Annihilators #3 & Captain America: Hail Hydra #5

Two Marvel comics here, the end to a surprisingly good Captain America mini-series, and the penultimate issue of the underwhelming Annihilators mini. Let's get to it!

Captain America: Hail Hydra #5(of 5):

Summary: We've finally made it to the present with this mini-series, as Steve Rogers decades long search for Dr. Geist has nearly reached it's conclusion. Now in control of what was once SHIELD as well as the Avengers, Steve sends out several teams of heroes to locate and shut Geist down once and for all. Feeling the heat, Geist rushes his final experiment into action, the creation of a literal god. As luck would have it, Steve, Captain America(Bucky), Hawkeye, War Machine, Luke Cage and Thor manage to discover Geist's lab(hidden under the Statue of Liberty). The heroes arrive and discover that Geist had bonded himself with the giant God of Hydra, and was sticking out of it's chest. The God shrugs off everything the heroes throw at it(including Thor's hammer!), grabbing Steve in one of it's hands. Geist taunts Steve, telling him that he'd advise the God as it conquered the Earth in Hydra's name, when the God suddenly rips Geist out of it's chest. The God then tells Geist that he had created a perfect god, and as such, it saw all of the flaws in Hydra and Geist, and wouldn't tolerate Geist. The God crushes Geist in it's hand and puts Steve down, telling him that he had won the war against Geist, as well as some cryptic, god-like things before teleporting away, ending this one.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this mini-series a lot, as Jonathan Maberry did an excellent job of taking Steve and documenting his war against Hydra since WWII. So yeah, overall I enjoyed this one. But(you had to see that coming), I wasn't overly fond of the way this issue ended. So Geist actually managed to create a REAL god? I mean yes, I know Geist had been working on this project for YEARS, but a real god? And not an evil god, but a “good” god? That was kind of weird... Other than that though, no complaints here.

Score: 8 out of 10.It's safe to say that the God of Hydra has no shame...


Annihilators #3(of 4):

Summary: This issue begins with the Dire Wraith Queen making it rain magic! The Silver Surfer tries to tell Quasar to try to block the Black Sun in the sky to dampen the Wraith Queen's magic, but is halted by the Wraith Queen trying to jam one of her tendrils into the Surfer's head. Unfortunately for the Wraith Queen, this action proves to be too much for her, and leaves her mind wide open for the Surfer to look into. The Wraith Queen eventually manages to disengage from the Surfer but is weakened and easily wrapped up by the rest of the Annihilators. The Surfer tells the team that the threat wasn't over yet, as the Black Wraith Sun had begun to fuse with the regular Space Knight Sun. Beta Ray Bill opens a portal to Limbo(the place the Dire Wraiths had been banished), and take the Wraith Queen with them. Upon seeing the heroes and their “Queen” the Wraiths begin throwing rocks at their Queen, who they blamed for their fate. The Annihilators realize that they had to protect the Wraith Queen from her own people, just as Immortus(!) sends his Army of the Ages to deal with the Annihilators encroaching on his territory. Back on the Space Knight homeworld, some Space Knights break Dr. Dread out of his holding cell and we learn that Dread and the Space Knights who had freed him were... Oh god, already?! Skrulls...

Thoughts: Hmm... Well, I will say that I did enjoy the main story of this one a bit more.... At least until the reveal at the end. Really? The goddamn Skrulls?! After the train wreck that was Secret Invasion, I was hoping that I wouldn't see a Skrull pop up in a current Marvel comic for at least 5 years! I mean nowadays whenever I see a Skrull, I break into dry heaves... Well, I guess it was only a matter of time until the Skrulls came back... Hopefully Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning will retcon most of the crap Bendis did with the Skrulls during SI and I'll be able to look at Skulls without the horrible memory of Secret Invasion still scarring my mind... Oh, and as for the Rocket Raccoon back-up story, I don't even know what to say... It was awful in ways I couldn't imagine! For the sake of my sanity(as well as yours, dear reader), I'm just going to completely ignore it. But I will say that I deducted an ENTIRE point from the final score of this comic because of how horrible that RR story was...

Score: 5 out of 10.Not the Skrulls!!!!!

Annihilators #2 & Captain America: Hail Hydra #4

Two Marvel mini-series to post today, one good, and one not so good. Read on to see which is which! Man, what a cheap shill THAT was!

Captain America: Hail Hydra #4(of 5):

Summary: Woooo, it's Captain time, baby!!! The events of this comic take place during one of Steve Rogers MANY fights with the government, which led to him giving up the Captain America mantle and simply becoming The Captain. Trust me, it's awesome. Anyway, Cap tracks down a bunch of Hydra agents in Romania and saves a vampire the Hydra goons were hunting... That's not something you see every day... Cap is still trying to hunt down Dr. Geist, and was hopeful that these Hydra agents may have had insight. Unfortunately for Cap, the Hydra cannon fodder know nothing, and Cap is still at square one. Cap heads to Nick Fury and Nick hands Cap some info on the location of several Hydra bases, strictly off the record, since Cap is persona-non-grata with the Feds at this point. Meanwhile, Dr. Geist and Baron Strucker unveil their latest abomination, the Unsterblich, which apparently means “Immortal” in German(thanks German to English dictionary!). Unsterblich is a combination of the blood of Achilles, Thor, Cap and a few others, and is the most powerful creation Geist has concocted thus far. Cap begins to look into the info Fury gave him, and discovers an old ally from WWII(who had died), crudely reanimated by Geist to torment Cap. The zombiefied woman, Trude, tells Cap that Geist WANTED Cap to find him, and that Geist was planning on using his Lazarus formula(which can reanimate the dead as thinking zombies) to reanimate the honored dead at Arlington National Cemetery unless Cap provided Geist with his blood. Cap realizes the devastating affect the sight of thousands of dead soldiers would have on the American public, so he agrees to meet Geist at Arlington. Cap brings Falcon and Nick Fury with him, and Geist brings a small army of Hydra agents, as well as Unsterblich. Fury immediately calls in SHIELD, and we get ourselves a huge battle. Cap squares off with Unsterblich, which doesn't go all that well for him, and Geist uses the Lazarus formula to reanimate the dead at the cemetery. This brings out Dr. Strange and the Avengers(both the East AND West Coast branches) into the fray. Strange uses his magic to cover the cemetery in shadows, so nobody outside could see what was going on, as well as trying to put the dead soldiers back where they belonged, while the Avengers deal with Unsterblich and Hydra. During the battle, Geist manages to get a needle full of Cap's blood, but his forces, including Unsterblich, are rapidly being wiped out. Having gotten what he wanted, Geist manages to fly off, promising Cap that he hadn't seen the last of him, ending this issue.

Thoughts: Huh, I REALLY liked this issue! I mean yes, we ALL know what a Captain America fan I am, but regardless, this issue was the best in this mini-series thus far, and that's not a knock on the rest of this mini, because it's been solid throughout. For a character who has only been around for this mini(so only 4 issues so far), Geist fits PERFECTLY as the type of villain you'd expect Cap to be facing. A madman who is trying to unlock the secret of immortality and create a race of gods. The characters who appeared in this one, as well as Steve being the Captain made this comic seem like it came right out of the late 1980's/early 1990's. So kudos to Jonathan Maberry(writer) and Kyle Hotz(art) for that one. If I had one complaint, it would be the rushed way in which Geist escaped(he flies away from the Avengers in like one page?!), but other than that one little quibble, I thoroughly enjoyed this comic, and am eagerly anticipating the last issue to see how the story of Geist ends.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Sweet!


Annihilators #2(of 4):

Summary: Thanks to Dr. Dredd, the Dire Wraiths are attacking the homeworld of the Spaceknights. Dredd toys with the Annihilators, who can't touch Dredd, since he is sharp enough to cut the Silver Surfer himself. Having amused himself enough, Dredd cuts a hole in reality and walks through, leaving the Annihilators to deal with the Wraith invasion. The Annihilators quickly realize that the Wraiths were drawing their power from the black sun Dredd had placed in the sky, so Beta Ray Bill and Quasar blanket the sky with clouds, cutting off the Wraith's power supply. That act pisses Dredd off, at which point he reappears on the Spaceknight's homeworld to figure out a way to cut through the clouds. Ronan approaches Dredd, who smugly tells Ronan that he couldn't be harmed. However, Ronan uses his Universal Weapon(which is a much better name than “Cosmic Rod”) to change Dredd's genetic structure, dulling his edge so to speak, which allows Ronan the opportunity to bash Dredd over the head, ending his threat. With Dredd out of the way, the Annihilators head to the throne room of the leader of the Spaceknights, where the Surfer reveals that thanks to his Power Cosmic he had deduced that a) Dredd hadn't done this whole deal alone, b) the leader of the Spaceknights had backed Dredd since she felt her people had become lazy and complacent since the threat of the Dire Wraiths had ended, and c) that the leader of the Spaceknights had been manipulated by queen of the Dire Wraiths, who appears in the room and attacks everybody, ending this issue. There was also a back-up story dealing with Rocket Raccoon and Groot, but the less said about THAT the better...

Thoughts: What the hell?! I mean, I loved Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's Nova AND Guardians of the Galaxy runs. A LOT! So naturally, I was psyched when I heard about this mini-series. I then read the first issue and wasn't very fond of it, but figured things would pick up with issue #2... Well guess what? Things DIDN'T pick up with issue #2 at all! As a matter of fact, I liked this issue even less than the first one! Granted, I hate the Dire Wraiths and the Spaceknights, so that right there hurt my enjoyment of this one, but the story itself just isn't grabbing me. It all feels so rushed... Last issue we get Dredd as the big threat. He frees the Dire Wraiths. This issue Dredd is beaten with ease, while the Wraiths don't fare much better. Then we learn that the leader of the Spaceknights caused the return of the Wraiths, THEN it turns out she was being manipulated, AND then all of a sudden we find out the Wraith Queen was behind everything... As for the Rocket Raccoon stuff, I hate it. I get that it's supposed to be funny, but I didn't laugh at any of it. At all. And that's really not good when it comes to a comedy feature...

Score: 5 out of 10.I can see how carrying a giant hammer around could be useful...

Quick Hits: 3/10/11

During my last Quick Hits post I was actually pretty pleased with everything I read. That was rare for me, since I usually have at least one bad comic per Quick Hits, so getting to read and enjoy 5 consecutive comic books was a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, my lucky streak must have run out because I REALLY didn't enjoy ANY of the comics I reviewed for this here Quick Hits post... When you review 4 books and the best score you hand out is a 6, you know there's something wrong. So there, you've been warned, welcome to the land of misfit comic book reviews!!!

Justice Society of America #48:

Summary: We get started with Obsidian stupidly breaking into Scythe's cell to get retribution for Green Lantern(Alan Scott). Obsidian gets squashed(even though he has insane amounts of power, but whatever), and Scythe rushes outside to try to kill the JSA again. Flash(Jay Garrick) decides that with the JSA's ranks so thin, he'd have to deal with Scythe on his own. Even though Scythe has already proven he could take on the entire JSA for HOURS. With Jay out of the picture, Dr. Chaos attacks and beats up Wildcat and Dr. Midnite with absolute ease... Man, is Marc Guggenheim making the JSA look like a bunch of amateur losers or what? Oh, and on top of all this, Mr. Terrific has been getting progressively dumber, forgetting how to read by this issue... Yeah. Scythe winds up getting the upper hand on Jay(wow, who'd have guessed THAT would happen!?) while Dr. Chaos begins to blow up various things in Monument Point, and the JSA All-Stars FINALLY show up to lend the horrendously overmatched JSA a hand.

Thoughts: Thank god this storyline is ending next issue... I'm not really sure what Guggenheim's master plan for this series is, but if it was to make the JSA look like a bunch of worthless losers, well then, mission accomplished! I mean Wildcat and Dr. Midnite had their asses handed to them by some feeb named Dr. Chaos! A guy who hadn't exhibited any hand to hand fighting skills until this issue. And how did he beat them up? He handcuffed Wildcat and simply smashed Midnite... What a sad bunch of heroes... And the end didn't help matters either, since the All-Stars SHOULD have shown up like 5 issues ago when this storyline started! What the hell kept them away for so long?! Bad stuff here...

Score: 4 out of 10.*sigh* Is this storyline over yet?


Annihilators #1(of 4):

Summary: We get started with the Spaceknight, Ikon, beating down each individual member of the Annihilators as a way to prove to them that just because they had insane amounts of cosmic power they weren't necessarily a good team. She points out that if they would have cut loose with their powers they probably could have defeated her, but that they would have endangered or destroyed Knowhere(which is where they were based out of), which is why they needed a team member with a more limited power-set. After the Annihilator's cool off a bit, Cosmo tells them that before he had died, Star-Lord had been worried about a Dire Wraith invasion. Ikon gets annoyed to hear this, since her people, the Spaceknights, had taken care of the Dire Wraith menace by locking them in Limbo(or something like that) a while back. While this conversation is going on, the team is alerted that somebody was trying to tear a hole in reality to free the Wraiths. The Annihilators respond and run into a guy by the name of Dredd. Dredd is surrounded by an impenetrable force field, and before the Annihilators can figure out a way to stop him, he opens a hole for the Dire Wraiths to escape from.

Thoughts: You know, I REALLY wanted to like this mini-series... I mean, all things considered, I should LOVE this mini! It's written by two of my favorite writers(Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning), it has several characters I like(Gladiator, Silver Surfer, Ronan) and one character I love(Quasar). So yeah, this should have been a dream come true for me. Unfortunately, it was more akin to a nightmare! I hate the Spaceknights, and as such, I can't stand the Dire Wraiths. I wish they were still trapped in the 1980's, where they all belonged. I don't like Ikon at all, and the opening scenes of this comic, with Ikon beating up the Annihilators simply made no sense! Sure Gladiator or the Silver Surfer could destroy a planet if the mood so struck them, but are you seriously trying to tell me that they couldn't defeat Ikon because they were afraid to “cut loose”? Come on, I'm SURE they know their own strength, or they'd have killed EVERYBODY they ever battled! On the plus side, Quasar was written perfectly, as he showed all of the self-doubting that made him a favorite of mine. I'm definitely hoping for bigger and better things next issue, but with the story apparently revolving around the Spaceknights and the Dire Wraiths, I don't think I'll be getting my wish...

Score: 5 out of 10.Yeah sorry, but there's NO way a lone Spaceknight beats Gladiator. EVER!


Wolverine/Hercules: Myths, Monsters and Mutants #1(of 4):

Summary: We get started with Wolvie and Hercules sharing some war stories at a bar. Eventually Wolvie announces that he was done torturing Matsu'o Tsurayaba(the guy who fatally poisoned Wolvie's lady love, Mariko) and that he intended on killing Matsu'o that night. Oh, and Wolvie sent a letter to Matsu'o telling him such. Knowing the end was near, Matsu'o sends what few Hand ninjas he had left after Wolvie, and the ninjas are easily picked apart by Wolvie and Herc. While that's going on, some strange man with a box walks into Matsu'o's penthouse, killing Matsu'o's bodyguards as he went. Upon finally meeting Matsu'o, the strange man reveals that he was actually Achelous, an ancient enemy of Hercules. Achelous tells Matsu'o that people like Wolverine and the rest of the super-hero community had stolen the fame of the old myths, and as such he wanted Wolvie as dead as Matsu'o did. Matsu'o agrees to assist Achelous(really, what does he have to lose by this point?), and this issue ends with Achelous opening the box he was carrying to reveal a talking head... Okay then...

Thoughts: The stuff with Wolvie I was totally fine with. I know all about his hatred for Matsu'o and what happened with Mariko. It was the Hercules stuff that left me a bit confused. I'm sure I SHOULD recall Achelous and the head in the box from somewhere, but sadly, I'm drawing a blank. I keep thinking they appeared in a Hercules mini-series from a few years back, but like I said, nothing about those two is coming to mind... Oh well, I'm sure we'll discover more about them next issue. As for the comic itself, it was what you'd expect it to be. A wacky, fight-filled book with minimal story involved. Wolvie wants to kill Matsu'o. Matsu'o is going to hook up with some of Hercules' enemies. Hercules will then team up with Wolvie to deal with the villains. Simple. If I would have remembered more about Herc's two villains I probably would have enjoyed this one a bit more, but as it is I'll give it a score of...

Score: 6 out of 10.Hercules vs Ninjas. Advantage? Hercules!


Action Comics #898:

Summary: Larfleeze attacks Lex Luthor since he wanted to get his hands on the black/white spheres that Lex had been collecting. The two battle, and when Lex tires of the battle, he simply tosses Larfleeze into one of the white spheres, figuring that would rid him of that muppet-looking pest. It actually works, as Larfleeze winds up falling out of the sphere several miles away and declares that after being in the sphere, he didn't want it anymore. As for Lex, he heads off into space in search of the final few spheres and we discover that Lex's Lois-bot was actually a double agent for Brainiac.

Thoughts: This comic was all sorts of bad! First off, Larfleeze was in it. So right off the bat, there's a huge negative. The story itself just never grabbed me, nor could I make sense of it... Did Lex want the Orange Lantern power? How did Larfleeze find Lex? How did Larfleeze reemerge from the sphere? There may have been answers to these questions in this comic, but to be honest, I really didn't care. The only things that made this comic worth reading was the fact that no matter what, Paul Cornell writes a great Lex Luthor, and the fact that Brainiac had been manipulating the events around Lex through the Lois-bot. Other than that though? This was one comic I easily could have done without.

Score: 3 1/2 out of 10.If Larfleeze would have died here this comic would have gotten a perfect score...