Waited for Trade

by Matt


Another Waited for Trade column? I cannot believe it either but I managed to crank out another batch of trades. In this column I will be reviewing IDW's new G.I. Joe trade, Boom's Irredeemable, Green Lantern: Revenge of the Green Lanterns, Annihilation Book 3 and Excalibur Visionaries: Alan Davis Volume 1.

Once again I have to warn you. I do feel like I am getting better at writing reviews but I still feel like I struggle at describing events and putting down in words what my brain is saying. I will try to avoid spoilers as much as possible but I offer no promises. If you are looking for an in-depth review about a trade, this is probably not for you. At best you will get an honest review from someone who absolutely loves comics. And of course I will use the Official Bad Genious Rating System(tm).

A = Astonishing, Truly Bad Genious
B = Brainy, Brilliant
C = Commonplace
D = Dunce, Dumb, Don't Buy
F = Freakin' Crap in a Hat

Gosh, another splurge. I have a problem folks. I cannot stop buying trades! If you click on the title of the trade, it will take you directly to its listing on Amazon where you can check out prices and more reviews.

Excalibur Visionaries: Alan Davis Vol. 1
It is no secret that I love Alan Davis's work. Excalibur was my favorite comic when it came out and I was so sad when both he and Claremont left the book. Thankfully, Marvel got him to come back and not only draw, but write the book as well. This was the first major work that Alan wrote and it didn't disappoint and I didn't miss Claremont at all. This trade reprints Excalibur #42-50 and Alan solved a ton of old storylines. He gave Phoenix an official origin, explained the Captain Britain Corps and finished all of the lingering plots that Claremont left behind. He also brought in new characters such as Micromax, Cerise and Kylun and reformatted Widget. If you liked Claremont's run on the book, you HAVE to have this run. The sad thing about this run (and most of the rest of Alan's run) is that most of the origins given here have been ignored. This book is fun, Alan throws everything at you. The unique humor that Claremont established continues here, there is excellent characterization and the art is strong. There is also a feel of finality too, the whole trade is one large story that has a nice payoff at the end.
Final Word and Grade: While the stories are old and some of the plots here have been ignored, this trade is still worth getting, especially if you read and liked Claremont's run. I am also pleased to report that Marvel is publishing another volume. A


Annihilation Book 3
I finally finished the first Annihilation saga and they saved the best for last. This is not your typical Marvel cosmic story, this is war. The cosmic stuff is merely the backdrop, the war is at the forefront and we get front row tickets. I knew I was in for a treat after seeing the full splash page of Galactus battling Tenebrous and then losing! And it didn't let up from there. Griffen writes a terrific story in bringing all the major players together and giving them their own moment to shine. Ronan stands out as the breakout star of this event, we see how driven he is to uphold the Kree culture and how unwavering he is. I don't want to spoil anything major here but he has a couple of very cool moments that solidify him as a major player in the Marvel Universe. The solid art for the main Annihilation series is done by Andrea Di Vito, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite artists. Unfortunately, the Heralds of Galactus issues that follow the main Annihilation series are not as strong and more than likely it is because the main series was that great.
Final Word and Grade: Excellent stuff. You don't have to have knowledge of the cosmic Marvel stuff to really enjoy it. It is a war story at heart, the cosmic stuff is mostly put in the background. B


Irredeemable: Volume 1
Mark Waid is Evil! At least that is what this book tells us. I have heard excellent word-of-mouth about this book and for $9.99 how could I resist? And I am so glad that I am a sucker for cheap trades! It only took me three pages to grab me and boy it grabbed me by the throat! The story is about the Plutonian, a super hero basically like Superman or Marvelman that has become jaded and has gone bad. Now this isn't a new idea and has been done to death before, but what makes this intriguing is how former teammates, enemies and the rest of the world deals with it. Waid can pull out all the stops with this character and does an excellent job at showing how brutal a character like Superman can be if he did go bad. The art is adequate and I am sure Krause will improve as the comic continues. I am also sure Waid has some neat tricks up his sleeve and I am looking forward to the ride.
Final Word and Grade: While it doesn't tread on new ground or bring anything new to the table of a good guy going bad, it is certainly well written and the best part is that you can see the potential. And I cannot wait to see what happens next. A-


Green Lantern: Revenge of the Green Lanterns
I almost purchased something else but I thought I would give Green Lantern another try. I was surprisingly impressed with Rebirth but the last trade, No Fear was disappointing. It was okay but I expected more. I am glad that I gave Green Lantern another chance because this was really good, probably the best so far of the new series. What I like about Geoff Johns is I think he does a real good job at handling heavy continuity and giving readers just enough to understand what is going on. He also gives me enough that I want to check out the old stories too. Another one of John's strengths is that he handles small moments and makes them big. And this trade was loaded with them. From funny stuff like GL's ring has the ability to block communication from other GL's ring (much to Guy's chagrin) to serious stuff, like when he had Batman put on the ring. That moment when Bruce confronts his fears with the ring is perhaps the moment I loved most. The latter half of the trade was fantastic. Hal finds that the new GL Corp are not fans of Hal even though his name has been cleared, there is some clear resentment by the newer GL Corp members that plays off well. Hal then discovers that some of his closest GL friends that he battled when he became Parallax are found to still be alive and he goes against orders to rescue them. While it does bug me that things are being returned to status quo, at least Johns provides a creative way to bring them back and that satisfies this reader. And like the trades before, I am enjoying how the seeds of the Sinestro Wars and the Blackest Night are being foreshadowed.
Final Word and Grade: This has to be the strongest of the three GL trades so far. Lots of neat moments, nothing that made my jaw drop but was a solid superhero read from cover to cover. And that is good enough for me. C+


G.I. Joe Volume 1
I am a sucker for G.I.Joe, pure and simple. I was a fan of the old Marvel series and I rejoiced when Image revived it. But it has not been the same to me. I tried the Reborn series and the other Devil's Due series but I found it lacking. It just wasn't the same. And when I heard Chuck Dixon was rebooting the Joe franchise at IDW, I was curious but decided to wait for trade because the last few reboots were not as fun. This was probably the best out of the bunch and I am looking forward to seeing what comes next. This trade introduced the smaller Joe team with some minor changes to the original characters. Cobra is not even a force yet, it is merely a ghost organization. We hear whispers of this terrorist organization but we don't know who or what they are. This makes them even more mysterious and much more dangerous. Only a few Cobras are introduced, but sadly no Storm Shadow, Zartan and even Cobra Commander do not appear. And this adds to the intrigue. The Joe team seems still too bland but Dixon does give them some life. And the subplot of Snake Eyes being AWOL is one that does interest me. While the book doesn't offer anything really new or mind-blowing, it does scratch my Joe itch and I will get the next trades and try out IDW's other Joe books.
Final Word and Grade: This is the best and strongest Joe book in years and I am looking forward to seeing my old favorite characters slowly get introduced. If you like G.I Joe, you should get a kick out of this. If you like Dixon's writing, you will like this too. It is more serious than the Marvel run but looks like it will still have some of the more unbelievable aspects of that same run. C+


Next time will be all about one of my favorite properties, the Guardians of the Galaxy. I will review Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1, Guardians of the Galaxy: Earth Shall Overcome and The Power of Starhawk Hardcovers. In addition I will look back at Jim Valentino's run on the book in the '90s.
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Waited for Trade: More Birthday Goodness

by Matt


I am a sucker for trades. A couple of months ago I purchased some trades with some birthday money and I have noticed a trend my wife absolutely hates. Usually when I buy a batch of trades it leads to more trades. And sure enough, I splurged and bought a whole bunch more. With this batch, I reviewed Weapon Omega, Green Lantern: No Fear, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, Annihilation Book 2, Kinetic and the highly anticipated (by yours truly) Captain Britain Omnibus.

I warned you before and I am going to warn you again, I am not the best reviewer. I struggle at describing what I think of a book in words, my fingers and mind are not always in sync. I will also try to avoid spoilers as much as possible. If you are looking for an in-depth review about a trade, this is probably not for you. At best you will get an honest review from someone who absolutely loves comics. As a reminder, I will use the Official Bad Genious Rating System(tm).

A = Astonishing, Truly Bad Genious
B = Brainy, Brilliant
C = Commonplace
D = Dunce, Dumb, Don't Buy
F = Freakin' Crap in a Hat

Are you like me? Do you buy trades and never read them for a very long time? I do this all the time. I will buy a trade and it will sit on my shelf for months before I pull it out and give it a read. So some of these trades were not recent purchases but from splurges past. If you click on the title, it will take you directly to its listing on Amazon where you can check out prices and more reviews.



Annihilation Book 2
I bought this book on the strength of the first Annihilation book, hoping that it would continue to raise the bar on Marvel Cosmic stories. It doesn't quite reach the bar set by the first volume but it was pretty close and still enjoyable to read. This volume covers the Silver Surfer, Super Skrull and Ronan characters and how they were affected by the Annihilation Wave. I am not a huge fan of any of these characters and I was surprised that the writers made me care about these characters that I normally don't give a flying fig for. The issues covering Ronan was the best part of the book. Simon Furman made Ronan and the choices he made very real and now I understand this character and I have gained more of an appreciation for him. The Silver Surfer issues were also great, I admit I didn't see where the Surfer was going in this and the decision he made was bittersweet. Griffin understood that this is what the Surfer needed to do. The Super Skrull issues were enjoyable but I felt was the weakest out of the bunch. Part of the problem was I am Skrulled-out with all the exposure the Skrulls have received lately and I felt that the art just didn't match up with the other two series. It is not that the art is bad per say, it just didn't match the feel that the other two had. It just seemed too cartoony.
Final Word and Grade: Probably the weakest of the 3 Annihilation books, but a very solid read. If you want to get to the heart of the Annihilation storyline, you could probably skip this volume and go right from the first to the third and final book. But if you want a lot of dressing with your turkey, I would recommend getting this. C+

Kinetic
I bought this trade awhile ago and it is one of those stories that has stayed with me since. I dig it out every so often and just glance through the pages but I end up reading it from cover to cover anyway. This is a story about this young man in high school who is extremely sick and is very unhappy. Then he gets powers that change all of it. What I really like about this book is that this was a very realistic look at what would really happen. The powers are an afterthought, it is how it changes him and his relationships, and this is what this trade is about. The writing is well done, the pacing just leaves the reader wanting more, the dialogue rings true and the art just exemplifies how Tom (the young man) is feeling. The art and coloring may put off some people but I thought for the most part it enhanced the story. The dull gray coloring choice for Tom and his mother is a perfect example of how Tom sees themselves. Dull and boring and dark. There are moments in this book that made me a little uncomfortable but I think that is why I like it so much.
Final Word and Grade: If you are looking for a different take on superheroes and powers, this is for you. If you enjoy teenage angst, this is for you as well. And for ten bucks you get the whole series! B+

Weapon Omega TPB
Now this was a lot of fun. Originally this was published in the short-lived Marvel Comics Presents and I skipped them because I had no interest in the other stories and was happy when Marvel was publishing all the Weapon Omega stories in one trade. As a lifelong Alpha Flight fan I was not very happy with the useless slaughter of the old Alpha Flight team, in particular the passing away of Guardian. Guardian was more about the power suit and one of the best looking costumes around than him being James Hudson. I hated the character of Michael Pointer when he first appeared and I hated the fact that a non-Canadian got to wear that costume. I was pleasantly surprised by this story though. The writer managed to change my mind about the character of Michael, I still am not a fan of how he came to be but I really liked what has been done to him in this book. He is a tragic character, he does not want these powers and he feels inadequate and is filled with guilt. By the end, he is more comfortable with his role of being Guardian. There were some nice twists and some great character moments with Michael and his other Omega teammates. The only thing that I didn't like was that the art was not completely drawn by Andrea Di Vito. Di Vito is quickly becoming one of my favorite artists and his rendition of Guardian was perfect. His soft pencils reflected how insecure Guardian was. Checchetto finished the last four parts of the book and his a pretty good artist in his own right but doesn't compare with Di Vito.
Final Word and Grade: I am sure this was overlooked by many Marvel fans but this should be picked up. If you like B-list characters and the Omega Flight series you will like this book. I went into it with no expectations and came out very satisfied. Great superhero stuff. B

Mouse Guard Volume 2: Winter 1152
Very rarely do I find a sequel that works better than the original but this is one that does. I thought that the first Mouse Guard was charming. This isn't one of those books where the creator has an idea and just goes with it. This is a book that is extremely detailed and obviously planned way ahead. You can easily feel and see the passion that Petersen has for his concept, which definitely makes up for any small inadequacies. This volume continues the adventures of the mice from the first volume and moves the story of the Black Axe even further. There are some very nice moments in here, the battle with the owl, the journey through the ice and snow and my favorite, the Weasel labyrinth and the bats. Well-written and the art is almost flawless. Exquisite paints and colors really bring this world alive. And the conclusion left me wanting more.
Final Word and Grade: The first volume of Mouse Guard was fun and I was happy about the sequel when they announced it but this takes it up a notch. Now at the conclusion of this volume I am impatiently awaiting the next installment. The only drawback is that it is a fairly quick read. If you like Castle Waiting or Bone, I highly recommend getting this. A-

Green Lantern: No Fear
Green Lantern: Rebirth caught me by surprise as a fun read so I decided to try out more of GL's adventures. I was not disappointed by it but nothing really stood out either. There are a few things that I really liked, the rebuilding of Coast City, the small hints foreshadowing the Blackest Night but in particular I was impressed by the prelude by Darwyn Cooke. His story of Hal taking Kyle Rayner out for a ride in a jet while in flashback we see Hal's dad doing the same thing with Hal was a nice, quiet moment that showed readers what type of person Hal is. I originally thought Hal was a cocky jerk but this story showed me Hal's good side and it comes off more confident than cocky. The rest of the trade was good but nothing spectacular. The story at times did lose me a little because I have absolutely no familiarity with Green Lantern at all but that doesn't bug me as much as it might with some other readers who are trying this for the first time. I don't mind not knowing everything about the characters, if it intrigues me, I'll investigate it further. The change in art chores did seem to take some flow out, especially since the artists were not similar at all. All are good artists but it just seemed out of place. I will say that I think this was Simone Bianchi's best work.
Final Word and Grade: A little bit of a let down from the GL: Rebirth series and I expected a little more of a bang out of the gates. That is not to say that this was bad, it just wasn't strong. Still, it was enjoyable enough to get the next trade. C

Captain Britain Omnibus
I saved the best for last. Gosh, I could go on and on and gush about this book but I will try to control myself. This was on the top of my wish list for Marvel’s line of Omnibus and this didn't disappoint at all. Captain Britain is one of my favorite characters and this reprints some of his best appearances. This huge volume reprints a ton of his early stuff starting with Alan Moore's fantastic run. Alan's Mad Jim Jasper storyline is one of my favorite runs of all time with some great moments. Alan understands that Brian Braddock is not a perfect person and is weighed down by the heavy responsibility of being Captain Britain. He is flawed and says and does things that are not always in the right. I will never forget his second battle with the Fury (he dies in the first one!) and he and some other heroes barely escape with their lives. He asks what they should do with Captain UK (who had come from another dimension) and Saturnyne replies that she needs a place to stay and some clean clothes. Cap replies, "Why should she get special treatment? Everybody's wet." Saturnyne replies coldly, "Not wet like her. She's wet because she was very frightened. Grow up Captain." And did you know that Miracle Man was killed during this run?

The volume continues into Jamie Delano's run which I prefer over Alan Moore's run. This introduces Meggan and shows his memorable battles against Slaymaster and the evil Kaptain Britain, who tries to have his way with his sister Betsy. Betsy later becomes the new Captain Britain and fails and Brian is forced to come back and take the mantle once again. Delano's run is much underrated compared to Moore's run and is not even an afterthought but I see Delano's run as just as good, if not better. This volume also reprints New Mutants Annual #2 (Psylocke's first American appearance) and one of my favorite comics of all time, Uncanny X-Men Annual #11. The X-Men Annual is what introduced me to Alan Davis and to Captain Britain and I have been a huge fan ever since. Also reprinted is Captain America #305-306 which does not compare to the rest but is still fun to read. Even though Captain Britain seems like a wimp in these issues.

There is also a ton of bonus material. All the covers are reprinted, early sketches of Alan Davis designing the new Cap costume, a Short History of Britain, written By Alan Moore from the 70's, promo posters, bios, pin ups, never-before-reprinted short strips that accompanied the main story and ALL the bonus material from the earlier published trades and X-Men Archives, including those covers as well. Whew! That is a load of bonus stuff!
Final Word and Grade: Very biased grade here but this has to be my all-time favorite book. Anyone who enjoys Alan Davis or Captain Britain needs to pick up this book. Just as a warning, this does contain Alan Davis's earliest work and is not as polished as his art is today. It can be pretty rough at times but you might not notice as much as you will be enthralled by the story. A+


I still have loads of trades to read. Hopefully sometime soon I will be reviewing Annihilation Book 3, Batman/Grendel, Punisher Max Vol 2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1, BOOM's Irredeemable and Guardians of the Galaxy: Earth Shall Overcome and The Power of Starhawk Hardcovers.
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Waited for the Trade: Annihilation and Annihilation Conquest

Mr`Orange
With a new Marvel Cosmic event just getting under way in the far flung corners of the Marvel Universe I thought it might be time to go back and look over the last two big events that rocked this part of the MU. Annihilation and Annihilation Conquest

These are the two recent events in the intergalactic part of the Marvel universe, self contained events that centred around the attempted conquest of the galaxy by Annihilus of Negative zone and then another major MU player in the sequel Annihilation Conquest.

I will initially be reviewing the first of these events, the original Annihilation Event. The set up and structure of the events was different from the usual MU events, with a number of mini series building up into the main event. Though a lot of people complained when DC did this, Marvel have executed it much better, each part can be read as an individual story, or you can read it all as one huge story, or do as I have done with the trades, to pick and choose the best.

I read the singles and as good as the event was I didn’t overly enjoy a couple of the minis, so when it came to buying the hardcovers, I was lucky to find that the main books I enjoyed where in volumes one and three, while the less satisfactory books where in volume two, which I decided not to buy. And now, rereading the event, it doesn’t take anything away from the over all story by missing out the likes of the Silver Surfer, super Skrull and Ronan books. All the major plot points are covered in the main event book, Annihilation.

The first volume of the Hardcover collection begins with a story that was published a fair while before the event was even thought up, but has been retroactively added into the continuity of the event, and it was done with some ease. Drax the Destroyer: Earth Fall mini from 2005 was an interesting tale in its own right, much like the rest of the books that comprise this event, it can be read on its own.

The book introduces a new status quo for the character, but for people like me, for whom this was an introduction to Drax it was still an interesting story that was being told. The plot of the book revolves around a crashed prison ship in Alaska, and the inmates attempt to escape.

Though a simple enough story it was brought to life by some amazing art by Mitch Breitweiser and simple but effective storytelling of Keith Giffen. Not only are we introduced to the new “version” of Drax but also to his new sidekick Cammi. Cammi adds a human element to the book, and is the eyes with which we see their world, she gives us someone to empathise with.

The book sets up Drax’s role within the main Annihilation event, but beyond that is not really linked into the over all story, that only kicks off in Annihilation: Prologue. Here we have an introduction to the main event, to most of the characters that will be involved and where their loyalties lie. But most importantly we get to see exactly how powerful a force the Annihilation wave is, how destructive and merciless. And we see it in all its glory, as the detail and description is immense, the way in which the destruction is wrought, how it is described by the words of Keith Giffen (the architect of the event )and drawn through the work of Scott Kolins.

The one unifying element in these books is the art, it is phenomenal the whole way through, it really captures the tone of the story and the events portrayed within it.

The first volume of the three part Annihilation Hardcover series includes the Drax book, the Prologue, and by far the strongest, and most pivotal of the mini series, the Nova book.

The Nova series is written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, who go on to write the ongoing series, and bring to a life a character that for me, has floundered. The last time I remember reading anything about this character was in the mid 90’s with the failed Erik Larsen series, which lasted about 7 issues.

The mini series is centred around the first major attack by the Annhilation wave in the Marvel Universe, and how helpless even a major power such as the Nova Force and its centurions are against it.

This really sets the tone for the event as a whole, highlighting the magnitude of the attacking forces, and their potential for destruction. This isn’t two random evenly matched spaces races, this is one immense fleet against the rest of the MU, and vastly underprepared, unorganised Marvel Universe.

The Annihilation wave attacks Xandar, the home of the race that built the Nove Corps ssentially runs the Centurions. The Centurions are essentially the police force, the clean up squad of the universe, responding to problems and dealing with them, with the aid of the Nova Force. The “organisation” is run by the Xandarian Worldmind which is the collective knowledge of the Xandarian civilisation.

Richard Rider, is the only remaining Centurion, and with a destroyed world, and base of operations the Worldmind needs a new home, which it finds in the mind of Richard Rider. He is also the host to the entire Nova Force, which has its own implications (dealt with in the main Nova ongoing series).

Nova with Dax and Cammi, the other two surviving occupants of the Xandar homeworld, they team up with Quasar to help evacuate planets in the way of the Annihilation wave. They succeed, but at a cost. Quasar is lost, and the quantam bands are taken by Annihilus , and he attempts to steal the Nova Force from Rider.

After they save the fleet and civilians in the way of the Wave, Worldmind Nova and Drax join forces to help stop the Wave.

This brings us on to the second of the Hardcovers which contains the Silver Surfer, Super Skrull and Ronan mini series. Of these I quiet enjoyed the Super Skrull book, and that does bring in a lot of information about the preceding events to the Wave hitting the Marvel Universe, but as I really didn’t like the other two mini’s I could not justify buying the book.

The Super Skrull book was written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach (of Middleman fame) and had the art of Greg Titus. A good looking book with a well constructed plot and scripting, it did seem a little juvenile at times. It didn’t fit with the feeling of the other books in this story.
The book revolves round the Super Skrull’s attempt to destroy the Harvester of Souls which was a planet consuming warship in the Annihilation wave. As an outsider within the Skrull empire the Super Skrull went against this ship alone, though he didn’t end that way. He found the inventor of the ship in the Negative zone, and got him to devise a way of destroying the ship. This was in the form of a virus, that the Super Skrull and a band of rag tag prisoners he releases from a Negative Zone prison (not 42) attempt to destroy the ship.

They succeed, but not without encountering some problems along the way, and a bit of creative thinking on the part of the Super Skrull. The characters that we meet here, are to be seen again in the main Annhilation mini series, and in the future when people look back on this battle in the war against Annihilus.

The Second of the books in this series was the Silver Surfer book which h dealt with the Seekers who where sent out by Annihilus to find the Heralds of Galactus and capture them. They where then to be used to feed Annihilus with the Power Cosmic and make him stronger and even more powerful. A couple die and a couple get captured, and to be honest I really didn’t enjoy this book at all, and don’t really remember much else happening. It was a dull read, and I just found it labour some to get through.

The final book is the Ronan mini series which is centred around the character Ronan the Accuser of the Kree empire. Though a major player in the Annihilation war, and the post Annihilation universe this mini did nothing to add to the story. It revolves around Ronan seeking out those that testified against him, and fighting them. He lands on a world where one of the women that testified against him now resides, she how now joined a group of cosmically powered women who are led by Gamora the most dangerous woman in the universe.

They fight, but then the Annihilation wave reaches the planet they are on, and they join the United Front led by Nova and Drax and a few others. This series is written by Simon Furman and art by Jorge Lucas.

This ends the second volume, and brings us onto the main mini, the culmination of these other series in the Annihilation event. Volume three contains the main series as well as nova Corps files, which gives us background on each of the characters involved in this series, as well as the post Annihilation wave mini series Heralds of Galactus.


The main is set a couple of hundered days after the Wave first hit the Marvel Universe, and in this time Nova has brought together an army to hold back the Negative Zone forces of Annihilus.



Their first major victory comes when Firelord manages to kill one of Annihilus’s Queens who controls his drone army. Leaving the soldiers in disarray. Though this is a phyrric victory at best, as we are soon to learn that Annihilus has captured Galactus and is now in control of the Power Cosmic. Thanos siding with Annihilus has Galactus bound and is draining Galactus of all power.

While the over all war is going on there are a number of sub plots that underway, and for me this was the biggest strength of the series. Though a lot was going on, it was all contained within this one book, and there was a lot going on. We had Drax attempting to fulfil his destiny, Nova trying to lead the United Front, warn Earth and adapt to his new power levels.

Thanos had his own plans in place and was working with Annihilus for reasons other than what was apparent. While Thanos was doing this Ronan the Accuser was back on the Kree Homeworld trying to enlist more soldiers to fight the oncoming Wave, only to discover that the ruling House had made a deal with Annihilus as well as lobotomising the Supreme Intelligence. The Kree now following Ronan finally put up resistance against the coming Wave, and hold their own.

The final battle between the forces of the United Front and the Annihilation Wave are being enacted on the flag ship of Annihilus. With the majority of the ships destroyed by the energy released by Galactus, the weakened Annihilus goes up against Nova, Peter Quill and Phyla-Vell. Without wanting the spoil the final twists and turns of the story, lets just say it brings up some interesting changes in the status quo in the lives of these people and the Marvel Universe as a whole.

The art for this final story was done by Andrea de Vito and was amazingly detailed, it really brought to life the enormity of the event, how chaotic everything was, the savage nature of the Wave and the almost hopless struggle of the heroes involved. The scripting was tight and plot perfect. So much story was packed into this miniseries, but it didn’t feel heavy, nor was is laborious to read through.

Had they ended the series here, it would have been great, but the final post Annihilation Wave books that formed the Heralds of Galactus mini series. Though in concept this was an interesting book, the execution was lacking. Not so much in the art department, which crafted a sumptuous book, but in the writing, which was just a bit dull, especially after the excitement of the previous mini series.

So that brings us up to the end of the first event, and shortly I’ll be adding the review for the second event to bare the Annihilation name. Annihilation Conquest.
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