Marvel Rivals #1 Review: The Hit Game Comes to Life In This Delightful Adaptation

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One of the most famous writers in the hsitory of comics in terms of doing a comic book based on a licensed property is Larry Hama, who has been writing comic books based on the Hasbro G.I. Joe toyline for over forty years now (with some major gaps in there, of course, when the license was between publishers). Hama has done an amazing job with the property, and especially nowadays, when the series has been its own independent continuity from other G.I. Joe comics for over a decade now, he seems to have a lot more freedom to do what he wants with the series. However, back when the book was in its heyday (as the most-subscribed comic book at Marvel Comics during the mid-1980s), Hama was dealing with a lot more restrictions, as he had to constantly work in whatever the latest G.I. Joe toy was into the series, and that often meant working some absurd gimmicks into the series over the years (like when the G.I. Joe team became eco-warriers against a bad guy who used “sludge,” as part of a toyline that worked slime guns into the concept). The ability to tell a story while also basically serving as an ad for the licensed product at the same time is so tricky, and so hard to pull off. Hama did it wonderfully, and in Marvel Rivals #1, Paul Tobin also walked that tight rope really well with a fun comic book adventure that perfectly served its own duties as promoting the Marvel Rivals video game (which hardly NEEDS the promotion, of course, as it is a total blockbuster).

Marvel Rivals #1 is from writer Paul Tobin, artist Luca Claretti, colorist Dee Cunniffe, and letterer Joe Sabino, and it takes what could be a very simple “Let’s you and five guys and me and five guys fight” adventure, and gives it a lot more emotional weight, while, of course, also serving as a fun look at what has made Marvel Rivals such a successful video game.

What is the setup for this Marvel Rivals comic book?

In case you’re unfamiliar with the game, the concept is that Doctor Doom and his Doom 2099 counterpart are in the middle of a major war with each other, and the resutling battle has created a multiversal event known as the “Timestream Entanglement,” where heroes (and villains) are sucked into the event from different timelines. Generally speaking, the idea is for some of the heroes to be from the “present day” Marvel Universe, and then some of the heroes to be from 2099 (the 2099 heroes are generally those who have long lifespans, like Wolverine), but there are also heroes from the past, and heroes from alternate realities period. Essentially, it allows the Marvel Rivals game to create new angles on all of the classic Marvel heroes.

Of course, anyone who has watched the Spiderverse films is familiar with this Multiverse concept, but still, as the issue kicks off, Galactus’ daughter, Galacta, who is sort of the “host” of the video game, also serves as the host of this comic book, and she itnroduces a situation where Peni Parker leads a team of heroes to plus the Web of Life and Destiny into Cyberspace to help protect it, while Spider-Man leads a team of heroes who are trying to use Chronovium (a powerful crystal that was created by the Timestream Entanglement) to reinforce the Web of Life and Destiny. This mimics the way that the game works, where teams of six characters compete against each other on various types of missions.

How does the comic book try to mirror the video game play?

One of the things that stands out in Marvel Rivals, and why the release of new playabale characters takes so long, is that you can have specific team-ups, where two characters can be more powerful when used together. This is the sort of thing I was talking about when I mentioned how Larry Hama had to constantly work stuff like that into the G.I. Joe comic book, and Tobin does a wonderful job of making it seem smooth in this story, where he uses Thor’s “Thunderous Deity” ability in the story (the ability is described as: Thor infuses Thorforce into Storm and Captain America, granting them an electrifying enhancement. With an electrifying enhancement, Storm can unleash a lightning barrage. With an electrifying enhancement, Captain America gains a Movement Boost, and his shield is imbued with thunder power, electrocuting nearby enemies).

However, while the story is mostly a fun back-and-forth between the two teams, with Claretti and Cunniffe doing a fine job of bringing the game designs and action style to life in this comic book, Tobin also adds a good dose of character work into the story, as well. This includes a cute subplot between Namor anf Jeff the Landshark, where Namor is fascinated by Jeff’s existence, and wants to work with him to conquer the world, but the main story is Peni interacting with Spider-Man, who she assumes is an alternate reality version of her father, Richard Parker, but Spdier-Man knows that he is obviously NOT Richard, but rather Peter Parker, so Peni is sort of an alternate reality sister to him. Their relationship is the emotional center of the comic, and it ties in well when the teams ultimately decide to work together in the end to achieve a common goal.

It’s an accessible, fun adventure, with some emotionale weight, a good sense of humor, and a great teaser at the end of to reference the relatively new addition of the Fantastic Four to Marvel Rivals.

Source: Marvel

“}]] In a CBR review of Marvel Rivals #1, see how the adaptation of the hit video game did a great job of bringing the gameplay to life,  Read More