Comic book limited series
Big Game is an
American
superhero
comic book
limited series written by
Mark Millar and drawn by Pepe Larraz. Published by
Image Comics ,
[1] the series is a
crossover event between the various properties of the
Millarworld
multimedia franchise created by Millar, a direct sequel to
Wanted by Millar and
J. G. Jones , and a prequel to
Empress by Millar and
Stuart Immonen . The series chronicles Wesley Gibson and his protégé
Matthew Anderson / Nemesis ' campaign to assassinate the world's new superheroes, as
Agent Galahad of
Kingsman and
Mindy McCready / Hit-Girl take on the forces of Gibson's Fraternity of Super-Criminals.
[2] The series, originally published between July and November 2023 and subsequently published as a
graphic novel by Image Comics in December 2023, and as an
omnibus with Wanted by
Dark Horse Comics in 2024,
[3] who will also publish a sequel,
Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery , later that year.
[4]
Premise
In 1986, a group of villains known as The Fraternity banded together to defeat the heroes on the Earth, while also
brainwashing the entire planet into believing that the heroes never existed and were only fictional characters. In 2023, a new generation of heroes have begun to emerge following the actions of
Dave Lizewski , who previously served as the hero
Kick-Ass , and this drives Wesley "The Killer II" Gibson, the new leader of the Fraternity, to gather his forces, as well as his protégé
Nemesis , to kill this new generation before a new age of heroes can begin again.
[5]
As
Edison Crane and the
time-travelling
Chrononauts are recruited by former hero
"Bobbie Griffin" to face off against Wesley while the former is excavating the remnants of a
prehistoric
galactic empire ,
Agent Gary "Eggsy" Unwin of the
Kingsman rescues vigilante
Mindy "Hit-Girl" McCready from Fraternity assassins, while former vigilante Lizewski attempts to join the
superhero team the Ambassadors.
[6]
Characters
Protagonists
Antagonists
Wesley Gibson / The Killer II – Nemesis' mentor, the Secret Lord of Earth and leader of the Fraternity of Super-Criminals, who aims to wipe out the world's new superheroes as his father had once done in 1986.
Matthew Anderson / Nemesis – Wesley's protégé and intended successor, an orphan
groomed to become a supervillain.
The Fox – An assassin and Wesley's wife, who was also his father's lover.
King Morax – The
emperor of the
galactic empire ruling
prehistoric Earth , who aims to invade the future on learning of his empire's eventual end.
Diabolos the Sorcerer – A techno-sorcerer and the newest chief
lieutenant of the royal empire of King Morax, who invades the future on his behalf.
Other
The Ambassadors – A superhero team who recruit one person from each country as their "ambassadors", granting them artificial superpowers.
The Magic Order – A secret group of five families of
wizards entrusted to keep the world safe from supernatural and magical threats.
[7]
Cordelia Moonstone – The heir to the Magic Order, frustrated by her inability to stop the Fraternity due to them not being a magical threat.
The Night Club – A superhero team consisting of teenage
vampires who wear masks to fight crime during the day.
Huck – A kind-hearted superpowered countryman with an
IQ of 75 who is able to "track down anything".
Captain Duke McQueen – An elderly former space hero who once saved the universe.
Simon Pooni – A wheelchair-bound teenager with
multiple sclerosis who previously
sold his soul to transform into the superhero Superior.
Valerie "Val" Lizewski – Dave's wife, who is deaf in one ear as a result of childhood
polio .
Development
In August 2014, following the conclusion of
Book Four of
Kick-Ass – The Dave Lizewski Years ,
Mark Millar revealed that the majority of his
Millarworld work were set in the same
shared
fictional universe , with the ending
monologue of the series seeing
Dave Lizewski make mention of the events of
Wanted ,
Nemesis ,
Kingsman , and
MPH , and
Simon Pooni from
Superior cameoing, with Millar intended to one day write a crossover between the projects.
[8] By March 2015, Millar expressed interest in seeing this concept realised in a Hit-Girl/Kingsman feature film starring
Mindy McCready / Hit-Girl and
Gary "Eggsy" Unwin (originally London) together "in a big international adventure",
[9] by September 2017 revealing that he had discussed this concept with
Matthew Vaughn .
[10] Following extensive
development hell , the crossover, Big Game , was announced in May 2023, written by Millar, illustrated by Pepe Larraz, and serving as a direct sequel to
Wanted while pitting that series' protagonist Wesley Gibson and his protégé
Nemesis against the heroes of the Millarworld,
[11] in particular Hit-Girl and Eggsy,
[12] spinning-out of the events of
Nemesis Reloaded ,
[13] and leading into the events of
Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery .
[3]
[4]
Reception
Issue #
Publication date
Critic rating
Critic reviews
Ref.
1
July 2023
9.4/10
4
[14]
2
August 2023
8.8/10
6
[15]
3
September 2023
9.5/10
4
[16]
4
October 2023
9.6/10
4
[17]
5
November 2023
9.9/10
2
[18]
Overall
9.4/10
20
[19]
References
^ Peterson, Matthew (August 26, 2023).
"Big Game #2 Review" . Major Spoilers . Retrieved August 26, 2023 .
^
Mark Millar (
w ), Pepe Larraz (
a ).
Big Game , vol. .1, no. TP (December 20, 2023).
Portland, Oregon :
Image Comics . Retrieved on May 9, 2019.
^
a
b Weiss, Josh (December 5, 2023).
"Mark Millar Bringing 'Millarworld' Catalogue Over To Dark Horse Comics" .
Forbes . Retrieved December 5, 2023 .
^
a
b Salmon, Will (December 6, 2023).
"Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery heads up the first wave of Millarworld titles coming from Dark Horse in 2024" .
GamesRadar+ . Retrieved December 6, 2023 .
^ Pereira, Sergio (July 26, 2023).
"REVIEW: Image Comics' Big Game #1" .
Comic Book Resources . Retrieved July 26, 2023 .
^ Generally, Deron (July 19, 2023).
"Big Game #1 Review" . Superpowered Fancast . Retrieved July 19, 2023 .
^ Tardive, Ambrose (October 3, 2023).
"Why the Magic Order Can't Stop Wanted ' s Fraternity" .
Screen Rant . Retrieved October 3, 2023 .
^
Johnston, Rich (6 August 2014).
"Mark Millar Explains How All The Millarworld Books Tie-In Together — Wanted , Kick-Ass , Jupiter's Legacy , Superior , Nemesis , MPH , Supercrooks And More — But No News Yet On The Unfunnies " .
Bleeding Cool .
Archived from the original on 17 June 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2019 .
^
Millar, Mark [@mrmarkmillar] (March 8, 2015).
"@moiseschiu Eggsy and Hit-Girl on that poster in a big international adventure? It's a cool idea" (
Tweet ) – via
Twitter .
^
Millar, Mark [@mrmarkmillar] (September 17, 2017).
"Just saying to Matthew [Vaughn wha]t a cool post-cred[its-scene it] would have been [in] HIT-GIRL ringing Eggsy's door-bell, [the] audience knowing imminent shit [is about] to go down" (
Tweet ) – via
Twitter .
^ Schreur, Brandon (May 16, 2023).
"EXCLUSIVE: Why Mark Millar's Next Big Series Is a Secret Wanted Sequel" .
Comic Book Resources . Retrieved May 25, 2024 .
^ Pereira, Sergio (July 18, 2023).
"Big Game : Mark Millar and Pepe Larraz on the Massive Crossover Event and Wanted Sequel" .
Comic Book Resources . Retrieved July 18, 2023 .
^
Johnston, Rich (10 May 2023).
"Mark Millar's Image Comics Crossover Starts In Today's Nemesis Reloaded " .
Bleeding Cool . Retrieved 10 May 2023 .
^
"Big Game #1 Reviews" . ComicBookRoundup.com . Retrieved December 11, 2023 .
^
"Big Game #2 Reviews" . ComicBookRoundup.com . Retrieved December 11, 2023 .
^
"Big Game #3 Reviews" . ComicBookRoundup.com . Retrieved December 11, 2023 .
^
"Big Game #4 Reviews" . ComicBookRoundup.com . Retrieved December 11, 2023 .
^
"Big Game #5 Reviews" . ComicBookRoundup.com . Retrieved December 11, 2023 .
^
"Big Game (2023) Reviews" . ComicBookRoundup.com . Retrieved December 11, 2023 .
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