Review by Ian Keogh

Dark Ages is what Marvel would have once labelled as What If? It looks at familiar heroes on an alternate Earth that’s irrevocably altered, in this instance by all electrical power wiped away at a stroke. It renders some heroes immediately obsolete, such as Iron Man, and also ensures technological resources are massively cut, so no more knocking something up to save the day at the Baxter Building.

It’s perhaps too easy to note that Tom Taylor is reprising what he did at DC with Injustice: Gods Among Us, because actually doing that requires considerable skill and imagination, but the template is much the same. When it comes to superhero comics Taylor is extremely good at using powers and personalities in a way that’s fresh and interesting. The use of Multiple Man in Dark Ages is brief, but thoughtful, with Quicksilver’s sequence slightly longer, and even more memorable.

Taylor supplies a credible reason for the situation being what it is, simultaneously removing several heroes from the board. It leaves the people we’re rooting for, largely heroes, although with some surprising allies, staying well away from Europe where Apocalypse has gathered his allies for a planet-threatening purpose living up to his name. Some of these are heroes, and the reason they’re helping Apocalypse is interesting.

Artist Iban Coello’s gives the situations and personalities the visual gravitas required, and his action scenes explode off the page. Taylor has the broad reach of the Marvel universe at his disposal, and Coello brings them all to vivid life, be they superheroes or something else.

Due to Taylor’s imagination Dark Ages is fun from start to finish, although that may not be the case for fans of the few characters who’re discarded before things settle down.