War of the Realms No. 2 review: Hopelessly outnumbered

The War of the Realms has entered Midgard and the heroes of Earth are hopelessly outnumbered. But like any apocalypse they will fight to their last breath if the need arises.

War of the Realms started off with a bang in its first issue, wasting no time in bringing the war to New York City. That continues on with this issue, albeit in a much different way than the first issue. The first issue introduced the conflict to the audience, while this issue dealt more with the ramifications of said conflict. This is not a fight that the Avengers can win or are even ready for and that’s felt in this issue. This is a dire issue that simultaneously feels more like a set-up for the rest of the series than the first issue did.

Jason Aaron really knows how to build tension and suspense in a way that feels organic to the story being told while also feeling completely separate. His use of the narrator, not as one of the characters in the story, but rather as an outside party, is done so expertly in this issue that it enhances everything around it. Violence feels elevated to a higher value. Grand spectacle feels even grander. Character decisions feel like they have more weight behind them. Everything just feels elevated, especially the last panel on the last page. It’s a gut punch.

The issue does feel a bit unfocused at times though due to simply the number of characters that the issue is trying to juggle. Every character gets their time to shine, but everyone also feels so separate from one another as well, forcing the issue to jump around almost at random sometimes. The only time that the issue felt completely focused was when it came to Jane Foster. With how prominent she was in this issue, there’s no way that something big isn’t going to happen to her by the end of the event, but here, it doesn’t matter, she’s the heart of the issue. Toward the end, there are two particular panels back-to-back that are simply soul crushing because of Jane and the way it was edited together and executed.

Image by Marvel Comics/Art by Russel Dauterman

Really though, the star of this issue is Russel Dauterman. So much of this issue is focused on war and the battle at hand, and his art doesn’t shy away from that. There’s a sadistic beauty to his art throughout the entirety of this issue that shouldn’t be ignored.

His figures are majestic and beautiful while also being covered in blood and gore. It’s a very paradoxical way to portray to convey this story and it works so wonderfully well here. The brutality throughout this issue is palpable, but impossible to look away from because of Dauterman’s gorgeous art and Matthew Wilson’s immaculate coloring.

That said, there aren’t a lot of incredibly intimate character moments in this issue for Dauterman to work his magic on, but, as mentioned above, there is one scene with Jane that will tear your heart from your chest and Dauterman executes it beautifully.

8.2/10 

While lacking a bit of focus, War of the Realms has another solid issue thanks to the haunting dialogue of Jason Aaron and the gorgeous art of Russel Dauterman.