Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files One-Shot

 

This primer into the events of Annihilation is very cleverly crafted. It's designed as a monitor hooked up to the central computer of the Nova Corps. Written in the voice of the Worldmind computer of Xandar, each entry includes information about planet of origin, level of intergalactic threat, recommended methods of capture and rehabilitation, and personal history.
 
  Marvel usually has it's character histories published as supplements of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. While they provide lots of information, their published with extremely small print and have an almost anal-retentive level of detail can make the personal histories very exhausting to read. This was a refreshing change of pace.

  The only thing that I was not 100% happy with this book is the level of quality in some of the art. The handbooks are filled with lots of great art. Each entry boasts a portrait if the selection's topic and those pictures are clean, colorful, and all-new. That's not the case with this one-shot. Some portraits are just recycle covers or scenes from the various books covered in the omnibus. Some pics are from older titles and haven't been remastered at all. Maybe it's supposed to give it a more 'Wikipedia' type fell using different artworks but it's just not my cup of tea.

  Worth Consuming

 Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

ANNIHILATION: HERALDS OF GALACTUS #1-2 (Annihilation Week)

Cover to Issue #2

This two-part series focuses on the aftermath of Annihilation in terms of some of the surviving heralds of Galactus that survived: Firelord, Stardust, Terrax, and the Silver Surfer. Okay- I had thought that Terrax died during the Annihilation Wave at the hands of Gamora. But it appears that you can survive a beheading.

    The best story involved Firelord, who enacts his cosmic brand of justice on the allies of Annihilus who survived it's atrocities and managed to sue for peace. Peace treaties be damned. In the eyes of Firelord, once a force of evil, always a force of evil and justice will be served flaming hot.

   I actually thought that this could have been a great ongoing series. From my research this never really happened but if it had, I would've been adding it to my wish list. Missed opportunities once again from Marvel.

   This Silver Surfer tale ends with a 'To Be Continued..." and I was about to be really angry. I mean doesn't omnibus mean that it contains everything involved with the subject at hand? In this case, that would be Annihilation. However, there is a sequel called Annihilation: Conquest that picks up with the galaxy trying to rebuild after the onslaught from the Negative Zone. So, the next thing I need to read would be the Conquest Omnibus right? Wrong!

Up Next: Annihilation: Nova Corps Files

Worth Consuming

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Annihilation #1-6 (Annihilation Week)

Variant Cover to Issue #1

 The battle is taken to Annihilus by a combined force of Kree, Skrull, heralds of Galactus, and assorted intergalactic rogues, lead by Richard Rider, the last Nova. The opening scene pits Nova's coalition against the bug warriors of the Negative Zone. That opening chapter was insane. It so very much seemed like a scene from 'Starship Troopers.' I'm starting to think that writer Keith Giffen always wanted to script a version of Robert A Heinlein's classic work.

  Well, Giffen got his wish.

   The plot thickens when Nova's army is stretched to its limits of survival when Annihilus and Thanos capture Galactus and the Silver Surfer and turn them into an ultimate weapon of destruction. When it's clear that the armies of the Negative Zone have their sights set on Earth as their next target, Nova and Drax the Destroyer will have to eliminate Annihilus and the Mad Titan separately or all of humanity (and a large majority of the Marvel Universe's superhero community) will become annihilated.

   Annihilation was worth the build up of several miniseries if only for that opening chapter I mentioned. The war scenes were stunning and action-packed, but I was enthralled by the scenes that lead up to the warfare. Those scenes were perfectly crafted and made me feel like there was a real war occurring. Giffen thought of everything.

    I was quite happy with the finale of this series but it's left open for a sequel (Note: there is a sequel to Annihilation called Annihilation: Conquest and I hope to come across it's omnibus library sometime soon.) The art for this series was very good and at times ultra-graphic.

If you love sci-fi then you'll love this book. However, it might surprise you to know that fans of traditional war epics will enjoy this series as well and you could enjoy this series without needing to read the prequels and not be too very lost about what's happened up till now.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Up Next: Annhilation: Heralds of Galactus

Annihilation: Ronan #1-4 (Annihilation Week)

Cover to Issue #1.

   Ronan the Accuser is no more! No, he's not dead. He's been stripped of his title after being falsely accused of acts of sedition against the new ruling house of the Kree Empire. (With the reputation of the attempted assassination of the Supreme Intelligence, those charges might not be so trumped up.) Now, Ronan faces death if he ever returns to the confines of the Empire.

   Betrayed and oh so pissed, Ronan is on the hunt for the woman who bore false witness to the House of Fiyero. That leads him to a distant planet that just happens to be in the path of Annihilus's Annihilation Wave and Gamora, step-daughter of Thanos!

    Will Ronan find his own personal accuser? Will he meet his doom at the hands of the Most Dangerous Woman in the Galaxy, Gamora? Will everybody become the next meal for the ravenous drones of the invaders of the Negative Zone?

    Of the Annihilation minis, this one wasn't my favorite. The art was as sketchy and poorly inked as was some of the art in the Annhilation Prologue. However, the story in that book was fantastic. This tale wasn't so great. Also, what little I knew about Gamora was obviously not much. I did know she had a soul sword similar to that Magik uses in the Uncanny X-Men. I didn't know that she was a crime lord of sorts over a gang of crazy Amazons called the Graces. And I had know clue that Gamora originally dressed like a necromantic pole dancer! Hokey Smokes!

   Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Up Next: Annihilation

Welcome to Annihilation Week...

 A couple of weeks ago I found a copy of the Annihilation Omnibus at my local library. It was a massive 500-page plus volume that weighs a good 5lbs. It's huge! But I've been wanting to read this series for quite a while and I jumped at the chance to read it for free (SRP is $125.00!)
 
   But with this massive book I didn't think it was fair to rate the book as a whole. There are at least 7 different one-shots or mini-series that comprise this series. While Keith Giffen writes most of the books, he's not the author of all of these books. Also, there is a host of artists, inkers, and colorists involved in the visuals of this cross-over event. So, I've decided to break this book down and review it in chapters over this week.

  One thing I did quite differently was that instead of reviewing each issue individually, I'm reviewing by title. So if the series is just one issue, four, or seven, I'm grouping things together. It's not exactly a new thing. If I read a collection, I review the book as a whole. But like I said, I think it doesn't do this series justice to give it just one single judgment.

So with that... let Annihilation Week begin.

Guardians of the Galaxy (Prelude to Annihilation Week)

Finally, I saw the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm not 100% sure why it's taken me this long. It's been a weird mash of financial shortfalls, injury, and surgeries that have culminated in me putting off seeing it and putting it off, and putting it off- until now. So, what changed?

  Recently at my local library, I found the Annihilation Omnibus. Having read it and granted a free PPV rental by DISH Network, I was finally inspired to check it out. More on this later. But first let's discuss the film.

  The movie begins with a young Peter Quill being abducted by aliens in 1988 after his mother dies of what is assumed to be cancer. We then jump 26-years to find an adult Quill now calling himself Star-Lord. When Quill finds a mysterious orb, he becomes the target of the Scavengers, a ragtag bunch of aliens who abducted Quill for some reason and now have a bounty for his capture, bounty hunters Rocket Raccoon and Groot, and Gamora, daughter of Thanos and associate of the crazed Ronan.

   After the group ends up in Nova Corps prison, they meet up with Drax the Destroyer whose got a blood lust against Ronan for killing his wife and child. With this fifth member, the line-up for the Guardians of the Galaxy is complete. Together they trek across the universe seeking to sell the stolen orb to the Collector. There, the Guardians learn that the orb contains another of the Infinity Gems and has the power to destroy worlds. When Ronan steals the orb, the team must race back to the Nova homeworld of Xandar to protect it and the rest of the galaxy from being destroyed by a now power-mad Ronan.
 
   With any superhero film that begins a franchise and an origin, the film starts off a little slow. It really isn't until the group finally all meet that it became an instant classic. Many consider lovable Groot, the living tree, to be the fan favorite of the film, but I really like Drax. He's very droll, but he's given some of the funniest lines. I felt like he stole the show though Groot does give the Destroyer a run for his money.

  Another element that stole this flick was its soundtrack. Peter has an old Sony Walkman that belts out some classic 70s tunes such as Blue Suede's 'Hooked on a Feeling.' It's these catchy songs that help make this cosmic odyssey seem more familiar and more like 'home.'

    One part of this film that I thought was hit or miss was the special effects. The home world of Xandar looked like Starfleet Academy's's wet dream. It was beautiful, but many of that's planet's residents looked fake. Some characters like Yondu, the Alpha-Centurian with the musical arrow, has blue skin. However, the skin looked like an FX computer tech just painted the image of actor Michael Rooker, in facial prosthetics, navy. I swear I was ready for him to move off screen quickly and his blue hue to follow him off screen. Zoe Saldana's green Gamora looked like that was her real skin tone but the pink-hued attendant to the Collector and many other characters looked like someone was playing around with the color on their computer monitor in order to get their desired effect and it just fell flat.

    There're lots of great Easter eggs in this film. The character of Yondu was a member of the original Guardians team from the year 3,000 (maybe this was his great-grandfather?) There's several minor characters in the background and zoo of the Collector (as well as a few baddies from previous Marvel Films.) Perhaps the biggest Easter Egg is that Thanos and his army are the same mystery characters from the first Avengers film. It's just another bit of evidence that though Marvel may not be following the comic books to an exact 'T' they do have an all-encompassing plan for their films and live-action series to help create a true live-action Marvel Universe.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

(Wait a minute---- Didn't I say I was going to come back to Annihilation? About that- I was able to get my hands on a copy of the Annihilation Omnibus recently. In that massive 500-page plus tome, Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, Thanos, Ronan, Nebula, Korath, and the Nova Corps play important roles. Since they were in that book as well as this film, I broke down and finally set aside time to watch GOG. 
    So, starting tomorrow I will begin a week-long review of the series Annihilation and its many prequels and companion pieces. 
     My friends, welcome to Annihilation Week.)