Marvel's new summer event harkens back to one of the publisher's last great eras, and the villain will actually surprise you

Marvel's new summer event Imperial is here, and the first issue doesn't disappoint. Anchored by strong creative work by writer Jonathan Hickman, artists RB Silva and Federico Vicentini, color artist Federico Blee, and letterer Cory Petit, the space opera style story calls back to some of Marvel's more recent glory days with a sweeping scope, a close attention to detail, and a villain that will legitimately surprise you.

Spoilers ahead for Imperial #1

Imperial #1 opens with two mysterious figures, seemingly the cosmic manipulator known as the Grandmaster and the devilish villain Mephisto, who are starting a cosmic game that apparently involves manipulating events and heroes around the galaxy.

From there, we catch up with Gamma-powered heroes Bruce Banner/Hulk, Amadeus Cho/Brawn, and Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk as they travel through space to visit Sakaar En Nevo, the new incarnation of Sakarr, AKA Planet Hulk.

Though the people of Sakaar greet the return of Hulk with celebration, their mission is actually one of tragedy, as the ruler of the planet, Hulk's son Hiro-Kala, has been poisoned, leaving the world in disarray.

Hulk leaves She-Hulk on Sakaar as he travels to the newly built Fulcrum City, which is intended to be the new center of intergalactic politics, where the many cosmic empires of the Marvel Universe come together in a kind of extra-terrestrial United Nations.

However, things are far more dire than Hulk understands, as he and Brawn discover that the leaders of several other empires have been poisoned by an identical toxin to the one that killed Hiro-Kala.

As the Galactic Council convenes to uncover the truth behind the murders, it's revealed that the poison that killed the fallen leaders was made by the Kree Science Council. However, they were not the ones who poisoned Hiro-Kala and the others.

Instead, the Kree divulge that the poison was sold to none other than the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda, the spacebound sister empire of Earth's Wakanda. Just then, a Wakandan sniper attacks, killing multiple diplomats, damaging the station, and leaving many others missing, including Hulkling, Wiccan, and the rest of the delegation from the Kree/Skrull Empire.

In the wake of the disaster, Star-Lord and Richard Ryder, the classic Nova, decide to team up to get to the bottom of what's going on, leading to multiple factions now involved in the quickly devolving political situation in the Galactic Council. Meanwhile, the Council begins to target the Wakandan Empire for war.

The story harkens back to some of the best work by writer Jonathan Hickman, whose Fantastic Four, Avengers, Secret Wars, and X-Men stories have proved to be the backbone of a certain era of the Marvel Universe.

Hickman's narrative attention to detail and continuity, his unfolding plan to bring the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe into the modern day, and his focus on bringing together popular characters for a sweeping new saga also call to mind the mid-'00s era of Marvel stories, especially the now classic Annihilation and its sequel Annihilation: Conquest, and of course the critically acclaimed Planet Hulk. At the same time, the art team also lives up to the concept of huge, blockbuster comics, nailing the scope and tone of every scene.

It's been too long since Marvel took a big, impressive swing in its core reality that feels like its own massive tale focused on marrying the classic Marvel Universe with new concepts, and even longer since Marvel's cosmic wing has felt fresh and new.

That one-two punch makes Imperial #1 feel like the story could grow into a high watermark for recent Marvel events, and a much-needed creative shot in the arm intended more to tell an affecting story that brings in some new ideas instead of coasting on readers' expectations for what might come next.

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