and Christos Gage digging deep in Battleworld for the super fans in the back. Not only is he smashing heroes from various timelines together, but he’s also got Crossgen and New Universe characters popping up. Battleworld #1 set up Hank Pym as the de facto main character, but can he figure out how to escape the cosmic clutches of Korvac, or better yet, live through Arcade’s latest death machines?
Picking up where we left off, Hank Pym opens Battleworld #2, investigating the impossible nature of the planet he and the other heroes are on. Literal shards of Earth from different times and places are smashed together, and Pym is trying to use science to find some weakness in Korvac in all the chaos. Before long, superheroes Storm, Bucky, The Avenging Wasp, and Spider-Man are there with him, attempting to get his help. Arcade has captured a bunch of the heroes, and for some reason, it seems to be the same Arcade Pym that he defeated in his own world. It’s a nice clue before the action kicks into gear.
Battleworld #2 continues the high bar set in the last issue, keeping the conversations interesting and the plot moving forward. Gage is very good at writing all these heroes, most of whom have never met. Pym is easily the most interesting in his calm and quiet nature, but everyone gets a quip or shoutout to keep them relevant to the story.
Note what Pym is sitting on.
Credit: Marvel
The magic is in the plotting of the issue, with dialogue never running too long, and plenty of mini conflicts along the way towards the eventual confrontation with Korvac. Marcus To and Gage offer up plenty of quick fights, like with Bucky attacking Absorbing Man, or Odin taking on Arcade. They’re efficient, showing both creators know the page count is low, but they got to pack enough into the book to make it worth the read. Along the way, clever writing makes Arcade believable in a fight, or why Pym has an ace up his sleeve. Things feel earned and aren’t just happening for the sake of it.
Marcus To continues to show he’s one of the standout artists from the Krakoa era, with a great sense of scale and detail throughout this issue. The reveal of Pym’s huge size is a good one, and there are some seriously cool energy effects in the battles.
Probably the only gripe I have with the issue is the last two pages. The story shifts to a new location, a quiet, conflict-free area, as two characters talk in a bar. The reveal isn’t all that compelling, unless of course you’re a fan of the New Universe. Ultimately, it feels like a quiet cliffhanger rather than one that gets you excited for what comes next.
Per usual for the series, there’s also back matter where Gage explains all the references he’s fit into the book. It’s a nice touch, giving it extra value as a lot of attention and detail have been put into the book in order to call back to Marvel’s history.
Battleworld #2 continues to prove why Christos Gage is one of Marvel’s most reliable architects of crossover chaos. With tight pacing, clever twists, and reverence for obscure corners of Marvel history, this issue balances fan service and storytelling with precision.
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