Illuminati Vol. 1

Illuminati is one of Marvel's "All-New, All-Different Marvel" titles launched after 2015's Secret Wars, but it is not about the familiar secret society of Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, Doctor Strange, and their allies—rather, the name "Illuminati" has been borrowed by a group of villains. The central figure is Parker Robbins, the Hood—a crime boss who once wielded demonic power. In a world where heroes fill the sky and villains have nowhere left to run, he proposes an inflammatory idea: since bad guys fail every day, why not let him be the one who "saves the bad guys"? He recruits companions through ego, desire, and the longing to be seen: Titania, who can lift several tons with her bare hands; Thunderball, who excels at clearing a path with violence; the erratic Mad Thinker, holed up in his laboratory; Black Ant, desperate to become flesh and blood again; and Sylvie Lushton, the Enchantress who assumes the identity of a "witch." As the opening volume of the series, it begins with the situation of Titania and Absorbing Man, a married couple—she leaves prison hoping to live as an ordinary person but runs into obstacles everywhere, only to be pulled back onto another path by the Hood's invitation. At the same time, it lays out the Illuminati's ambitious blueprint: raid Asgardian weapons, resell them for profit, and ultimately crown themselves kings. It also follows their first operation into New York's underground criminal world in search of artificial Rainbow Bridge technology. The work views the heroic world from the villains' perspective, exploring how people rejected by society are pushed toward "going back to their old ways" rather than "starting over." This is Volume 1 of the series.