The Last of the Greats

Last updated
The Last of the Greats
TheLastoftheGreats.jpg
cover to issue #1
Publication information
Publisher Image Comics
ScheduleMonthly
Publication dateOctober 2011 – February 2012
No. of issues5
Main character(s)Last
Creative team
Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Artist(s) Brent Peeples
Colorist(s) Mirka Andolfo

The Last of the Greats is a comic book limited series created by writer Joshua Hale Fialkov and the artist Brent Peeples. It was published by Image Comics from October 5, 2011, to February 2012. A sequel, Return of the Greats, is forthcoming. [1]

Contents

Story

It takes place in a world where seven alien super powered beings known as the Greats have eliminated disease, poverty and social inequality. At the start of the story, humanity found a way to kill all of the Greats save one, who kept himself hidden, [2] never bothering to try to help Earth like his siblings did. Now humanity must plead with the last of the Greats to stop an alien invasion that threatens the entire world. [3]

There are several startling revelations during the first five issues. It is revealed that though the Greats seemingly died, they are beings of energy and therefore have been absorbed by their remaining brother, who is now extorting the human race into complete subjugation for his help. When the Last Great seeks to engage the alien ships, he actually goes aboard one of them and seems to be in charge of the fleet, which he then orders to destroy two-thirds of the earth's population. In flashbacks, it is seen that the Last Great's sister had a child with her adviser and the child has abilities like the other Greats, but she is being kept hidden from the Last Great for her own protection.

Later in the story, the Last Great is attacked by his "niece", and during the battle, the reader is given a glimpse of the other Greats in a big field under a tree that represents them being part of the Last Great's subconscious, mingling and talking with each other. Due to the Last Great's niece fighting with him, the internal struggle with the other Greats causes them to attempt to release themselves from his body. All of the Greats do this, except for one woman. The Last Great and this woman have plotted to have the others release themselves and float around as formless energy so that they can enact a master plan that they have been planning for some time.

Collected editions

The first series was collected into a trade paperback:

Reception

Jamil Scalese of Comics Bulletin called the story "page-turning, jaw-dropping" and wrote, "The Last of the Greats sets itself up to be one [of] the best mindfuck comics to hit shelves recently." He praised the artwork as well. [4] IGN felt the series had a "neat concept" but complained about the lack of character development in the first issue. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galactus</span> Marvel Comics fictional character

Galactus is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Formerly a mortal man, he is a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force, and serves a functional role in the upkeep of the primary Marvel continuity. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Fantastic Four #48.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultimates</span> Marvel Comics series

The Ultimates is a superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics and created by writer Mark Millar and artist Bryan Hitch, which first started publication from The Ultimates #1, as part of the company's Ultimate Marvel imprint. The series is a modernized re-imagining of Marvel's long-running Avengers comic-book franchise, centering around an elite military task-force of super-humans and special agents organized by the U.S. government, known as the Ultimates, to combat growing threats, both of human and non-human origin, to the country and in turn, the world, as they slowly learn to work together and form a family-like bond with each other, despite their differing natures and personalities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultimate Marvel</span> Defunct comic book imprint

Ultimate Marvel, later known as Ultimate Comics, was an imprint of comic books published by Marvel Comics, featuring re-imagined and modernized versions of the company's superhero characters from the Ultimate Marvel Universe. Those characters include Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Ultimates, the Fantastic Four, and others. The imprint was launched in 2000 with the publication of the series Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men in 2001, followed by The Ultimates and Ultimate Fantastic Four in 2002 and 2004 respectively providing new origin stories for the characters. The reality of Ultimate Marvel is designated as Earth-1610 as part of the Marvel Comics Multiverse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eternals (comics)</span> Group of comic book characters

The Eternals are a fictional race of humanoids appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They were created by Jack Kirby, making their first appearance in The Eternals #1.

Godzilla has appeared in a range of comic books that have been published in Japan and the United States.

<i>The Walking Dead</i> (comic book) Comic book series

The Walking Dead is an American post-apocalyptic comic book series created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore – who was the artist on the first six issues and cover artist for the first twenty-four – with art on the remainder of the series by Charlie Adlard. Beginning in 2003 and published by Image Comics, the series ran for 193 issues, with Kirkman unexpectedly ending the series in 2019. Apart from a few specials, the comic was published primarily in black and white. It began publishing colorized versions issue by issue, colored by Dave McCaig, starting in October 2020.

<i>Aliens</i> (Dark Horse Comics line) Comic book line

Aliens is a line of several comic books set in the fictional universe of the Alien films published by Dark Horse Comics from 1988 forward. The stories often feature the company Weyland-Yutani and the United States Colonial Marines. Originally intended as a sequel to James Cameron's 1986 film Aliens, the first mini-series features the characters of Rebecca "Newt" Jorden and Corporal Dwayne Hicks. Later series also included the further adventures of Ellen Ripley, with other stories being unique to the Alien universe and are often used to explore other aspects of the species, such as their sociology and biology, and also tying into Dark Horse Comics' Predator and Aliens vs. Predator lines.

<i>Atari Force</i>

Atari Force is the name of two comic book series published by DC Comics from 1982 to 1986. Both were loosely based on trademarks of Atari, Inc.

<i>WildC.A.T.s/Aliens</i>

WildC.A.T.S/Aliens was a one-shot comic book and intercompany crossover event, published by Wildstorm and Dark Horse Comics in 1998. The comic was written by Warren Ellis, pencilled by Chris Sprouse, with Kevin Nowlan inking and Laura Depuy as the colorist.

<i>The Halo Graphic Novel</i> 2006 American graphic novel

The Halo Graphic Novel is a graphic novel anthology of the military science fiction video game series Halo, published by Marvel Comics in partnership with Bungie. The Halo Graphic Novel was the series' first entry into the sequential art medium, and features aspects of the Halo universe which until then had not been discussed or seen in any medium.

<i>Scarlet Traces</i>

Scarlet Traces is a Steampunk comic series written by Ian Edginton and illustrated by D'Israeli. It was originally published online before being serialised in 2002, in the British anthology Judge Dredd Megazine. A sequel, Scarlet Traces: The Great Game, followed in 2006.

<i>Fear Agent</i>

Fear Agent is an American science fiction comic book series written by Rick Remender with art by Tony Moore and Jerome Opena, who alternated on story arcs. The series was published by Dark Horse Comics from 2007 to 2018 and by Image Comics from 2005–2006 and currently from 2018.

<i>Constantine</i> (comic book)

Constantine is a former ongoing comic book series published by DC Comics, which started in March 2013. It features English Magician John Constantine reestablished into the DC Universe and replaces the former Vertigo Comics title Hellblazer, which ended with its 300th issue after 25 years in February 2013. The title character was originally created by Alan Moore in his 1980s run on Swamp Thing. The series received mixed reviews; writers praised its story but were critical of its characters, setting, and artwork. Many were disappointed that the series replaced Hellblazer, with writer Joshua Hale Fialkov stating the series did not have the "real" John Constantine.

<i>Halo: Uprising</i> American comic book limited series

Halo: Uprising is a four-issue American comic book limited series set in the Halo universe. The series was written by Brian Michael Bendis, illustrated by Alex Maleev, and published by Marvel Comics. Uprising tells a story set between the ending of the 2004 video game Halo 2 and the beginning of its sequel, Halo 3, as Earth is under attack by a collective of alien races known as the Covenant. The series was intended to be released and concluded before Halo 3 shipped on September 25, 2007, but the final issue did not appear until April 2009.

<i>Pilot Season</i> (comics) Comic book series from Top Cow Productions

Pilot Season was an annual initiative begun in 2007 by American comics publisher Top Cow Productions. Readers were able to vote on the future of six one-shot pilot comics released throughout the year. Voting took place on the Pilot Season MySpace page and the highest vote-getters later became ongoing series.

Ender's Game is a series of comic book adaptations of a series of science fiction novels of the same name written by Orson Scott Card and published by Marvel Comics that began in October 2008. However, some have new content never before released in the novels. The series, like the novels they are based on, is set in a future where mankind is facing annihilation by an aggressive alien society, an insect-like race known colloquially as "Buggers" but more formally as "Formics". The central character, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, is one of the child soldiers trained at Battle School to be the future leaders of the protection of Earth. The year is never specified, although the ages of the Wiggin children are bound to change throughout space, taking in the relativity of space and time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaos War</span>

"Chaos War" is a Marvel Comics storyline that began publication in October 2010 across nine comic book series: the five-issue miniseries Chaos War, written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, supplemented by seven branded miniseries or one-shot publications, and by three issues of Incredible Hulks, a temporary iteration of the long-running series The Incredible Hulk. It follows the "Incredible Hercules" storyline written by Pak and Van Lente.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fear Itself (comics)</span> Superhero comics story

"Fear Itself" is a 2011 crossover comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics, consisting of a seven-issue, eponymous miniseries written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, and Laura Martin, a prologue book by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Scot Eaton, and numerous tie-in books, including most of the X-Men family of books.

<i>Resident Alien</i> (comics) Comic book series

Resident Alien is an American comic book series created by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse. The series was published by Dark Horse Comics in five installments of four-issue miniseries, followed by a six-issue miniseries, from 2012 to 2021. A seventh miniseries will be published in late 2022.

References

  1. Review of issue 5, Comic Attack, February 2012 [ dead link ]
  2. "Coming Apocalypse? THE LAST OF THE GREATS Doesn't Care". Newsarama. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  3. "Fialkov is "The Last of the Greats"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  4. Jason Brice. "ADVANCE REVIEW: The Last of the Greats #1 Review - Line of Fire Reviews". Comics Bulletin. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  5. Erik Norris. "The Last of the Greats #1 Review". IGN. Retrieved October 24, 2011.