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

In Illuminati #6 you feel Carl “Crusher” Creel/Absorbing Man’s pain. Joshua Williamson proves he can keep up with other A-list Avengers writers as villain Carl’s emotional journey is jarring more or less from the get-go.

As part of the Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill cross-over, in Illuminati #6, Creel was one of the mind-controlled Pleasant Hill inmates. He sadly relates to The Hood the experience in the false town. “His name was Harold. And he was happy.” As an ice cream-slinger, Carl/Harold had just made that magical first romantic connection with the town’s lady sheriff Eve (really Elektra, also brainwashed). But for Carl, it is not better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

After the town’s villains reclaim their identities in Illuminati #6,  Carl gets in a tussle with Elektra, and a page alternating their fight panels with Harold and Eve’s first dance is genuinely moving. “Tears are words that need to be written,” said Paulo Coelho, or in this case illustrated.

Illuminati #6 has other subtle touches. Excellent artist Mike Henderson renders villain Whirlwind in Pleasant Hill as an Archie clone. And Carl’s face effectively portrays his anguish.

Illuminati #6 has taken an an entertaining series up to a new level. Any reader with an ounce of empathy will feel Carl’s sadness rush over them in waves. It’s honest and meaningful, an art to which comic books aspire. If this issue doesn’t become an instant classic, it should.

Reviewer: Joe Lovece
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker