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Infinity Crusade #1: Review

Jun 1993
Jim Starlin, Ron Lim

Story Name:

Epiphany

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Infinity Crusade #1 Review by (October 22, 2022)
This issue has a gold foil enhanced cover.

We'll discover later that the gem in the dark room is the missing 6th Infinity Gem, ie the Reality Gem. And we're getting closer to the revelation that its guardian is Thanos. But it will turn out that it's not his hand that disturbs Adam Warlock's comatose body here.

Paradise Omega is created where High Evolutionary's Counter-Earth used to be. Marvel Fandom Wiki suggests that Goddess creates it from the rubble of CE. But Marvel Two-In-One #63 revealed that Counter-Earth was taken away by agents of the Beyonders and placed in their museum. And Warlock & Infinity Watch #4 later revealed that Thanos destroyed it there during the Infinity Gauntlet event.

Where might Quasar, Excalibur and X-Force be? Quasar is indeed out in space in the current issues of his own mag. (Thunderstrike is with him which might explain why he's not in Infinity Crusade either.) Excalibur are probably in the Days Of Future Past alternate future in their #66-67. X-Force also don't show in this event. They do seem to be on current Earth but maybe they're just very busy.

Tie-ins:-

The 1st half of Warlock & Infinity Watch #18 expands on the parts of this issue that involve Drax, Maxam and Pip. As such it portrays Gamora being recruited by Goddess but not Moondragon.  And it doesn't show anything of what happens to Warlock after he leaves the rest of the Watch.
The 2nd half of the issue shows Pip tricking his way into control of what remains of the team and teleporting in Mr Fantastic to help (which explains what happened to Reed Richards in this issue). They discover that Goddess has a load of Cosmic Cubes/Cosmic Containment Units and Reed deduces that the abductees are under Goddess' mental control. Pip teleports them to Avengers Mansion to inform everyone else, where they'll appear near the beginning of IC#2.

The 1st story in Alpha Flight #122 also includes the relevant parts of this issue as Puck, Sasquatch, Shaman, Talisman & Windshear are recruited by Goddess. Then those left behind are attacked by 1 of their own, Witchfire, who claims that her father has told her to oppose Goddess.
(The 2nd story is part 1 of a 2-part Puck tale which happens earlier.)

Warlock Chronicles #1 shows what happens to Adam Warlock after he's banished by Goddess. His comatose body is found by Darklore and Meer'lyn, and the Soul Gem relates its origin to them followed by yet another summary of Warlock's career. Then the Gem attempts to take over Darklore's mind but Adam wakes up and stops it. Darklore says Adam's home dimension is a very long way away but he takes him to a newly-opened rift in Reality which he mystically senses is relevant. Warlock in turn senses that the rift was caused by the Reality Gem and that the guardian must be trapped in there. (This tallies with Goddess attacking the guardian of the Reality Gem in this issue.) But Adam also thinks that the rift will destroy all realities. So he enters it to undo the harm, rescue the guardian, and hopefully also find his way home.

Dr Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #54 also runs parallel to this issue but only directly connects with it in 2 places, when Strange sees Goddess in her golden armour in the Orb Of Agamotto, and more directly when she recruits him at the end of the issue. In between he tries to get help from the Vishanti (but they're busy fighting the Trinity Of Ashes in the War Of The 7 Spheres) and Eternity (who is as unconcerned as he was when Adam Warlock visited him in our issue). Eternity does show him Goddess' plans but then makes him forget about the whole trip.
(The 2nd story starring Kyllian isn't IC-related but probably takes place early in IC.)

In Thor #463 Thor has for some issues succumbed to Warrior Madness which has apparently manifested itself as a (Dark) Valkyrie companion whose counsel he believes over all others, and he now rejects Asgard and Odin. But in this issue the Goddess comes to recruit him as seen in our issue. Her words persuade him to join the Crusade. Valkyrie objects but Goddess can tell she is only a fragment of the Thunder God and causes her to vanish.

Avengers West Coast #96 spends most of its pages showing how Goliath (Clint Barton), Mockingbird, Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter) and War Machine see Living Lightning, Scarlet Witch and US Agent taken by Goddess' portals. Spider-Woman goes as their rep to the big meeting in Avengers Mansion, while the other 3 remain behind and get attacked on the last page by the alien Power Platoon.
The 3 spend nearly all of AWC#97 fighting the Power Platoon, Quantum and Wundarr/Aquarian. The only connection with IC is that the bad guys stop fighting at the end because they no longer want to, and Spider-Woman contacts them to say that apparently 'badness' is being eradicated all over the world (as discovered in IC#2).

The 1st 4 pages of Web Of Spider-Man #104 expand on Goddess recruiting Spidey. The rest of the issue connects to IC#2.

The very end of Marc Spector: Moon Knight #56 shows MK being recruited by Goddess. This issue isn't bannered as part of IC, nor is it listed as such by Marvel Fandom Wiki.

Iron Man #294-295 show Goddess trying to recruit him to her cause. Near the beginning of #294 she invites him to join her because he has tasted death. He refuses because he only believes in science. He goes on to fight Technovore in the bulk of the 2 issues and nearly dies in an explosion. She saves him and asks him again now that he's seen what rampant technology can do. But he still refuses, and will go on to join the crowd at Avengers Mansion (but he doesn't seem to tell them of his own experience).

In Deathlok #28 the Goddess approaches the Michael Collins DL because he is an virtuous man who has suffered much, but she rejects him when she realises being DL has tainted his soul. She goes on to contact Luther Manning, who's been having visions of the alternate reality version of himself who was the original Deathlok. The issue ends with Deathlok (MC) being disintegrated by an effect which happens within IC#6.

In the early pages of MSMK#57 Moon Knight is welcomed to Paradise Omega with everyone else, but Goddess expresses her doubts that he will prove worthy. (As in IC#1 Thor is mistakenly shown with them from the start.)

In Thor #464 Goddess brings Thor to Paradise Omega to join her other recruits. (He is mistakenly shown already with them when they all arrive at the end of IC#1.) But he still misses (Dark) Valkyrie and when Hercules scoffs at him for it they fight. Goddess separates them and sends Thor down into the catacombs of her cathedral to find his peace. There she sends an illusion of Loki to show him that he can't defeat evil in the universe without working with her. But Valkyrie also appears to him there, and she was *not* conjured up by Goddess.

Cage #17 happens after Crusader was enlightened by Goddess (presumably during IC#1(15:5-16)). This is the only reference to Infinity Crusade and Cage doesn't know it's going on.





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Infinity Crusade #1 Synopsis by Rob Johnson
The Infinity Watch are in their castle base on Monster Island. Adam Warlock is brooding over a sense of an impending cosmic event, and ignoring the rest of the team. Their mysterious amnesiac guest Maxam (see Warlock & Infinity Watch #16-17) is testing his strength by lifting Drax over his head. Moondragon gauges him at Hulk-level. Gamora is still suspicious of him because of the vision she had of him standing over Adam's body (in WIW#12). Pip the Troll thinks he's faking amnesia.

Warlock leaves them to use the Orb that Eternity gave him (WIW#15) to contact that being. He hasn't done so before because he sensed that the cosmic being wouldn't like trivial interruptions. Floating in lotus position he concentrates and his room is replaced by a white void. Adam is tempted to abandon the problems of the world and just stay here in peace. But then Eternity manifests. Warlock tells him that he feels something is amiss in the universe. Eternity agrees but says it's not a big enough problem to merit his attention. Then he leaves to look after the rest of the universe.

Someone has been observing all this and now she too manifests as a spectral glowing body who calls herself the Goddess. Adam feels she is familiar and then realises she is the opposite of the Magus. (At the end of the Infinity Gauntlet event when Adam had the godlike power of the Infinity Gems he shed himself of both his bad and good sides so he could wield the power rationally. His bad side became a new version of his old foe Magus in the Infinity War event. And now he realises it's the turn of his good side.) The Goddess now banishes him to non-existence so he can't interfere with her plans.

Next we witness various religiously-minded superheroes seeing golden symbols in the sky. Living Lightning of the West Coast Avengers sees a cross. Sasquatch of Alpha Flight sees a star of David. Black Knight sees a chalice. Namorita of the New Warriors sees a trident. For Hercules of the Avengers it's a lightning bolt. For Storm of the X-Men it's an ankh. For the Avenger Sersi of the Eternals it seems to be a Möbius strip. Then the visions vanish.

Goddess then pops up in a darkened room where a gem is kept in a transparent sealed case. She deliberately touches the case to set off an alarm. She confront the off-panel guardian of the gem and condemns him to eternal damnation for his sins and banishes him to another realm.

Mephisto in Hell has also detected a dangerous force in the universe which might even destroy his own realm. He decides he needs to recruit some allies to combat this menace.

Now Goddess reveals to us she has been collecting Cosmic Containment Units (Cosmic Cubes to us) from various dimensions. (So she is the 1 who spirited away Magus' 5 CCUs at the end of Infinity War.) Now she surrounded by about 20 of them. She uses their power to transform herself into a physical body which is effectively a female version of Adam clad in golden armour and a Warlock-style cloak.

In another reality Adam Warlock is floating inert when a purple hand touches him.

Back on Earth about a quarter of the world's population get a mystical epiphany. The Goddess personally appears to some superheroes although their companions wonder who they're talking too. She gives a speech which is tailored to their individual personalities. They are Storm + Jean Grey + Archangel, Invisible Woman, Daredevil, Namorita + Silhouette, Spider-Man, Quicksilver, Dr Strange, Wonder Man, Captain America, Puck + Shaman + Talisman + Windshear + Sasquatch, Silver Surfer, Thor, Sersi, Sleepwalker, Crystal, Hercules, Firelord, Moondragon, US Agent, Wolfsbane + Multiple Man, Scarlet Witch, Black Knight, Gamora, Living Lightning and Moon Knight. She asks them all if they will join her Infinity Crusade and they all reply "Yes". Then their companions (if any) see them go through portals.

On Monster Island Drax, Maxam and Pip see Gamora disappear. Pip goes to alert Moondragon but she's gone from her room. He then goes to Adam's room and finds it's been replaced by the white void, but the Orb Of Eternity is still there. The Fantastic Four contact the Avengers and learn that Vision is compiling a list of the missing. He asks if Sue Richards is religious, and Human Torch assents that she is. Vizh invites them to a big superhero gathering at Avengers Mansion. But then a voice says "Reed Richards, you are needed" and Mr Fantastic disappears (but not through a portal).

At the meeting images of most of the missing are posted on a screen. They don't include Gamora and Moondragon because they don't know how to contact the Watch. Nor Firelord, Silver Surfer and Sleepwalker for similar reasons. They also mention that Quasar is off in space and they haven't been able to contact Excalibur or X-Force. (However we haven't seen any of these in Goddess' army.) Vision proposes his theory that the abductees all have deep religious or moral convictions, or have had after-death experiences. They decide that Mr Fantastic was taken by someone else. The Professor Green Hulk suggests that it's maybe Thanos behind the disappearances like he was in Infinity Gauntlet, but Cyclops points out the current situation is different, and Prof X *hopes* it's not him.

Meanwhile Goddess has gone to the far side of the Sun and assembles rocky matter into a new Earth. She makes it a green paradises and then brings in her chosen heroes. Cap notes that there are no animals here. And then the ground trembles as a cathedral rises up from the ground. And Goddess welcomes them to Paradise Omega.



Ron Lim
Al Milgrom
Ian Laughlin
Ron Lim (Cover Penciler)
Al Milgrom (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Letterer: Jack Morelli.
Editor: Craig Anderson. Editor-in-chief: Tom DeFalco.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Black Knight
Black Knight

(Dane Whitman)
Drax
Drax

(Drax the Destroyer)
Mr. Fantastic
Mr. Fantastic

(Reed Richards)
Sasquatch
Sasquatch

(Walter Langkowski)
Storm
Storm

(Ororo Munroe)

Plus: Eternity, Goddess, Living Lightning (Miguel Santos), Maxam, Namorita.

> Infinity Crusade: Book info and issue index

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