Springing forth from the last few pages of Age of Ultron is The Hunger, a miniseries that sees the 616 Marvel Universe Galactus taking a trip to the Ultimate Universe, looking for a snack. Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov with art by Leonard Kirk and Jesus Aburtov, the first issue of The Hunger arrived on Wednesday. So how was the first taste? Here are a few opinions from around the web:
*****
Richard Gray, Behind the Panels: "The Marvel Cosmic Universe can get pretty convoluted for the uninitiated, and writer Joshua Hale Fialkov handily eases new readers and old alike into this exposition issue. Rick Jones is written for comedy, an absolute necessity when dealing with the operatic nature of this cosmic ballet. Jones here is a far cry from the hanger-on of the 1960s, and very much 'our voice' in the tradition of Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley’s 'Ultimate Peter Parker' introduced over a decade ago. The Ultimate versions of Gah Lak Tus and Chitauri are nice nods to fans, but the ultimate revelation of Galactus is a show-stopping moment, one that almost makes the Age of Ultron event that led up to it worthwhile." (4/5)
Kelly Thompson, Comic Book Resources: "The real star of Hunger #1, however, is Fialkov's writing, which is bright, fun and surprisingly easy to follow despite a pretty dense concept (at least for someone not that used to Marvel's Ultimate Universe). Rick Jones makes for a great point of view character, and The Watcher, sometimes talking through Jones and sometimes through other characters, makes for a fantastic if completely unorthodox "sidekick" of sorts. Perhaps most impressive of all is how well Fialkov manages to contrast the humorous and light personality of Jones with the deadly serious and seriously epic battle going on around him." (3.5/5)
Noel Thorne, WhatCulture: "Moreover, there’s no real sense of a story here. Galactus shows up – fine, but why? Rick Jones is involved – fine, but why? There’s been talk recently about the Ultimates Universe coming to an end and maybe that’s what Galactus is here to do, ending the UU by devouring it? That’s a cool idea but if that’s so, it would’ve been better if we’d had some indication that that was the storyline. Instead we get – nothing."
Alvin Minon, FlipGeeks: "And even Leonard Kirk‘s art and Jesus Abertov‘s colors follow the pace and deliver dynamic art. In the first few pages there’s a lack of detail and the environment just seems dull. Come the outer space pages and we see solid lines, crisp pencils and colors that slam the reader’s eyes with action. I’d say even the art contributes to the build up as what we get here is a stark contrast of everyday boring life compared to the gravity of occurrences in the cosmos. Galactus really looks like a being of the big leagues and by the end of the comic everything looks explosive." (8.5/10)
Aaron Long, Comicosity: "Leonard Kirk’s art is dynamic and epic when it needs to be, bringing a huge cosmic scale to the pages of Hunger. Splashes are used very well throughout the issue and Kirk balances them well with panels that tell a lot of story. This isn’t just a flipbook of grand cosmic splashes, it is a great balance of story and epic visuals. Throughout the issue Kirk nails the huge scope of what this series is looking at, and the final pages of the absolutely awesome. Any story with Galactus is playing on the big scale, and Kirk has definitely stepped up to the plate." (8.5/10)
Hugo Robberts Larivière, Weekly Comic Book Review: "Another one that is clearly at ease is Jesus Aburtov, the colorist, who really do know how to make the scope of those things even bigger. The way he makes those power crackles and those light shine, he create quite a contrast with the blackness of space. He creates a si-fi tone thanks to the use of cold and warm colors in tandem with the design of those character, creating the effect of superior technology with a simple technique like that." (B)