JUPITER’S LEGACY: FINALE #4, by Dark Horse Comics on 2/12/25, finds the Utopian reflecting on his life and past regrets while Lady Liberty coordinates a last stand against an alien invasion.
Credits:
- Writer: Mark Millar
- Artist: Lee Carter
- Colorist: Lee Carter
- Letterer: John Workman
- Cover Artist: Lee Carter
- Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
- Release Date: February 12, 2025
- Comic Rating: Mature
- Cover Price: $4.9
- Page Count: 32
- Format: Single Issue
Covers:
Analysis of JUPITER’S LEGACY: FINALE #4:
Recap:
When we last left the Utopian and his family in Jupiter’s Legacy: Finale #3, every being raced to construct arcs and set up teleporters to get as many sentient beings off the planet as fast as possible. Why? Because a race of advanced aliens is predicted to arrive in seven days to claim everyone as a farmer would collect cattle for slaughter. Despite their herculean efforts, the issue ended with the bad news that the seven-day deadline was actually seven hours.
Plot Analysis:
In Jupiter’s Legacy #4, regrets and goodbyes are the order of the day when Earth’s heroes gather for a last stand. The issue begins when the Utopian recalls speaking to a group of schoolchildren six months ago. He’s struck by an interesting question from one of the students, asking what he would say to God. The statement is self-reflective and foretelling.
The issue switches to the present. Utopian visits members of his extended family to get them to safety and to lay out all the cards of his complicated personal life, specifically the existence of a second family. Those talks don’t go well.
Finally, Lady Liberty broadcasts a message to the world, asking every superhero and supervillain to gather in Arizona to make a final stand against the incoming alien hunters. If the supers can buy time, Utopian will use his power rod to teleport to the alien bosses and persuade them to stop.
The issue ends with the assembled supers grossly underestimating how much resistance they offer.
First Impressions:
Reading Jupiter’s Legacy: Finale #4, if described by a string of single words, would look something like this: “Good,” “Huh?,” “Good,” “Whoa!”. The issue leans heavily on readers knowing a lot of background about the Utopian from the previous arcs, so new readers may be lost in the first half. However, the last act speaks for itself… loudly.
Artwork and Presentation:
Lee Carter’s art style excels at portraying the small, quiet moments before the storm that’s about to rage on Earth. Barring the last few issues, this issue is all dialog, so Carter has to make conversations, some of which are tough talks, look interesting. Does Carter succeed? In large part, yes.
Art Samples:
Story Positives & Negatives:
The Positives:
Jupiter’s Legacy: Finale #5 is the penultimate issue in the volume and the series as a whole, so it’s up to Mark Millar to really sell the “all hope is lost” moment for our heroes. Without question, Millar nails that moment by making the last stand of the supers look as effective as an ant pushing a pickup truck. If the challenge seems impossible, Millar did his job well.
The Negatives:
Utopian’s regret and apology tour through the first half of the book will be a challenge for new and casual readers. There are multiple dialog scenes with multiple statements made that reference past happenings without a shred of context or a helpful editor’s note. At least in the first three issues you could follow along. Here, the first half is a struggle if you don’t know Utopian’s backstory in detail.
The Bigger Picture:
Series Continuity:
Is the end of this volume truly the end of Jupiter’s Legacy? From what we can tell, yes. There’s nothing solicited past the next issue, and there’s no word from Millarworld, Netflix, or Dark Horse about a continuation.
Final Thoughts:
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JUPITER’S LEGACY: FINALE #4 pauses to say goodbye on the eve of humanity’s destruction before the full force of the alien invasion rains down Hell. Mark Millar’s script wraps up several open questions from past volumes, but new or casual readers may feel a bit lost before the action starts.
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