This is the MULTIVERSITY issue you've been waiting for. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely are together again to give us a heavy and intriguing story. This is a comic you'll want to read more than once. There's a lot to take in. The way the story unwinds along with the art and colors, it's something you'll want to see more of. With an interesting take on familiar characters, you won't want to miss this one. Read Full Review

“The Multiversity: Pax Americana” #1 is an absolute gem that will be talked about for year. Hands down this is the best single issue of any comic series all year. Even if you're not reading the entire mini series, you would be doing yourself a disservice by skipping this issue entirely. It's gorgeous, deep and you will find something else to analyze after every re-read. Read Full Review

The most important thing to consider when reading Pax Americana #1 is that nothing is accidental. Every line of dialogue, every panel, and every image serves a distinct purpose. It is a love letter to formalism in comics, taking advantage of each element on the page in order to construct order and meaning. The reading experience will challenge readers, but in that challenge lies immense rewards. The individual components of composition, color, art, and text alone are remarkable, but when combined they create a comic that is truly transcendent. As a single issue, a complete experience, these elements become a comic capable of forming emotions and ideas in its readers. Pax Americana does what The Multiversity has claimed comics are capable of: affecting reality and creating something real. Read Full Review

Readers could spend hours discussing their understanding and interpretations of time in this book but I'll end my review here as I don't want to spoil any more of the surprises that made this such a great read. Backwards or forwards Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's The Multiversity: Pax Americana is one of the most creative, innovative and gorgeous books of the year. Read Full Review

Everyone should read this comic. Period. Every comic fan should read this. It is that well done on every level. However, depending on ones taste, I dont think its for everyone. Everyone wont come away liking this issue. Some may actually hate it. Im not even sure how I feel after two reads. However, I think it is easy to agree that Morrison and Quitely have done a fantastic job at creating a comic book. It's like reading Will Eisner, love it or hate it you cannot deny the skill at which these creators operate in the art form. It's that good. Read Full Review

The Multiversity: Pax Americana #1 is an absolute achievement. Grant Morrison's writing, Frank Quitely's penciling, and Nathan Fairbairns coloring all come together to offer one of the best comic book experiences of 2014, and probably of all time. Read Full Review

So. I admire this comicbook. I respect this comicbook. But I cannot love this comicbook. Read Full Review

The Multiversity: Pax Americana was as perfect issue of a comic book as you can get. It has a strong narrative from start to finish that will keep readers hinging on each word balloon, plus the previously mentioned pencils by the genius Frank Quitely makes this issue one solid piece of comics gold. Read Full Review

I like darker, edgier, more thought provoking comics, and that is exactly what you get here. I know it's not everyone's preference, but the commentary that this book covers makes it a required reading in my eyes, and is sure to be considered a classic in the years to come. Read Full Review

Multiversity: Pax Americana #1 is going to have its critics " those who decry non-linear storytelling and feel the protagonists are unnecessarily cold. But the magic Morrison and Quitely are creating here in comic book narrative is too substantial to ignore. This is clearly one comic I will read over and over and over, gleaning more meaning with every experience of it. Its respect for the source material is moving, but the true gift is the peek we get inside the collaboration between these two men. It's absolutely brilliant to behold. Read Full Review

Morrison is making history with this series and this might be the best issue yet because the reader has to work for the results. This is not for everyone, but give it a try and be prepared to read the comic three times and in various page order. You will not be disappointed. Read Full Review

Maybe not of the year but certainly the best in as long as I can remember. Morrison succeeds in using his unconventional storytelling in a way that manages to be intelligible. That's not to say this one won't leave you scratching your head but pay attention and give it a few go throughs. Quitely's art and ability to convey whatever is in Morrison's drug addled mind is amazing and makes the issue even more substantial. There are many similarities to Watchmen, not many of which bothered me, but that's to be expected with the Charleston characters. If the idea of engaging in a comic so intensely and numerously turns you off, this isn't the book for you. But ask yourself this: In a time when comic readers continue to be upset by pricing, doesn't engaging a single issue heavily make it worth $4.99? I think so. Read Full Review

A simple comparison to "Pulp Fiction" might be a good place to start with explaining what Morrison accomplishes in "The Multiversity: Pax Americana" #1 relative to other comic books, but that would be a dramatic understatement and incomplete. This is, quite simply, like no comic book I've ever read before. Morrison makes it seem familiar, especially with the Question and Blue Beetle present, but the story itself is nowhere near as straightforward as that heroic duo is accustomed to. Thanks to Quitely's art, I know I'll be re-reading this comic again, but this next time around (and the time after that) I'm sure I'll be analyzing every image Quitely chiseled into each panel of "The Multiversity: Pax Americana" #1. "Multiversity" is four issues in, and it's has gotten better. Here's hoping that trend continues and that we continue to get more new ideas like this from the Grant Morrison Idea Factory. Read Full Review

Overall, this issue blew me away. I was already a fan of Grant Morrison and of Frank Quitely, but what they have achieved in this issue is startling in its beauty and grace as a showcase in two masters of the craft breaking a medium down to its core elements and doing something with it that few have dared to do. It's an experiment that has paid off in spades, creating a dense and artistic yet still incredibly enjoyable comic book that I can scarcely believe actually exists. Everyone involved in the creation of this comic book, from Morrison and Quitely themselves to Nathan Fairbairn bringing life to the pages to the folks at DC Comics who actually took a risk for once and let it pay off, deserves commendation for this work.It is gorgeous, groundbreaking, insightful, and, most of all, it's one hell of a good comic book. Read Full Review

But despite that, this is quite an accomplishment in comic art - mature, unique (and yet an homage with multiple levels at work) - just stunning. Read Full Review

The Multiversity: Pax Americana #1 is a story that is rich with homages to classic characters and classic comics that all build to a fascinating new world built by Grant Morrison. It's also filled with intriguingly heavy themes regarding the nature of storytelling and perhaps even our own reality. This is all backed up by the always-amazing pencils of Frank Quitely who tells this labyrinthine story with a deep depth of clarity. All that said, this issue might just be packed with too much for some readers who may find it overwhelming as a whole. Additionally, some may be disappointed with the lack of progression of the Multiversity-specific story. Read Full Review

Morrison does possibly his finest work of the series here, with the salute to Moore proving particularly poignant. But the time and dimensional meditations fall somewhat flat, even given the boy's act as the entry point for the Gentry and even granted the basic nature of Captain Atom. The very success of the one effort partially negates the other. At the risk of sounding like a bad pun, here is a paradox for Morrison to contemplate - sometimes, less is more. Read Full Review

Multiversity: Pax Americana is a dense book. Every page is packed with panels. Every panel is packed with symbolism and it's all serving Morrison's bigger ideas for this series. Readers might be turned off by Morrison's somewhat haphazard approach to time in this issue, but it's almost as if he's letting the characters control their own fates. Atom loses some awareness of where and when he is the same way that the reader might. Time flips between forward and backward on a whim and without warning. Morrison and Quitely challenge the idea that anything you read is ever all that straightforward, and that's a scary thought. If you could prevent something from happening just by turning back a comic book page, would you? Read Full Review

Overall, this is a great issue and awesome take on the characters. The art work by Frank Quietly is superb, and it's great that in a sense, the Watchmen are officially, officiallypart of the DC Universe. Read Full Review

Morrison once again has a major successful entry in his tour of the Multiversity, though it isn't as unique as the previous tales told in this miniseries. It is still a solid entry, and while the characters might be more reminiscent of their homages, they do get themselves into a twisty mystery that even Rorschach might not be able to solve. Read Full Review

It speaks volumes the biggest problem with Multiversity #3 is it leaves you desperately wanting more. You finish the comic with an immediate urge to re-read it, pouring over every page for depth and meaning, while savoring every second you spend with theengaging characters. An enormous achievement Morrison and Quitely were able to cram so much amazing work in just one issue and it can't be recommended enough. Definitely pick it up. Read Full Review

I'm not sure if this event/crossover is actually going anywhere, but this series seems to be more about the journey than the destination, so just sit back and enjoy the ride. Read Full Review

While this series does present a challenge, I recommend it, albeit knowing that not everyone will get the point of the story is not the various mysteries, but a commentary on the nature of comic books themselves. Read Full Review

Again, some will consider this a rip-off, but I strongly challenge readers to leave that bias at the door. This is by no means a perfect book nor does it reinvent the medium or genre, but it does explore ideologies and themes that are relevant to today, just as Watchmen did in the 80s. This is arguably the best installment in Multiversity to date. Absolutely worth the price point! Read Full Review

The whole story is of America, and the turmoil it is in because of super-heroes. Morrison does his best job to pay homage to Alan Moore, and he does very well a few times. Sentiments like " what happened to Americas supermen? and The view is the same in both directions and " they think they run the game, but who runs the board? are all great examples of the sentiments of Watchmen and, by parallel, Earth-4. Assassinating the President on the first page and spiraling into the plot and events surrounding it plays out like a action/thriller in the highest degree. Multiversity has a lot to tell us, especially judging from Morrison's first few issues. Like I have said before, this entire event will most likely surprise even the most die-hard DC Comics fans, and once all issues are collected in one story, flipping from page to page and having our own power over time will give readers the final perspective on the bigger picture. Read Full Review

It wasn't Watchmen, and it wasn't the Charlton heroes, it seemed like it tried to be both and didn't manage to be either. Morrison could have done anything with these stories, and we got a weird hybrid of earlier ideas. Read Full Review

WOW

In a nutshell, this is Watchmen for a post 9/11 audience with the heady time related concepts on steroids. Immense rewards lie in wait for readers with enough time on their hands to pour over this comic forward and back. It took a lot of work for me just to get familiar with the Charlton characters, who is who, and what happens when; let alone the meaning to the whole question. Though the content is actually pretty condensed, readers looking for something to entertain themselves for only 15 minutes may not get that here because it takes much more commitment to get the full story and themes, and once you have them you ask yourself, what's next for Question? Also, is the rest of Multiversity actually worth reading? Even if they're a little overindulgent, there is no denying that Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely deserve props for this beast. more

One of the hardest comics to ever review, much less read. At first I thought this comic was confusing, but I realized I wasn’t reading it right. There’s so much depth to this comic when given a closer look. Looking back, Morrison successfully pays homage to Watchmen while also making it different. Definitely going to be rereading this

Unbelievable job here. This is the usual messed-up Morrison with a story strongly reminiscent of "Watchmen" and with a backwards, but not really, storytelling that could blow one's mind up. The whole meaning behind it is so complex I'm not really sure to have it all clear in mind, but anyway whoever has time to do that, should definitely work on the plot line to get even more from it. Actually I loved one scene in particular, the one in which the vice-president and his daughter walk down the stairs and each balloon contains a reference to a movement they're doing. I thought it to be brilliant. Frank Quitely is one of the greatest artists in the industry so, yeah, his art is pretty damn neat. I appreciated in particular the first and last scenes. "The Multiversity" is definitely the strangest thing I've been reading recently and that makes me want to dive in it more. more

Pretty awesome, even if all the #1s make it annoying to follow. But maybe thats part of the plan?

Art awesome. Story intriguing. I wish reviewers would stop handing out 10s everywhere. A 10 means it's perfect, without flaw, and could not get better, with even years of trying. Only five books have ever deserved a 10 - Watchmen, Dark Knight, Elekta Assassin, Daredevil Born Again, Batman Year One.

I know I should find this groundbreaking, but it's just that my knowledge about DC universe isn't that huge.

Morrison tries to achieve a lot with this issue in terms of sequential storytelling techniques, but the story loses its impact partly because of how much better these characters have been dealt with in Watchmen. For example, in itself, it might have been fun to see an exploration of the character of Captain Atom, but it just doesn't hold up against Dr Manhattan.

Maybe it's that this book is trying to do too much in one issue. Maybe it's because Morrison is overly ambitious in his method of storytelling. But there's something about this book that leaves me feeling overwhelmed, and not in a good sense. But, with that said, the story is still really solid. It reads like an action thriller, and moves along at a good pace. The characters, while unfamiliar to someone who's never read Charlton Comics (me), are able to be understood (to an extent), and we're given an idea of who they are and what they do. Frank Quietly's artwork is fantastic. He packs so much detail into so many panels. Like *so many* panels, there are images that can't be seen. It's an interesting route for the creative team to take, and it works more often than it doesn't. But there are parts where it doesn't. I recommend this book if you're interested in exploring the DC Multiverse, but if you're not overly familiar with Chartlon Comics, this one might be worth skipping. more

Not really for me