Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling #1

Lords of Empyre #1

by Chip Zdarsky, Anthony Oliveira, Patrick Gleason (Cover Art)

DESTINY FULFILLED! The child of the Kree hero Mar-Vell and Skrull Princess Anelle, Dorrek VIII — known on Earth as “Teddy” — has spent years evading the clutches of both bloodthirsty empires. But now fate has caught up to him. The Kree and Skrull worlds are aligned — and only a man born of both can lead them. But what has led Hulkling to abandon Earth and the Avengers he’s fought beside? And what will become of his fiancé, the hero Wiccan? Star writers Chip Zdarsky and Anthony Oliveira team up with artist Manual Garcia for a can’t-miss one-shot!

Genres: Comics, Marvel, LGBT, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Space

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

Chip Zdarsky is a Canadian comic book artist and journalist. He was born Steve Murray but is known by his fan base as Chip Zdarsky, and occasionally Todd Diamond. He writes and illustrates an advice column called Extremely Bad Advice for the Canadian national newspaper National Post's The Ampersand, their pop culture section's online edition. He is also the creator of Prison Funnies and Monster Cops.

Source: Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fills in the gaps between Incoming! and Empyre #1. It shows how Hulking became the new Emperor of the Kree / Skrull empire and really showcased Hulking's relationship with Wiccan. Zdarsky is one of the best writers at Marvel and doesn't fail us here.

[deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so fun and dynamic!! Teddy and Billy are 👌😘*chefs kiss* and always have such good stories. The dialogue is very quippy and fast paced, and super enjoyable to read. Also, can we talk about That Scene at the end?? You know- “Everything. I’m looking at my everything.”🥺💖 I need the next issue NOW.

[TJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best comic issue I've read in recent memory. It almost reads like a sequel to Young Avengers vol. 2, while setting up the Empyre event. Teddy and Billy are fabulous here, and Tommy and David?! So glad they finally got established as a couple. This was a beautiful, fun, emotional, and witty story. It was also the queerest story Marvel has put out since that LGBTQ+ page in Marvel Voices. I'd love to see a new Young Avengers series, or even just a Hulkling and Wiccan title, from Oliveira and/or Zdarsky. Throw Vecchio in as the interior artist (he did the beautiful cover for this issue and the Marvel Voices page) and you have one hell of a book!! Please, Marvel, make it happen! 5/5 stars

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely satisfying issue for Hulking fans. I love Teddy and this captures everything good about him. You get to see his love life, you get to see him having to take responsibility of being a King, and you get to see him be a goddamn badass. If you're a fan of Hulking or want to know why Empyre might be a solid event, check this issue out. Can read it even before begin Empyre. A 4 out of 5!

[Natasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was great

Also ThinkFast canon

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I was not expecting the level of insight available in this issue. This issue is perfect for those looking to understand what Teddy has been going through, and what led him to this point (ie: what encouraged him to accept the offer from the Skrulls and Kree). It's actually fasciating, with some sweet romantic moments along the way.

[Tanabrus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primo di... tre? one-shots che si focalizzano sui personaggi al centro di questa saga.
E si comincia con Teddy, Hulkling, l'Imperatore dell'alleanza Skrull-Kree, figlio della principessa Skrull e del più grande eroe Kree.

Una trentina di pagine che ci mostrano la vita che stava conducendo Teddy recentemente, il suo rapporto con Billy, l'arrivo degli agenti alieni che lo contattano per chiedergli di guidare questa neonata e fragile alleanza.
I dubbi e le paure di questo ragazzino che si ritrova a governare sulla vita e sulla morte di miliardi di persone, e che si ritrova pure costretto a collaborare con chi ha ucciso quella che lui vedeva come sua madre.
Il punto di vista dei suoi nuovi "alleati" sulla sua gente adottiva, gli umani.

Un buon approfondimento sulla figura di Hulkling.

[Stavroula · Rating 5 out of 5]

"And a good king finds a way to make peace, not war."

[francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

When they're in love... in space...

[Dimitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthony Oliveira has only written exactly two one-shots (please, read War of Realms: War Scrolls #2 before this one) with the Young Avengers (or half of them) and he handled them better in these 40something pages than anyone has since McKelvie. He sees and understands the characters better than anyone and as a reader, I have to say, that quality is not that common.
The Young Avengers books are amazing but even if they weren’t, I would still recommend reading them just so you can appreciate his two single issues more.
*For those confused, Oliveira is credited as co-writer but he's the main writer on this book.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is pretty intense with Hulkling needing to give up everything to stop the longest war ever, only to then be forced to wage another war. Then there’s the rejection scenes! Ugh.

Also, Hulkling and Wiccan in bed together was groundbreaking and so incredibly normal at the same time, which is special. I love that their relationship is so known and accepted in the superhero community. I don’t like how the Young Avengers in general have been dismissed by the same community.

I will read the series to find out how Teddy manages to end these intergalactic wars.

[Pie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billy and Teddy are in LOVE and Teddy wants to be a GOOD RULER and Billy is BADASS SORCERER there was a GIANT MAGIC SWORD and also SPACESHIPS and THINKFAST IS CANON! Wow that was a lot of all caps but I just have very strong feelings about these characters and this was an excellent comic issue focused on them.

[Kris Ritchie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teddy is my favorite soft boy turned strong.

Also, I just love when Marvel goes queer. This issue highlights my favorite couple Wiccan/Hulking and how Hulking got crowned Prince of the Kree/Skrull fleet.

[Owen Blacker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A definite highlight of 2020 for me was Anthony Oliveira and Chip Zdarsky’s GLAAD Award-winning Emperor Hulkling one-shot from Marvel’s Lords of Empyre summer event. Written by a queer author (Oliveira), he told This Week in Marvel that it was important to him that they depict the everyday queer life that Hulkling lives and to expand on his character, who is often left on the bench while his boyfriend Wiccan is off saving the world. With colourist Triona Farrell, he is also responsible for bringing “Thinkfast” (the m/m pairing of their fellow Young Avengers: Prodigy and Speed) into Marvel’s canon, in a gorgeous 6-cel Pride-coloured panel:



(Incidentally, Wiccan and Speed are the twin brothers you might have seen in WandaVision , so I’m hopeful we might see more of them in the MCU at last!)

Emperor Hulkling is a delight throughout, with wonderful witty panels:





as well as beautiful moments of queer intimacy:



And even as someone who grew up in the universal homophobia of the 1980s and came out over 20 years ago, it’s surprising how important it feels, seeing the superhero protagonist of a comic book not only be rescued by his superhero boyfriend, but seeing them lying together in each other’s arms, shown just like a loving cis-het couple.

Also I love that we see a continuation of the MODOK dream from Oliveira’s previous story “My Drag Brunch with Loki”, in War of the Realms: War Scrolls #2 , which y’all should also go read 😉

The whole Empyre event is worth reading, not least to see a happy, queer couple save the universe. But if you only want a small serving of comics to read, Emperor Hulkling is simply a moment of gorgeous queer beauty.

I can’t wait to see Anthony Oliveira’s work in Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1 later this month, giving us some of Bobby Drake’s journey from the closet. Oliveira spoke to Cerebrocast back in October and chatted more generally about queer comics with Bitches on Comics for Pride last year and both are really interesting conversations. I’m also looking forward to reading more of Hulkling and Wiccan from their original creators, Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, again, in Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1 later this month.

(Also: fans of teen drama The OC can draw their own conclusions about what plot ideas Heinberg might have wanted to include in the show had they not been too racy for mid-naughties Fox, based on the physical appearance of Hulkling and Wiccan.)

[Sid · Rating 4 out of 5]

everyone go home this is a gays only event

[Dimitris Papastergiou · Rating 4 out of 5]

What the hell Zdarsky?

This was so fun to read, I want a Hulkling & Wiccan ongoing series from Chip. Great artwork too!

[Pochodnia fandomu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tommy i David są kanonicznie razem, noice

[Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's gay!

[Ian Sharman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Billy and Teddy since I first read Young Avengers, and it's been great to see Marvel allowing the characters to grow and their relationship to grow along with them. I had worried that Empyre would see Billy forgotten as Teddy shot of into space to be a big time space emperor, but those fears were allayed by this wonderful issue.

The art is superb, as it has been across Empyre so far, and the writing is just as good.

For what could have been a throwaway, inconsequential, one-shot tie in, this feels like essential reading. Well done to everyone involved!

[Olivia Weight · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for Hulkling fans. Teddy has been a favorite of mine for what feels like forever now and all I've wanted for years is to see Teddy get the attention and storylines that he deserves. Emperor Hulkling delivers. This is a great link between Incoming and Empyre, which is satisfying enough, but this also showcases everything we love most about Teddy. We get to see him step into his role as emperor and also grow in his relationship with Billy.

[Alyx · Rating 5 out of 5]

'hey lizzie borden! hands off my space man!'

I would like to protect this 'strong soft good nice boy' at all costs please

[Delia Beatrix · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I want that Twink obliterated”
Actual quote from this comic, mcu take notes

[Meredith Katz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could have used about 10% less quipping (or rather keep the quipping but keep it in character -- I love the "I want this twink obliterated" meme quote but why would it be said by a kree-axewoman who is part of a culture that hates human culture and of a people who were calling Billy a jumped up monkey-man pet, does she secretly have a twitter? A wattpad???) but the art and story here were great. I do appreciate that even if he publicly denounced Billy it was made clear to us this was not actually a breakup -- though, that said, obviously a guy who was made because of the illicit love between a kree and a skrull is going to have to stand by his love in the end publicly, right? Right???

Reading order:


Road To Empyre: The Kree/Skrull War (2020) #1
Empyre: Avengers (2020) #0
Empyre: Fantastic Four (2020) #0
> Lords of Empyre: Emperor Hulkling (2020) #1
Empyre (2020) #1
Fantastic Four (2018) #21
Lords of Empyre: Swordsman (2020) #1
Empyre (2020) #2
Empyre: X-Men (2020) #1
Empyre: X-Men (2020) #2
Empyre: X-Men (2020) #3
Empyre: X-Men (2020) #4
Empyre: Avengers (2020) #1
Empyre: Avengers (2020) #2
Captain Marvel (2019) #18
Captain Marvel (2019) #19
Captain Marvel (2019) #20
Lords of Empyre: Celestial Messiah (2020) #1
Empyre (2020) #3
Fantastic Four (2018) #22
Empyre: Captain America (2020) #1
Empyre: Captain America (2020) #2
Empyre: Captain America (2020) #3
X-Men (2019) #10
Captain Marvel (2019) #21
Empyre (2020) #4
Empyre: Avengers (2020) #3
Empyre (2020) #5
Fantastic Four (2018) #23
Empyre (2020) #6
Empyre: Aftermath Avengers (2020) #1
Empyre: Fallout Fantastic Four (2020) #1
Guardians of the Galaxy (2020) #6
Immortal She-Hulk (2020) #1
Web Of Venom: Empyre's End (2020) #1

[Weminence · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first honest comic, probably, and my first read of anything with Hulking and now I just want to consume everything he's in. We'll get there. I loved the art in this and some of the little comedy bits. I also love Wiccan and Hulking. I'm excited for the rest of this story and the previous parts too.

[luciddreamer99 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some nice background on events in the Empyre storyline, this comic has ancillary details of other comics essentially. Hulkling's denial of Wiccan has social implications and reflects on the gay experience in metaphor, even suggesting Peter's denial of Jesus in the Gospel story of the Bible. There were a few corny moments with Hulkling, but he is a teenager, I suppose. Considering all of these points, I would recommend this comic to fans of Young Avengers, and fans of Hulkling and Wiccan, as well as readers who want to read Empyre, as there is some pretty important information here concerning that crossover.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would read absolutely anything with Billy and Teddy in it, and this introduced a lot of the important set up for the rest of the series. I’m very glad I read it first - it really sets the stage for everything that follows between these two.

[Mana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really feeling the side story’s. May just stick to FF xmen and the main title. But as for this disappointing that Teddy was swayed so easily. He should have consulted someone who knew more about the Empyres and there ways.

[Júlia · Rating 5 out of 5]

truly freaking obsesssed with this, it's so good.

[Danielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just don’t. Don’t pull a DC and mess up Teddy & Billy’s relationship. Please!

[Roman Colombo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Teddy is a great character. I'm hoping his charm actually starts changing the Kree and Skrulls.