A little over a year ago, Fortnite and DC Comics has partnered with the film written by Christos Gage Batman/Fortnite: Zero Point. Now, Gage has teamed up with Donald Mustard, Creative Director of Marvel and Epic Games, to co-write the Multiversal Battle of the Century, Fortnite X Marvel: Zero War. Joined by extremely talented artist Segio Dvila, the crossover event involves high stakes, familiar characters, and truly epic battles.
If you’ve read Zero Point, this will help you remember a few key players as well as the overall plot of Fortnite before entering this comic. Having no knowledge of Fortnite probably doesn’t help, but thankfully this first issue is littered with editor’s notes reminding us of the key players and how it all works. This element is useful, but it can interfere with the flow of the story, since things are only just beginning.
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This is because there are far too many explanations needed to catch up with readers. The creators obviously knew that the reader would know who Wolverine and Spider-Man are (by opening this issue), but almost everything, whether it’s the characters in Fortnite or why it all happens, requires heaps of somewhat detailed explanation. The creative team is doing well enough to catch us up on how many of these factors, including how a few of these characters appeared in the Fortnite the universe a year or two ago, and how the power source works.
Unfortunately, the main villain is a mystery even to villains, and that can make things a little vague. It’s not too confusing once you put this book down, but you probably won’t know why we should care about this story. A familiar Marvel villain adds a little extra intrigue, making for a good cliffhanger.
Hey, I remember that pose! Courtesy of Marvel Comics.
Why we should care seems confusing, though. This is partly due to the fact that there are low stakes outside of “saving everything”. The characters’ motivations also seem limited at best. Spider-Man is in the fight because of his kind heart and his desire to help those in need. Meanwhile, Wolverine’s draw is to have a good fight (at least that’s on the mark). It has nothing to do with the DC/Fortnite crossover, where Batman had more stakes in the game since he wanted to save Catwoman. This previous story also delved into his incredible detective mind; here though, our heroes seem to be throwing themselves headlong into battle just because.
Davíla’s art is good here, with solid costume design and easy-to-follow action through the visuals. Edgar Delgado backs him up on colors, making Galactus look amazing while paying a fun homage to Spider-Man’s first cover in amazing fantasy. Still, the art has to deal with plenty of dialogue in most scenes, with the action feeling like quick nuggets between all the secondary notes and tangents. Featured art appears on the last two pages involving a key villain – Davíla captures the inside of this character’s domain very well and peppers it with little squiggles and details similar to how most artists play with the Batman cave.
Young readers who love Fortnite will probably appreciate Fortnite X Marvel: Zero War #1 more so than casual comic book fans, especially since each issue comes with codes to earn in-game swag. epic action than a weird instruction manual. And because of that, the story and entertainment value ultimately suffers.
‘Fortnite X Marvel: Zero War’ #1 Has A Lot To Explain
Fortnite x Marvel: Zero War #1
Younger readers who love Fortnite will likely enjoy Fortnite x Marvel: Zero War #1 more than casual comic book fans, helped by the fact that each issue comes with codes to get in-game swag. lots of exposition, making it feel less like an epic action comic and more like an explanation of every little thing. Because of this, the value of the story and the entertainment suffers.
The cliffhanger is an intriguing development
In general, the art is good even though it faces a lot of word bubbles
About 80% of this book is exposition and explanation
There is no in-game skin for any of these heroes.
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