Annihilators: Earthfall #2(of 4):
Summary: Picking up from last issue, the Avengers arrive on the scene to see the Annihilators seemingly attacking an innocent looking office building in Colorado. Ronan basically begs the Avengers to attack, must to Quasar's dismay. Not wanting to spend time trying to talk the Avengers out of their attack, Quasar and Ikon head inside the building hoping to stop the Universal Church of Truth from whatever nefarious scheme they were plotting inside, while Gladiator, Ronan and Beta Ray Bill deal with the Avengers. Spider-Man follows Quasar inside and tries to see what the deal was, with the two running into several armed members of the UCT. Back outside, the UCT send several of their super-powered agents to attack both the Annihilator members as well as the Avengers. The Avengers, now thoroughly confused, strike out at both parties, still unable to see that the Annihilators were the good guys in this whole mess. Back inside, Spidey, Quasar and Ikon make quick work of the UCT guards and find the cocoon that Adam Warlock(or more likely, the Magus) was incubating in, and Ikon tears it open, revealing nothing... Quasar takes this to mean that the whatever was in the cocoon had already hatched, and the trio turn around to see dozens of creepy Magus children.
Thoughts: Well this issue sure was predictable! Seriously, would it have hurt for Quasar to tell the Avengers what he and the Annihilators were doing on Earth? I mean Quasar IS an Avenger in good standing so far as I can remember, as well as an ally of Captain America, so you'd have to think the Avengers would at least humor him... Instead we get the obligatory, “Two super-teams meet, have a misunderstanding and fight each other” with the next issue inevitably being the, “Realizing their mistake, the two super-teams join forces and face down the true threat” portion of this story. I have to say, from writers as talented as Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning I'd have expected more... With that said, I DID enjoy the fight scene between the Avengers and Annihilators, and I really liked the end of this one with the reveal of all of the little Magus kids. If nothing else that should put some strain on the Annihilators as I can't imagine Quasar and Beta Ray Bill being in favor of simply killing the Magus kids, while I'd imagine Gladiator and Ronan would see that as the most obvious solution. Toss the Avengers into the mix, and the next issue should at the very least be interesting. And for the record, there was a Rocket Raccoon and Groot back-up story in this issue that I didn't even bother to flip through. To say I could care less about those two characters is the understatement of a lifetime!
Score: 7 out of 10.
“You are a disgrace to the name Mar-Vell!” I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so!
that last panel totally had this children from the "Village of the Damned" thing going on. i committed the ultimate sin in the comic book industry last weekend. i wondered into a comic/toy shop in S.F. on Market st. and basically read the book on the shelf. like most comic books these days it was pretty lite on text (goddamn i miss the 80s!) so really you can easily get the jist of the story by taking 5 minutes to skim the book especially if you don't bother with the back story (nuff said). predictable as it was the fighting was at least pretty good and there were some good dialogue quips too. still not worth my $4 however. 7 out of 10 seems like a fair rating.
ReplyDeleteHA! I can EASILY see how you could get away with pretty much reading this one while in the shop without anybody noticing... It was basically just the Avengers and Annihilators beating the hell out of each other for 4/5 of the story before the stuff at the end leading into the next issue. There were def a few nice moments dialogue-wise(Wolvie and Gladiator and of course Ronan and Ms. Marvel), but this issue flew by.
ReplyDeleteunless your somebody who likes to spend a long time on the John you know that's just wrong when you finish a $4 or even $3 comic book while your on the pot with plenty of time to spare if you know what i mean.
ReplyDeleteit wasn't like that in the 80's Nate. back then both DC and Marvel comics had dialogue packed books. by the way the Heros For Hire:Spider Island one shot was pretty good story wise even though i wasn't too crazy about the art. and this Wed. Misty & Paladin's adventures continue in Villains for Hire #1. you can check out the first few pages here: http://www.comixology.com/sku/SEP110587/Villains-For-Hire-Point-One-1-of-5-?utm_source=Cover%2bGallery&utm_medium=retailers&utm_campaign=Retailers%2b2011-11-02&utm_term=Crush%2bComics&store_id=930
Yeah, from all the back issues I've managed to get my hands on I can definitely see the difference in dialogue. Hell, I've been reading through the Essential Avengers trades and in the time it takes me to read ONE issue of those old Avengers stories, I could easily read at least 4 modern books. I don't know what happened in the late 90's/early 2000's(the industry thought fans became dumber?), but the books definitely switched dramatically from dialogue to art, which is too bad because I do love reading lots and lots of dialogue...
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