Empire

Empire #1

by Mark Waid, Barry Kitson (Illustrator), James Pascoe (Illustrator)

A mixture of political intrigue and action-adventure, the groundbreaking Empire explores the concept of world domination from the unique perspective of the conquering dictator. Ten years after beginning a campaign of global conquest, the villainous Golgoth sits as the unopposed ruler of the world. But now that the masked monarch has realized his totalitarian dream of ruling the planet, he must contend with the incomprehensible nightmare of lording over a global empire. Under an eternal onslaught of alien invasions, traitorous plots and rebellious uprisings, the evil despot must find a way to maintain control or watch as his kingdom is destroyed.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Comic Book, Dc Comics, Science Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.

Reviews

[Patrick]

How do you review a book that was really well written, but that you didn't particularly enjoy?

Waid is a hell of a comic writer. There's no denying that. And this story is a lot of things I like: Most importantly, and maybe most notably, it has its own self-contained mythology. (You don't have to know anything about any superhero lore to understand and enjoy it.)

But it has a lot of other things going for it, too. A full cast of developed characters. Good dialogue. Interesting, comprehensible, arcing story. What's more, the story it tells is not a story I've seen before. There are common themes in here, it's not utterly unique. But I haven't seen this particular narrative done in ten different variations before.

But here's the thing. It's grim. The story itself rounded out as a good narrative should. And it provoked emotion, like a good narrative should.

But the emotion it evoked? Hopelessness. Weldschmertz. The feeling that the world is ultimately a bad place, and that things will get worse.

If there's a theme in here, it might be that despite your best intention, if you make mistakes, you will keep making them, and that redemption is impossible.

I think maybe when I was younger, I would have enjoyed that. Like anything, despair can be exciting if you haven't had much of it in your life. But these days.... I don't know. Maybe it's the state of the real world. Maybe it's just that I'm older. But I don't think I need stories like this in my life. And the part of me that is a teacher, and that thinks a lot about the effect of stories on people, wonders if the world benefits from having stories like this in it.

That said, the story *has* stayed with me for a couple days in my head. It has made me think. And that's not nothing. In fact, it's the mark of a good piece of art.

So... make your own choices here. A well-told story. But if you're looking for something hopeful or lighthearted, look elsewhere.

Execution? 5 stars. Excitement and enjoyment of story... well... for me it's much lower than that. So do I lower the star rating?

On one hand, it doesn't seem fair to downgrade this just because it isn't flavor of story I'm looking for at this time.

On the other hand, this is a review of how *I* feel about the book.

Fuck it, I hate giving star ratings. Going to leave this one blank.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea to Mark Waid and Barry Kitson’s Empire is sound: what if a Doctor Doom-type beat the superheroes and established an empire that was slowly taking over the world. What would that empire look like? What would the story of villainy triumphant be like? There’s certainly merit to the idea because a lot of it is new ground - except Waid doesn’t realise any of it in this very tedious comic.

Probably the biggest problem is the lack of a compelling main narrative. There are a few attempts at plotting here and there but most fizzle out quickly and none have any real bearing on the lead character, Golgoth. Because there are no superheroes to fight the supervillain, Waid focuses on Golgoth’s inner circle of crazies and their petty squabbles amongst themselves which is as riveting as it sounds.

One of them, the chief assassin Xanna, wants more of this amazing drug Golgoth feeds them to keep them in line, so she goes looking for how it’s made - and stumbles across a big secret. Another of his lieutenants, Lucullan, looks to be secretly working with the pathetic resistance, supplying them with weapons. And Some Guy is boning Golgoth’s daughter, Delfi - hope papa doesn’t find out!

Where do those subplots go? Nowhere. But you gotta have something to fill up those eight issues, no matter how dull and pointless they are!

Maybe this is a character study of a supervillain? Nope! He’s a little less megalomaniacal in one flashback but otherwise he’s one-dimensional at the end as he is at the beginning. Plus he’s overpowered to the point where no-one can touch him. Great, he’s unstoppable - now I’m really on the edge of my seat!

I don’t think of Mark Waid as a stupid writer but he does write extremely simplistically here. I mean, the drug Golgoth uses to control his inner circle is called Eucharist and it’s administered in a church like environment - geddit? That image is hammered home even more once you find out what Eucharist is. How about Golgoth for a villain’s name - can we be more obvious?

The superhero is called Endymion and… well, that’s a spoiler but look up Keat’s Endymion and compare that to the superhero here. Any similarities?! There’s a communications guy whose role is shamelessly ripped out of Nineteen Eighty-Four, “amending” the news so that the Empire comes off as positive every time. Oh, and in one panel his daughter is reading Machiavelli’s The Prince - think she’s got something to do with the “twist” ending?

I really didn’t like the world Waid dreamt up in Empire because it’s so flat! In this dreary world, crazy evil guys behead people and then play basketball with their heads - they’re EVIL! They take over other countries and kill kids - they’re EVIL! The leader goes around killing anyone on a whim - he’s EVIL!

I kept thinking: so, what’s the point? Is Waid trying to say something as banal as absolute power corrupts absolutely or something even less insightful such as once evil supervillain wins, they continue doing evil supervillain stuff ad nauseam? Am I supposed to be enjoying this/fascinated with what I’m reading? Everything about this comic is so uninteresting!

Barry Kitson’s art isn’t bad but I had some problems with his character designs. Three of his female characters and two of his male characters looked identical. I was wondering, what’s the ambassador of Greenland doing in Golgoth’s daughter’s bed only to discover he was a completely separate character halfway through the book! Granted two of the female characters are related, but still, is it so hard to get characters who look different?

I’ll give Waid this: he’s consistent. The ending is so bleakly miserable, like the rest of the book, it’s ballsy how nihilistic his vision is for Empire, and he commits to it totally. But, frankly, so what? Was the whole point just to have a superhero-type comic where the supervillain wins all the time from start to finish? At least we know why this doesn’t happen every often: it’s incredibly boring to read!

I’d been looking forward to reading Empire for a while now and I have enjoyed some of Waid’s comics, but this one was disappointing. It’s lacking in imagination, the writing, from the pitiful story to the paper thin characters, was very weak, and the premise proves to be a mistake, at least in Waid’s hands, who does nothing to expand upon it in any meaningful way.

This Empire was less Strikes Back and more Phantom Menace!

(Hat tip to kris for kindly giving me a copy)

['kris Pung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the darkest Waid book I've ever read with a ending you just have to see to believe. If you're looking for a good villains story look no further than this book.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good concept. Solid artwork. Enjoyable story to read. Would be curious to see what happens next in the world.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very nice art, great SiFi background world, intrigue and backstabbing what a great alternate type comic. Nice interesting different read. Recommended

[Zedsdead · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an odd little title. Golgoth, a Dr Doom-like character (who looks like Iron Man) conquers the world, ruling in brutal, sadistic, Genghis Khan-like fashion. His generals and ministers plot and scheme with and against one another.

Mark Waid caught my attention in the intro, acknowledging the pitfalls of recurring mainstream antagonists like the Joker and Dr Doom: "At the end of the day, the villain du jour really has no chance of seriously changing the world around him, not surrounded by that kind of super-heroic power and Comics Code watchdogging." So he started from scratch, and that allowed him to be as grimdark as he wanted, as bleak and violent as the story called for. And Empire was almost really really good.

However. The politics are waaay too simplistic for a story of world conquest. Most of the drama takes place in Trump's Cabinet as the ministers jockey for position and favor. But they're just cartoonishly evil; there's virtually no moral grayness. Not one world-subduing bad guy appears to believe they're doing the right thing, or even the wrong thing for the right reasons. They just torture and maim for giggles, rape to let off a little steam, murder when it's expedient, conquer because they can. I enjoyed Empire but it was a huge missed opportunity.

[EDIT: WOW I did NOT change "Golgoth's Cabinet" to "Trump's Cabinet" on purpose; I happened to be reading about the upcoming billionaire-loaded Cabinet and I Freudian slipped. But now I'm leaving it in there because it amuses the hell out of me.]

Also, the superhero-inspired cast of characters look fine for the most part, sleek and intimidating, but the artist has a problem with faces. Especially women's faces. A different expression makes them look like entirely different characters.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool concept, pretty well executed (ha, ha). The artwork was a bit lumpy at times, but it did capture the 'Dr. Doom wins' sentiment.

[One Flew · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. As much as I liked Waid's Empire sereies, I read it thinking it was going to be a self contained work (rather than ongoing series), and I was sort of dissapointed to find it wasn't. That said, I've always liked Waid's style, his work always has that sense of supsense through out. Empire was no exception, a well executed world of its own. I'm quite keen to see where the series go now that Waid has picked up where he left of.

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's hard to believe that this book was written by the same Mark Waid responsible for "Kingdom Come". This story focuses on a supervillain who has killed all who could oppose him and has taken over the world. In his introduction, Mark Waid mentions that he wanted to explore the idea of what such a character who had already accomplished every goal he set for himself would do next. Unfortunately, for all his desire to explore that idea, there is nothing of the sort to be found here.

Golgoth (ugh), the man who rules the entire world with an iron fist, is about as generic as a villain can be. We learn absolutely nothing of interest about him through the course of the eight-issue story--he was driven to take over the world and in the past he loved his wife very much. Oh, and he wears very silly armor that he never takes off. His motivations, his background, and even his personality remain a complete mystery by the time you reach the end. So we know less about him than we do Boba Fett, and yet the entire story is built around him. With no real threat left to oppose him, the story focuses on the drama among Golgoth's lieutenants, who unfortunately all share far too much in common with a Steven Seagal protagonist. Each one is an unstoppable badass who can't be touched, and they fear nothing at all save Golgoth, whose sole personality trait seems to be that he will not tolerate any insubordination.

The characters all have awkward names like Lohkyn, Valpurgis, or Lucullan. And for some reason Golgoth's daughter constantly talks in questions? I don't know why she does this? It's really annoying?

This was published in the early 2000s but has all the worst hallmarks of extremity that the 1990s Dark Ages of comics were famous for. Characters wear absurd armor with shoulder pads that should render them immobile while they all try to out-extreme each other. This feels like something that 13-year-old me might have enjoyed if I was sick with the flu and my brain was a bit mushy, but it's hard to reconcile the fact that Mark Waid, who has written some decent books, wrote this material as an adult. It really feels like he unearthed some scripts he wrote as a teenager, dusted them off, and submitted them without changes. In the end the whole book reads like it was written by a barely sentient piece of Rob Liefeld's art.

[Variaciones Enrojo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reseña de Javier Agrafojo para Zona Negativa:
http://www.zonanegativa.com/empire/

Nos lo hemos preguntado más de una vez. ¿Qué pasaría si el héroe no llegara en el último minuto? ¿Si solo quedase una oportunidad para frustrar el diabólico plan del villano de turno… y fracasase? ¿Si las buenas acciones fueran castigadas y las malas, premiadas? Bueno, no hace falta preguntárselo: lo vemos cada día a nuestro alrededor. La ficción se empeña en lo contrario para darnos un respiro de la realidad. Pero síganme el juego. Los universos de ficción se han vuelto tan fascinantes que nos exigen dosis de verosimilitud… ¿y qué hay más verosímil que la derrota? Así que fantaseamos. Y la industria le pone nombre: What If, Elseworlds, etc. Un vistazo al momento en que los héroes cayeron y no se levantaron. Un vistazo al triunfo del mal.
Es bien sabido que la curiosidad no es lo mismo que la aceptación. Una cosa es una rápida ojeada a ese momento en que las cosas se torcieron, que magnifica luego la heroica victoria final (bien sea porque aún guardaban un as en la manga, como en la entretenida Emperador Muerte o las numerosas alteraciones de la realidad de tipos como Kang, Kulan Gath o Per Degaton; bien sea porque ese futuro no es el nuestro, el bueno, el fetén, y queda ahí como advertencia, tipo Días del Futuro Pasado), y otra muy distinta instalarse ahí para quedarse, contemplando impotentes las torturas, vejaciones y eliminación definitiva de nuestros heraldos. Eso sería intolerable. Inadmisible. Eso es Empire.
Mark Waid y Barry Kitson han colaborado en varias ocasiones, incluyendo relanzamientos de la JLA y la Legión de Superhéroes que tal vez merecieran mejor suerte. Ambos son tipos habilidosos, que suelen tejer historias divertidas e intrascendentes. No busquen en su biografía las obras que cambiarán el curso de la narrativa dibujada; en su favor diremos que nunca ofrecen menos que un entretenimiento digno. Aparte de las citadas, Waid, con otros colaboradores, es responsable de etapas estimables en Flash o Capitán América, alguna revisitación de Superman y, claro, Kingdom Come, la historia que siempre nos hace pensar ¿qué hubiera hecho Alan Moore? Pero no nos vayamos por las ramas. Waid y Kitson aceptaron el reto de presentar “un tebeo que hablaba de unos villanos que alcanzaban la victoria” y su primera conclusión fue que no lo podían hacer con personajes de DC o Marvel. Porque esta situación era definitiva. Los malos han ganado. ¿Qué pasa ahora? Así que se fueron a Gorilla, uno de esos sellos de efímera vida en los ’90, y se pusieron manos a la obra.
Una de las agradables sorpresas que nos depara Empire tiene que ver con la caracterización y el diseño de personajes: por una vez, se lo han tomado en serio. Normalmente, para esta clase de historias los autores no se estrujan las meninges y tiran de iconos reconocibles, de pastiches, como Busiek y Anderson en Astro City o Kirkman y Walker en Invencible. La razón nos la explicaba el propio Kirkman: “Sé que, superficialmente, los Guardianes de la Tierra parecen una parodia de la Liga de la Justicia, pero bueno… es que eso era lo que se suponía que debían ser. Quiero decir… tenía 18 páginas para presentarlos a todos y que los lectores les tomasen cariño […] Usar arquetipos es el mejor modo de hacerlo”. El problema es que también es el modo cómodo de hacerlo, el que menos inventiva aporta. Waid y Kitson trabajaron duro y, al revés que los productos Image de la época, sus personajes tienen vocación de originalidad. Bueno, casi todos, porque Endymion es el inevitable Superman/Supreme/Omniman/Mr.Majestic (etc.). No en vano Waid es forofo reconocido del último hijo de Krypton. Pero Gólgota es un gran villano: una especie de Dr. Muerte cuya armadura recuerda a Manga Khan empeñado en la utopía de un mundo unido y en paz (de los cementerios, se entiende). En la primera entrega nos presenta a sus asociados: Tumbril, un vicioso torturador lleno de tatuajes que se excita con el dolor ajeno; Lucullan, estratega que trabuca palabras y sólo vive para la guerra; Kafra, cyborg rijoso que controla la información mundial; Xanna, una asesina pelirroja que se aburre fácilmente; Delfi, la vigilada hija del dictador; etc. Un plantel de villanos trepas que ríete tú de los Amos del Mal del Barón Zemo. Una droga llamada, ¡atención!, Eucaristía, cuya elaboración e ingredientes sólo Gólgota conoce, les da fuerza y reflejos sobrehumanos, a la vez que asegura lealtad y obediencia al líder merced a la adicción. Y aún así…



Waid y Kitson concibieron la serie como un teatro de operaciones donde cualquier cosa puede pasar. Y, en efecto, pasan bastantes cosas y muy rápido, incluyendo un buen número de ignominias y crueldades, proclives a la violencia explícita, pero con el mismo sexo pacato del mainstream (aunque se le quiera dotar de cierto aire de perversidad). Sin llegar a agotarse (ocho episodios no bastan para exprimir un filón como éste), se comprende por qué en los universos tradicionales de Marvel o DC apenas pasa nada relevante durante años. Y es que un tercio de los personajes presentados en el primer número se quedan por el camino. A este ritmo dejan la tierra yerma. La serie confía en sí misma, rehuye la parodia y las referencias frikis (casi siempre: en la historia de la derrota de Endymion hay unas cuantas) y juguetea en la peligrosa frontera abierta por las obras emblemáticas de los ’80, esas que miraron al abismo desde unas atalayas de disfraces de colores pop. Rara avis, Empire elude la gravedad del sello Vertigo y la espectacularidad palomitera que derivaría en The Authority para merodear en tierra de nadie. Parte de esa indecisión se debe al estilo de dibujo. Kitson es el mismo de siempre, con las mismas caras de siempre, lo que provoca una pizca de subversión probablemente involuntaria, como cuando se usan dibujos de trazo Disney para tareas que no les son propias. Y es que, a fin de cuentas, esos tipos tan malvados tienen las mismas caras que Flash o Supergirl. Pero el guion también juega esa baza. Sus iniquidades y traiciones sorprenden en un contexto superheroico, donde la permisividad es escasa, pero resultarían casi pueriles en una ficción histórica, más cara a desmanes.
Es una lástima que Empire concluyera tras sólo ocho números. La historia se cierra más o menos como en un arco argumental al uso, ni siquiera como un fin de temporada televisiva. No cuesta nada imaginar otra tanda igual o superior a esta, con nuevas y viejas intrigas. Pero el esfuerzo para Waid y Kitson debió de ser extraordinario. A pesar de las buenas críticas y unas ventas aceptables, el sello Gorilla quebró, obligando a los autores a parar la serie, que fue rescatada por DC, respetando los derechos de autor. Supongo que luego encontraron menesteres más lucrativos y decidieron aparcar su creación más personal y acaso la más lograda.
En 2004 la historia completa fue publicada en España en ocho cuadernos por Planeta DeAgostini al precio de 1’70€ ejemplar.

[William Moses Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wonder if this is one of those stories where it was a revelation when it released, but not so much later on. So many stories have had similar plot lines or ideas that reading all of them has left this one feeling a bit meh. At least that's how I feel.

I felt like things were a bit predictable and there wasn't really much shock value. Those are things that may have been there when the comic first came out. On the other hand, the drawing felt weird at times, with the same person being drawn in different ways (not different angles, but just different proportions) so it felt like either the artists didn't settle on a single vision for each character initially or else they just forgot or else they just screwed up. I don't know what it was, but I didn't like the end result. Finally, I suppose this was to be expected, but I found all the characters unlikable and that made me care less for everyone. I suppose if you're going to tell a story about villains, it makes sense, but I've found that characters with some redeeming qualities tend to draw me into the story. In this comic, there was the possibility of some characters having some decent interesting values, but and they sort of carried me a bit through the middle of the story, but towards the end I just didn't care for any of them.

[AviChaim Snyder · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not quite sure where to begin with this volume. Despite hearing a lot of praise for the series, it ultimately left me feeling underwhelmed and uninterested. There were moments that showed promise—an occasional twist here and there, some fun concepts—but overall, it never fully clicked for me.

The writing felt strained, as though it was trying too hard to stand apart from other series. While Mark Waid is capable of much stronger work, this didn’t showcase his best. The protagonist, Golgoth, came across as a derivative version of Doctor Doom—only this time, Doom wins—but without the nuance or gravitas. None of the characters made much of an impact, with the exception of Tumbril, who, despite limited panel time, was the only one I found remotely compelling.

With such a limited issue count, the story felt both rushed and aimless—never quite establishing a rhythm. As for the art, it was serviceable but unremarkable.

In the end, this series just wasn’t for me. It lacked emotional weight and failed to draw me in. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Grade: D

[Dario Andrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Império parte de uma premissa bem simples: os super-heróis estão todos mortos e o mundo foi conquistado pelo super-vilão Golgoth e seus comparsas, que podem ser descritos como um bando de sociopatas, sádicos e sem nenhum caráter. Quase todo o planeta foi derrotado, existindo alguns poucos bolsões de resistência que estão sendo rapidamente eliminados.
Além disso, Golgoth mantém a lealdade de seus asseclas por meio de uma droga conhecida como eucaristia, que dá grandes poderes, mas vicia o usuário.
A despeito disso, Golgoth precisa lidar com as disputas em seu círculo de poder.
Uma série original, com uma estória bem contada, apesar de a arte não ter me impressionado. Para quem gosta de HQ vale a pena!

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This doesn't quite work as a pastiche or an homage. The main character is kind of like Victor Von Doom? A little? I'm not sure about if anyone else was anyone else.

And then it just kind of runs away from the premise that this is like another book. It's really it's own thing. But if that's what it is, then it probably needed some more time to develop.

Also, were the aliens called 'Qanon?' If so, unlucky.

[Mouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't truly finish it, it just sort of fizzled out for me and I lost interest. The art is pretty stellar and there's some graphic violence that was sort of shocking...mainly for a DC book. The bad guy was sort of like Ultron or another villain and had lots of potential. The problem I had was that I felt it was just really long winded and overrated.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid super villain takes over the word story. With great Kitson artwork. There are several twists and many disturbing images and ideas to keep you on your toes as a reader. Highly recommended. Not sure how easy it would be to continue on the story, as the ending was about perfect, at least for me . . .

[Matt Sabonis · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s just…very 2000 Mark Waid. Thinks it goes harder than it does, doesn’t actually think through as much as it pretends to, and doesn’t actually have anything to say, all with the depth of a puddle.

Also, the character names are atrocious. Like they were made out of alphabet soup when they weren’t glaringly obvious symbolism.

At least Kitson’s art is pretty.

[Kamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally predictable, but still enjoyable.

[Sean Goh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The twist ending (huehue) was quite powerful. But the characters themselves are quite one-dimensional and all look similar. A lot of wasted potential.

[Gary Varga · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a refreshing new take on familiar ground. Twists and turns of which some you can see coming and some you, or at least I, can't.

Great artwork, layout, and clear lettering.

[Shawn Ingle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story & art ❤️

[Sr B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Algo fuera de lo común del trabajo de Waid pero eso hace que sea interesante e impactante.

[Jeremy Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man this would make such a good tv show.

[Jedhua · Rating 2 out of 5]

ESTIMATED DNF RATING: {2/5 star to 2.5/5 stars}

STANDARDIZED RATING: <2/5 stars>

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Waid has had a long career in what you might call "standard" superhero comics. I'm a big fan of his run on Flash and his first stint on Legion of Super-Heroes, and both of those titles show Waid's love for the heroic ideal. He has a great gift for writing superheroes as heroes, as individuals who risk and sacrifice for the greater good and yet still do what they do with a sense of joy.

At the same time, Waid has a very interesting dark side. Most recently, you could see this in his Irredeemable series, which basically tells the story of a Silver Age Superman turning evil. But I thoroughly enjoyed Empire, which tells the story of Golgoth, a super-villain who has successfully carried out his world-conquering scheme. Yes, there are a few pockets of resistance here and there, but those aren't our focus. Instead, the series emphasizes Golgoth, his lieutenants, and the schemes and stresses that come from administering tyranny. None of the major characters deserve any empathy, and we get only occasional relief from the evil by looking in on possible threats to Golgoth's reign. At the same time, because of how Waid tells the story of the deceit and intrigue, I found it a very compelling read.

A quick note on the art: Kitson, like Waid, is not an "out of the box" superhero creator. You could see similar art in most Marvel or DC books. However, that's part of the appeal --- to see material this dark in a package that screams of a totally different direction. And the more I read the series, the more I'm amazed by how Kitson draws Golgoth. There's very little to work with (all we see of Golgoth is his eyes behind a mask), but Kitson still gets across a ton of emotion and characterization.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better self contain original works in recent comic history. There have been good franchises recently but they all suffer the problems of carrying on for too long. Stretching a plot and character growth past their comfortable limit. Empire takes a top rating from me because it knows when to end its story. A Villain uses Australia as a home base and conquers the world. A superman-esque hero is defeated and the Villain loses his rival, family and friends. Leaving him with the growing realization that he may conquer the world while loosing everything else.

If you enjoy politics, comic-book heroes and a story from the point of view of a Villain then pick up this comic. It won't disappoint.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if Doctor Doom won and had to rule?

It's an interesting premise and the Doctor Doom analogue 'Golgoth' brings to the front most of the interesting things going on behind the character Waid and Kitson are riffing on.

It's largely a successful and engaging character piece and though there are some missteps (maybe don't have a character reading Machiavelli if you don't want to sign post your twist) it's a very interesting take on the supervillain concept that we rarely see.

It's long out of print but Waid's new Thrillbent imprint offers it digitally and he's working on a new series that should be out soon. I'll be picking that up too.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collects Empire #0-6

What if a villain succeeded in conquering the world? What would it cost the man behind the super villain identity? These are the types of questions addressed in this story. The complete story is within these stories, so if you are looking for a "one and done" collection, this is that type of collection.

The story is for a more mature audience, and even though it falls under the DC Comics banner, I think it would have been a better fit under DC's imprint, Vertigo.

I liked this, but didn't love it. With that being said, it was interesting, and it held my attention.

Final score = 3.5 stars

[Travis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super villain, Golgoth sets out to conquer the world, succeeds and now has to run the place.
Great idea, as there are tons of stories about guys wanting to rule and/or save the world, but almost no one has done a story about what happens next.
The only problem is that the cast is all pretty creepy/evil/messed up etc and the world Waid has created is very dark and grim.
Golgoth is interesting, but not enough that you want to root for him, but there is no rebellion.
So, after awhile, without anyone to hook me in, I lost interest.
Great idea, great art, so-so execution.