‘The Ambassadors, Volume 1’ (review)

Written by Mark Millar 
Art by Frank Quietly, Travis Charest, Olivier Copiel,
Matteo Buffagni, Karl Kerschl, Matteo Scalera
Published by Image Comics/Netflix/Millarworld
Available 8/15/23 / Issues #1-6 available now

Mark Millar is a very good writer that has a certain formula to his writing. You can’t blame him for it. Every miniseries he does is wildly successful. It is nice when he takes that formula and subverts it somehow. That is the case with this book here. This features some of Millar’s best writing in many a year and some of the best artwork by the various artists he enlisted.

Each chapter has a different artist.

For the opening chapter, we get Frank Quietly, and it is a great start. Our main character, Doctor Chung, reveals to the world that she is good to give six people super powers. The story then turns into a “Willy Wonka” situation where people from around the world are vying for those super powers.

So, through the various chapters, we get to meet the various people who get these powers through Chung. It is pretty impressive because they are all from around the world. Millar has done his research here in exploring all of the different cultures from around the world. None of them are American so it is a pretty fresh take, and it is also very inclusive in a way very few comic books are.

Doctor Chung’s ex-husband is still around however, and he is giving out powers too. This leads Dr. Chung’s heroes to go up against her ex’s super villain team. By the end there is a huge fight. But it all leads into something bigger as well, which is the Big Game crossover from Millar this summer.

The Ambassadors leads into that.

This is definitely Millar’s best work in years. The writing is inspired and you can feel the passion he has for this book. The artwork is all great. Quietly’s chapter is a standout. Another standout is artist Travis Charest who illustrates the third chapter. Charest doesn’t do much interior artwork anymore, yet this was the best issue of the series, and maybe even one of the best comic book stories of the year.

All in all, this book is excellent and well worth reading.

RATING: A