Empress (comic book) explained

Empress
Limited:Yes
Genre:Space opera/science fiction
Publisher:Marvel Comics
Startmo:April
Startyr:2016
Endmo:November
Endyr:2016
Issues:7
Writers:Mark Millar
Artists:Stuart Immonen
Pencillers:Stuart Immonen
Inkers:Wade von Grawbadger
Letterers:Peter Doherty
Colorists:Ive Svorcina
Editors:Nicole Boose
Rachael Fulton
Creators:Mark Millar
Stuart Immonen
Tpb:Book One
Isbn:1-3029-0206-7
Subcat:Marvel Comics
Sort:Empress
Addpubcat1:Icon Comics titles

Empress is a creator-owned comic book limited series written by Mark Millar, illustrated by Stuart Immonen and published by the Icon Comics imprint of Marvel Comics in 2016. Set in the Millarworld, the series follows Queen Emporia, Empress of the Royal Empire that ruled Earth 65 million years ago, as she decides to leave her husband King Morax along with their three children.

In 2023, a stand-alone prequel series, Big Game, written by Millar and illustrated by Pepe Larraz, was published by Image Comics, while a second volume will be published by Dark Horse Comics in 2024.

Publication history

The publicity was launched in October 2015 via The Hollywood Reporter, with Empress announced as "a big, fun, bombastic space opera" from Mark Millar and Stuart Immonen, described by Millar in later interviews with IGN and Vox as a series his (young) daughters could read.[1] [2] On the developing the series' protagonist of Queen Emporia, Millar described her:

The series also gained pre-publication attention when Millar revealed the series would take place on prehistoric Earth 65 million years in the past, where a galactic empire once considered the planet its capital,[3] and that he credited an unnamed "pal" of his who ran the Millarworld chat rooms with giving him the concept for the series; on developing the antagonist of the series, King Morax, Millar noted:

While originally intended to consist of three six-issue arcs,[4] only the seven-issue first volume of the series,[5] [6] collected as Empress Book One,[7] would be published by the Icon Comics imprint of Marvel Comics from April 6, 2016 to November 23, 2016,[8] [9] before the publication of subsequent volumes entered development hell.

In 2017, a one-shot, Empress: Rulebook, written by Will McLaren and illustrated by Luana Vecchio, was published by Image Comics as part of the Millarworld New Talent Annual 2017, an anthology annual consisting of one-shot specials containing winning entries from the online contest for up-and-coming creators held by Millar in 2016. Set before the events of Empress, the story explores the beginning of Emporia's struggles with living up to the image of empress, and ultimate decision to leave.[10]

In 2023, Big Game, a crossover between every Millarworld property illustrated by Pepe Larraz, was published by Image Comics;[11] while the majority of the story takes place on present-day Earth, 65 million years after the events of Empress, the Empress portion of the storyline is a direct prequel to Empress, seeing Hit-Girl accidentally travelling back in time to the reign of the Royal Empire of King Morax, who on seeing no record of his empire in modernity, sends one of his armies to invade the future under the command of Diabolos the Sorcerer.[12] [13] In December 2023, it was revealed that Millar had signed a deal for Dark Horse Comics to become the new publisher of the Millarworld titles, including a new volume of Empress, serving as a direct sequel following the publication of an omnibus.[14] [15]

Plot synopsis

Chapter IOn prehistoric Earth, deciding to leave her husband, Queen Emporia and her bodyguard Dane Havelok commander one of the Royal Empire's starships, taking with them Emporia's three children with galactic emperor King Morax: the 15-year-old Princess Aine, who aims to be exactly like her father and does not wish to leave; the 10-year-old Prince Adam, a "gentle soul" whom Emporia fears would not survive the trials ahead to become an elite ruler; and Puck, Emporia's youngest child, at 18-months-old.[16]
Chapter IIWhile Queen Emporia is on the run, with the forces of the Royal Empire in pursuit, Dane painted as the royal family's kidnapper in order to prevent a scandal in the eyes of the Imperial public, a plea for help on an alien stopover world along with a broken transporter could end the empress' adventure before it's properly begun, as Dane recruits his pilot, Tor.[17]
Chapter IIIFacing off against a new fleet of security sent by King Morax, willing to stop at nothing to get the boss' children back, Emporia and Dane must battle intergalactic beasts at every turn as they teleport between alien war zones and dead worlds in evading the forces pursuing them.[18]
Chapter IVStranded on barren planet Golgoth without hope of escape, shrouded by a massive dust cloud, when two passing scrap-merchants think they can make a quick profit by selling Emporia's children as slaves, unaware of who they are, the family is torn apart again and left fighting for their lives.[19]
Chapter VWith the heirs stolen to be sold into slavery at an auction, Emporia, Dane, and Tor, find themselves falling into the lap of a tribal priestess thirsty to use them as a blood sacrifice. Meanwhile, King Morax makes progress in tracking down his stolen children, executing everyone in his path, while Aine comes into her own as a warrior against the merchants that planned on selling her off.[20]
Chapter VIAfter an intrepid chase across the galaxies, Emporia arrives at her long-lost sister's planet to escape King Morax, unaware that she is on psychic vacation, and someone else currently possesses her body. Embedded within her new-age sanctuary, Dane and Emporia decide to enjoy each other's company, secretly observed by Aine, who outraged, contacts her father and brings him to the planet.[21]
Chapter VIIAs King Morax finally tracks his wife and children down, family turns against one other and old secrets come out into the light.[22]

Reception

Issue #Publication dateCritic ratingCritic reviewsRef.
1April 20168.4/1017[23]
2May 20168.6/106[24]
3June 20168.26[25]
4July 20169.16[26]
5August 20168.88[27]
6September 20168.94[28]
7November 20169.73[29]
Overall8.8/1050[30]

Collected editions

TitleMaterial collectedFormatPublication dateISBN
Empress Book OneEmpress #1–7Trade paperback
Hardback
Prequel: Big GameBig Game #1–5Trade paperback

Film

In May 2016, an Empress feature film was announced to be in active development, with Mark Millar producing himself along with Joe Roth and Jeff Kirschenbaum, and F. Scott Frazier writing the script, with the film being pitched to studios as "part Star Wars, part Guardians of the Galaxy",[31] [32] after Millar had claimed an "A-List" actress to have already been cast to star on Twitter.[33] In August 2017, Netflix acquired Millar's comic book publishing company Millarworld, and by the following July 2018, announced it had green-lit several adaptations of his works, including Empress, now to be written by Lindsey Beer,[34] before the project entered development hell.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Joshua. Yehl. Mark Millar on Empress, Star Wars Influences, and Why He's Doing More Female-Led Comics. IGN. March 14, 2016. March 15, 2016.
  2. Web site: Alex. Abad-Santos. Mark Millar is known for grim, gory comic books. His latest, Empress, is nothing like that.. Vox. April 6, 2016. April 6, 2016.
  3. Web site: Viscardi. James. Mark Millar On Making Empress A True Space Opera, Working With Immonen + More!. ComicBook.com. March 7, 2016. March 7, 2016.
  4. Web site: Seth G.. Macy. Mark Millar Returns to Marvel With New Book "Empress". IGN. October 24, 2015. October 24, 2015.
  5. Web site: Borys. Kit. First Look: Mark Millar's Sci-Fi Epic Empress #1' (Exclusive). The Hollywood Reporter. January 11, 2016. January 11, 2016.
  6. Web site: Lovett. Jamie. First Look At Empress From Mark Millar And Stuart Immonen. ComicBook.com. January 11, 2016. January 11, 2016.
  7. Web site: Millar. Immonen. Mark. Stuart. Mark Millar. Stuart Immonen. Empress Book One (Trade Paperback). Marvel.com. July 5, 2017. July 5, 2017.
  8. Web site: Schedeen. Jesse. Empress #1 Review. IGN. April 6, 2016. April 6, 2016.
  9. Web site: Maillaro. Mike 'Ace'. Mark Millar and Stuart Immonen take us back to Pre-Human Earth in Empress. Critical Blast. April 13, 2016. April 13, 2016.
  10. Web site: Folkard. Dana. Millarworld: New Talent Annual 2017 Review. September 21, 2017. September 21, 2017. Impulse Gamer.
  11. Web site: Mark Millar, Frank Quitely, Olivier Coipel, Travis Charest & More Join Big Game Summer Event With The Ambassadors…. February 24, 2023. February 24, 2023. Image Comics. en.
  12. Web site: Comical Opinions Staff. Big Game #4 – New Comic Review. Comical Opinions. October 18, 2023. October 18, 2023.
  13. Web site: Olly. MacNamee. Review: Big Game #4 Offers Up Classic Crossover Conventions But With A Millar Twist. Comic Con. October 23, 2023. October 23, 2023.
  14. Web site: Weiss. Josh. Mark Millar Bringing 'Millarworld' Catalogue Over To Dark Horse Comics. December 5, 2023. December 5, 2023. Forbes. en.
  15. Web site: Johnston. Rich. Rich Johnston. Mark Millar Writing A Second Volume Of Empress, Add To The List. December 11, 2023. December 11, 2023. Bleeding Cool. en.
  16. Web site: Millar. Immonen. Mark. Stuart. Mark Millar. Stuart Immonen. Empress (2016) #1. Marvel.com. April 6, 2016. April 6, 2016.
  17. Web site: Millar. Immonen. Mark. Stuart. Mark Millar. Stuart Immonen. Empress (2016) #2. Marvel.com. May 4, 2016. May 4, 2016.
  18. Web site: Millar. Immonen. Mark. Stuart. Mark Millar. Stuart Immonen. Empress (2016) #3. Marvel.com. June 8, 2016. June 8, 2016.
  19. Web site: Millar. Immonen. Mark. Stuart. Mark Millar. Stuart Immonen. Empress (2016) #4. Marvel.com. July 6, 2016. July 6, 2016.
  20. Web site: Millar. Immonen. Mark. Stuart. Mark Millar. Stuart Immonen. Empress (2016) #5. Marvel.com. August 10, 2016. August 10, 2016.
  21. Web site: Millar. Immonen. Mark. Stuart. Mark Millar. Stuart Immonen. Empress (2016) #6. Marvel.com. September 21, 2016. September 21, 2016.
  22. Web site: Millar. Immonen. Mark. Stuart. Mark Millar. Stuart Immonen. Empress (2016) #7. Marvel.com. November 23, 2016. November 23, 2016.
  23. Web site: Empress #1 Reviews. July 5, 2017. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
  24. Web site: Empress #2 Reviews. July 5, 2017. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
  25. Web site: Empress #3 Reviews. July 5, 2017. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
  26. Web site: Empress #4 Reviews. July 5, 2017. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
  27. Web site: Empress #5 Reviews. July 5, 2017. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
  28. Web site: Empress #6 Reviews. July 5, 2017. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
  29. Web site: Empress #7 Reviews. July 5, 2017. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
  30. Web site: Empress (2016) Reviews. July 5, 2017. ComicBookRoundup.com. en-US.
  31. News: Han. Angie. May 3, 2016. Mark Millar's Empress Is Getting Turned Into A Movie. Slashfilm. May 3, 2016.
  32. News: White. James. May 3, 2016. Mark Millar's Empress headed to screens. Empire Online. May 3, 2016.
  33. News: Terror. Jude. April 7, 2016. Millar's Secret "Empress" Star Removes Scarf, Becomes Completely Different Person (But Still Not Hollywood Actress). The Outhousers. https://web.archive.org/web/20160410090601/http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/news/135012-millars-secret-empress-star-removes-scarf-becomes-completely-different-person-but-still-not-hollywood-actress.html. April 10, 2016. April 10, 2016. dead.
  34. News: Andreeva. Nellie. July 17, 2018. Netflix Greenlights 2 TV Series & 3 Films Based On Mark Millar Works Including Jupiter's Legacy, Empress & Huck. Deadline Hollywood. October 6, 2019.

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