I love a good redemption story, and I must confess I have a love for all of Marvel‘s naughty and secret clubs. That was my main draw to the latest Illuminati title which sees Parker Robbins AKA the Hood venture forth with his own iteration of the iconic group. Illuminati is essentially a redemption story, and follows the struggle of Titania as she adjusts to post-incarceration life. It’s an endearing story and Williamson does a very good job building pathos for the character.  Long story short Titania is set up to fail courtesy of the Hood, who usurps her attempt to go on the straight and narrow with a strategically timed set up. Hood then later inducts her into his new Illuminati.

Though it was nice to see Titania make an earnest attempt to turn over a new leaf, it was a bit painful to see her get duped like this. Doubly so considering her recent possession by the Serpent/Skirnn during  the Fear Itself event. Side note I had a bit of disappointment that this was not mentioned at all hopefully it will be addressed in a subsequent issue. The Hood was one member of Norman Osborn’s past Cabal who I felt did not get to flex his muscles enough with the other members. To me he was so perfectly conniving and resourceful that I always wondered how he would perform in non-criminal settings. His ability to network, his knowledge of what battles to join in, and his endless ability maneuver any leverage point he could was and remains very impressive.

Speaking of rehabilitation, and transitioning to the non-criminal world, Illuminati #1 offers some interesting arguments regarding the state of criminals. Where Titania seems to champion the premise that one can make a change and that it would make for a better life, the Hood’s sentiments are more fatalistic. The Hood maintains the  view that villains will never be accepted for anything other than what they are, and any attempt to change that will relegate them to a second class citizen status.  The Hood somewhat undermines his argument, in that he actively sabotages Titania’s attempt to explain herself, after her foiled employment gig. If Hood truly believes that villains are doomed to constant disenfranchisement he probably wouldn’t have intervened personally as quickly as he had. This adds an interesting wrinkle to his relationship with Titania vis-a-vis their membership in the new Illuminati. It is based on mutual self-interest but mostly cemented through deception that should lead to some interesting developments going forward.

The Illuminati has become a recognized brand and property, and by virtue of that, this newest iteration will have some big shoes to fill. For me the main draw to previous titles has been the political intrigue of the group’s respective missions and some of the controversial memberships.  I judge each Illuminati by the influence and connectedness  of its membership and what they set out to accomplish. By this standard I am a bit underwhelmed by the current team up. We have the Black Ant, Enchantress, Thunderball and the Mad thinker, who are joined by both the Hood and Titania. Kind of a lackluster assemblage in my opinion.  The Hood introduces the teams inaugural mission which will be a heist of Asgardian Weaponry. If this sounds familiar it should. Norman Osborn’s black ops thunderbolt team tried to pull of the same gig during the Siege event. I don’t want to throw out the baby with the bath water, Illuminati is a curious title that sheds light on the disenfranchisement of Marvel’s villains, at the same time however it will need to do more to distance itself  from patterns and themes we are already familiar with and show us why it’s members are worth their salt. I’ll keep reading for now just out of curiosity and my soft side for the underdog.

Shawn Crystal‘s art was a pleasure, to my knowledge this is the first time I am seeing it.  He does a good job capturing some really menacing expressions from the Hood, whose power set also lends itself well to some creative artistic expression. No matter what power set or demon Hood has sold himself out to at a given time (Norn Stones or being pimped out to Dormammu) Hood has always had some interesting artistic effects to showcase his power set, this issue was no exception in that regard. Crystal also had some fun dragon effects when Iron Fist was fighting Titania that was really fun to see.

Story: Joshua Williamson Art: Shawn Crystal
Story: 7 Art: 10 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Read