How did Hyperion become the patriot that he is today? What is his connection to the Shi’ar Empire? Find out this and more in Hyperion and The Imperial Guard #1 by Marvel Comics!

HYPERION AND THE IMPERIAL GUARD #1

Writer: Ryan Cady
Artist: Michele Bandini and Elisabetta D’Amico
Colorist: Erick Arciniega
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Editor: Wil Moss
Publisher: Marvel Comic
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: May 12th, 2021

Previously in Hyperion: Blade woke up to a world where the Avengers never existed. Instead, Earth Mightiest Heroes was Hyperion and the Squadron Supreme of America. Hyperion is a brutal man who does things for justice, but he wasn’t always like man.

REFLECTION OF OUR PAST

Hyperion is set to leave the Shi’ar Imperial Guard and head back to Earth. He will leave behind his lover, Oracle, his mentor, Gladiator, and many of his friends. On his last day, his crew decide to do one last mission. After defeating Deathbird, the only thing left was to go to her “treasure world” and see what she may have left behind. The crew arrives and begins to split up to cover more ground. Hyperion and Oracle share a moment where Oracle is willing to drop her whole life to live with Hyperion on Earth.

Unfortunately, there is a parasitic hivemind that has infected some of the crew and Gladiator resolves that they must destroy this world before the parasite spreads. He tells Hyperion to the “Gaze of Hyperion” to destroy the world. Which leaves him as the only survivor.

CREATIVE TEAM IS HAVING FUN

This whole Heroes Reborn series has been engaging and it allows writers to explore unused characters and even poke fun at them. This comic book has a lot of tropes, and the creative team leans into it so heavily that it is almost satire. You especially see that when you look at the fictional “mailbag” section of the comic where they even further poke fun at these tropes. Sometimes, having this sense of levity in a comic is fun. And Ryan Cady did a great job balancing the tone of the story to make that satire feel subtle.

I do want to say that the there is a Starjammers section of the book. While I didn’t include it in my review, when you purchase the comic, you will get a fun few pages about what else is going on in space!

BOTTOM LINE: SOLID WORK

I can’t confirm this. But I think this comic is supposed to be a throwback to 90s comics in artform, tropes, and tone. I prefer the modern art style of Marvel Comics, but this callback was solid. This is an easy 4 out of 5 and looking forward to the rest of the Heroes Reborn run!

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