Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Shawn Crystal
Colourist: John Rauch
Editor: Katie Kubert
Release Date: OUT NOW!
Price: $3.99

In Illuminati #4 it’s on. After the fiasco at Club Fenris the group of C-list villains, including Parker Robbins the Hood, Black Ant; Enchantress, Mad Thinker; Thunderball and Titania, head to Roxxon Corp. to seal an artificial Rainbow Bridge. What they didn’t expect was a certain thunder goddess. ‘It’s just Thor,’ she says, ‘Not lady Thor.’

Joshua Williamson appears to be having a great time writing the villains’ dialogue. “You sir, are a cliché,” Hood tells the Thinker.

Shawn Crystal has taken over the art chores and the stylish result works as a story-telling device, even if backgrounds are generally non-existent and his depiction of Asgard is a bit less than grand. But it is dynamic and expressive enough to pass as passable eye-candy.

Illuminati #4 is an entertaining piece of fluff that’s fun to read. And it’s no small task with a group of otherwise fairly uninteresting villains. Kudos to Marvel for even publishing such an odd series and future issues are a must, rather than a maybe.

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker