The secret rulers of the world have hired Nemesis to murder Hit-Girl, The Ambassadors, and anyone else who even looks like a superhero. Your Major Spoilers review of Big Game #2 from Image Comics awaits!

BIG GAME #2

Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Pepe Larraz
Colorist: Giovanna Niro
Letterer: Clem Robins
Editorial Production Director: Sarah Unwin
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: August 23, 2023

Previously in Big Game: It’s Nemesis versus the Ambassadors, the Night Club, the Magic Order, Kingsman, and every single Millarworld creation you have ever known and loved over the years.

This book is a BLOODBATH.

THE COMIC BOOKS WERE TRUE

This issue opens in the headquarters of Corbin Quinn and Danny Reilly, the Chrononauts, who have been approached by Edison Crane, the Prodigy, in the hopes that they can send him back in time. He wants to see for himself the truth that Bobbie Griffin has presented to him, the claim that superheroes used to be real, until The Fraternity wiped them out and took over the world. Miss Griffin (who seems not unlike a certain Barbara Gordon) shows them the truth, in the form of a Man of Tomorrow who saves the day, but upon returning to the present, they are mowed down by a hail of bullets.

Somewhere in Michigan, Mindy “Hit-Girl” McCready is likewise in the crosshairs of Fraternity assassins, but is saved at the last moment by the intervention of an agent of the Secret Service, codenamed Eggsy. Choon-He Chung, the leader of The Ambassadors, and the costumed adventurer Codename Korea has assembled her entire team to find the missing Codename Pakistan, but when they teleport in, they find only Nemesis.

Oh, and their powers are no longer functioning.

THE GRIMIEST OF GRIMDARK NONSENSE

First off, this is a really good-looking comic book. Pepe Larraz is a gifted artist and successfully manages to do justice to characters who originate from multiple titles, making the supervillain-inspired Nemesis look as real and as cool as the more realistic Chrononauts. And when those Chrononauts are brutally murdered, it looks quite impressive, just as it does when the white-clad villain tears The Ambassadors apart. The issue ends on a particularly violent note, which will definitely make fans of Millar’s murderous plots happy. For me, having just read and enjoyed six issues of The Ambassadors, I’m just annoyed. If they’re really dead-skis, the lack of conclusion of their own book is a cruel tease. If, as I suspect, shenanigans are in play (alternate realities, time-travel saves, some sort of illusion, or just plain ol’ handwaving are all possible), whatever stakes this story might have had dissolved. Either way, there’s no good way forward from here.

BOTTOM LINE: IF YOU WANT BLOOD, YOU GOT IT

Long story short, Big Game #2 continues to exemplify all the problems with multiversal crossover stories, and while the visuals are really impressive, the story is just blood and chaos with no point other than “Bloodbath,” earning 2.5 out of 5 stars overall. I enjoyed Wanted when it came out, but taking that book’s premise and overwriting it on Bite Club, Kick-Ass, and the rest undermines the reality of all the titles. Even if you love Nemesis and The Killer, where’s the fun in watching them kill all the other Millarworld protagonists with no resistance?

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BIG GAME #2

50%

50%

Not For Me

Having enjoyed six issues of the characters brutally dispatched in this issue, I'm irritated and angry about everything but the exquisite art of Pepe Larraz.

• Writing

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• Art

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• Coloring

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