Dan Slott and R.B. Silva make a book that Marvel promises something will happen in, into a book that detours away from almost any point related to Empyre. Good artwork, some fun dialogue, and character interaction, but overall pointless with all plot points better covered in the first four pages of Empyre #1.

The beginning of an Event Crossover, Empyre #1 should be judged for good characterization, enjoyable artwork, and that something actually happened. In addition the foreshadowing, the payoff of actual storytelling, character development, tie-in potential, great cliffhanger, there is so much here that one hopes issue #2 does not drop the ball.