Grade Annihlation overall

[Quasar's Bands]

The Dust has settled, the story is over and most of us are just about done checking this message board. Time to give the series your grade.

First of all, let's face it, it was a much needed shot in the arm for the Marvel space line. It also brought MANY characters in from obscurity, and that, alone, gives it some points. Furthermore, it was overall decently written. Super Skrull was at times likeable - a new thing - and Ronan was actually cool for the most part, a VERY new thing. Rich Rider came of age - which is just AWESOME and that ending fight scene was only surprassed by the Galactucus "I AM SO MAD" scene. Rich's new costume, Phyla's new costume, heck just about everyones' costumes rocked, and I am more interested in the Kree than I have ever been. Thus, there is no way that I'm even contemplating venturing into the "C" range - at worst, this series was above average, no doubt.

On the downside, of course, was the fact that many person's favorite hero was stereotypically used as the "heroic death," and then his death really wasn't that heroic - a shock on his face, and a blink of the eye, and he was gone - and no one was there to witness it but Rich. Sure, it inspired Rich, but imagine if his father had oddly found himself out in space for some reason,then was killed - the sacrifice would be much more emotional and you could FEEL Rich's pain. Here - he just met the guy, then the guy is killed with little fanfare. It was rushed, and Wendell clearly was in the top 5 most popular characters that readers were excited to see in this series. The "Captain America/Superman" of space was killed, and although Rich kind of fits that role, it's just not the same - so I left the series more than a little disappointed. Some say - Oh, it's just because your favorite character died, but that's not it. The sacrifice really wasn't felt that much in the series, and other sacrifices would have just made more sense. At the end of the day, it seems obvious Marvel had a character that writers just hadn't used to his potential, and rather than giving it the "Geoff Johns/Grant Morrison" treatment (ie., taking a character that others had not been able to make that popular to the Wolverine-loving-populace and MAKING it work) they instead used him as a cheap plot device. I honestly believe I would have felt the same if Silver Surfer had died a similar death. In addition, although the art was great, there were times that I felt like I had to reread scenes because it was unclear exactly what was going on - oh, I HATE doing that with a movie (ie. rewinding it to understand what just happened)!

So, at the end of the day, Annihilation will not go down as my FAVORITE series, but it was pretty darn good. I'm giving it a "B" : not a B+, not a B-, just a good ol' fashioned "B". A better writer would have been able to make Quasar AND Phyla both more than they were and still have room for a heroic sacrifice to move the story along, but the vast majority of comic writers wouldn't have conceived that you needed a sacrifice in the first place to move the plot.

Report Card : B (ie. above average)

[pesmerga316]

Death happens, its a reality, my favorite character was killed as well by ONE punch, although he may have let it happen, and he did get what he wanted. I don't know, some of the best books I have ever written, in fact my favorite series, the main characters tend to die, and it sucks, it hurts, but it makes it a lot more real and memorable. At least with Quasar you know he will be back. It's not like he jobbed to someone that shouldn't of been able to kill him or was killed from an attack from behind without putting up a fight

Ill give Annihilation an A- .... I really wanted Warlock lol

[regnak]

I'll give it an A.

[FanboyStranger]

I concur with the A-, although I do so because I thought the actual Annhilation series could have been longer (say, 8 issues). That said, I think it reached all of its stated goals admirably, and stands with Seven Soldiers as examples of how to do these events well.

[shanejayell]

B + Good, VERY good, but it didn't blow me away. It gets props for making the four "leads" Nova, Silver Surfer, Ronan and Super Skrull cool, but it kinda fell short on the supporting cast.

[Baltho08]

I give it an A for doing what I thought impossible: making cosmic stories interesting.
Peace.

[Will.S]

It gets a solid A from me.

When read altogether, it's a huge and excellently well written cosmic event with VERY intricate clues and easter eggs laid throughout (Quasar's bands showing up in Silver Surfer, the cameos in Godthab Omega, Star Wars references).

I also think that the "Annihilation Days" are great uses of time passage so that you get a good timeline of when the events took place so thanks to Andy and also Expletive Deleted here for tracking those things. Great art by all the artists who contributed such as Andrea DiVito & Laura Villari, Jorge Lucas & Dave McCaig, Renato Arlem & June Chung, Greg Titus & Chris Sotomayer, and Kev Walker.

On the writing end, Keith Giffen just knocks everything out of the park with the prologue, Silver Surfer and the mini. Abnet and Lanning gave what I thought was the best mini with Nova, Drax, and Quasar followed by Simon Furman's Ronan, and Grillo Marxuach's Super Skrull.

[Baltho08]

It gets a solid A from me.

When read altogether, it's a huge and excellently well written cosmic event with VERY intricate clues and easter eggs laid throughout (Quasar's bands showing up in Silver Surfer, the cameos in Godthab Omega, Star Wars references).

I also think that the "Annihilation Days" are great uses of time passage so that you get a good timeline of when the events took place so thanks to Andy and also Expletive Deleted here for tracking those things. Great art by all the artists who contributed such as Andrea DiVito & Laura Villari, Jorge Lucas & Dave McCaig, Renato Arlem & June Chung, Greg Titus & Chris Sotomayer, and Kev Walker.

On the writing end, Keith Giffen just knocks everything out of the park with the prologue, Silver Surfer and the mini. Abnet and Lanning gave what I thought was the best mini with Nova, Drax and Quasar with Simon Furman's Ronan, and Grillo Marxuach's Super Skrull right behind.

^^Co-signed. The Nova mini was the best one to me too; I also agree with the other stuff you said.
Peace.

[nova64]

I broke my grades down by series (I went with a pure letter. No plus or minus for me):

Nova - A: Best Nova series since the original (imo). This was the series we see Rich Rider begin his journey to manhood. Awesome.

Silver Surfer - B: It was great to see Surfer return to his former glory and as Galactus's herald.

Super Skrull - B: I thought this one got better as it went along.

Ronan - C: This one just didn't really hold my interest.

Annihilation (Prologue and series) - A: A pure blockbuster action movie. I loved the entire thing. The only knock I have against it was the lack of interaction between Nova and the WorldMind that was so terrific in the Abnett/Lanning mini.

Doug

[kcekada]

I guess I found it more sci-fi than super hero. Would have liked to have seen Star-Lord reborn, and a bit more attention on Quasar, Gamora and Moondragon. Would have been a much better place to revive Captain Marvel.

I thought it was a decent story with solid, if not spectacular, artwork. Covers were gorgeous.

Nova is a much better character, but the spikes on his costume are silly and distracting.

I'll give it a B-.

[BeastieRunner]

A- for not enough Silver Surfer!!!

Actually, I give it an A. :)

[XPac]

I'll give it a B.

The story was fun and solid. But there were a to characters I felt were badly used or underdeveloped for my tastes.

[drwho]

Nice build up.
Good art.
Ending was slightly disappointing

I'd give the series over all a B+ and that is mostly due to how everything was wrapped up in Nova's report. I wasn't too fond of that. If they needed another issue which I think they did it would have been better.

[Sean Whitmore]

I think it definitely deserves an A for accomplishing its purpose; setting up an interesting new status quo for Marvel.

As a story, in and of itself? A little on the slight side, though peppered with fantastic individual moments. B.


SEAN

[CyberCoyote]

Can't give it anything shy of an A.

Death happens, as stated, and showed that this really was War. The cosmic playing field has been reinvigorated more than I ever thought it could be, and the pacing of the book was such a fresh rush after having almost given up hope on Marvel being able to make something interesting AND exciting at the same time.

Characters I never thought I'd give a lick about (Ronan? RONAN??) have become favorites, and those I used to merely accept have become Iconic. I honestly can't think of any comic in the past 10 or 15 years that left me with so much anticipation for the next installment. And now that it's over it has honestly done what it said it would, rewritten the Cosmic Landscape without having to rewrite the characters that make it up to do so.

[Xanrn]

B++

Ronan yeah turn a crap character at best into pure brilliance, - score for Ravenous getting up again though.

Issue 6 - score for No Super Skrull and Pragoxa

- Score for not killing Galactus permently or having him "give back to the Universe greater than what he ever took". By going around reseeding/remaking/making planets to replace the ones lost to the Crazy Bitch Bug.

[Satyrquaze]

I say A-.

It was good to see the cosmic characters in a cosmic setting rather than having them unite to stop Earth flying into the sun, or having all the earths from all realities merge because the earth is just that important, thereby ending the threat to the universe, or something else equally inane. The idea being the reader should care because the fictional planet he/she is reading about bears the same name as the planet he lives on.

No, Anihillation was truly cosmic. The main battles took place a galaxy away, mind you most of the main heroes were human or at least were from Earth's solar system, but even so, it was a much more entertaining read than all the crossovers with Civil War, 52, or Infinite Crisis. Which may simply be one man's opinion.

My only real complaint about Annihilation, is the misuse and then death of Quasar. No, I'm not saying he wasn't misused in Annihilation, he's been misused pretty much from his creation, and yes, I'd go so far as to say the late Mark Gruenwald misused him as a character. Finally in Annihilation: Nova #3, we for the first time see the first earthman ever appointed Protector of the Universe in his element.

The people of Nycos Aristedes realizing that hell itself was coming their way didn't contact a former Herald of Galactus, nor did they contact the Imperial Guard, or the FF... they contacted the Quasar.

Quite simply, looking at it from storyline perspective I can admit Quasar's death was important to the story, no one else could have fullfilled the role that Wendell did. Not only was his death properly carried out, but it was dramatic, and it galvinized the hero (Nova), pulling him out of his shock over the loss the Nova Corps.

Everything else from start to finish was fantastic and blew everything else any comic company was/has worked on in recent memory out of the water. There simply is no comparison.

I would have given an A+, but I have to admit that I am docking points because you killed off my favorite character in comics. The only book I've ever writen to, and the only book I've ever collected from start to finish other than limited series'.

In conclusion, Everything worked. I just am pained that you gave me a glimpse of Quasar as he always should have been writen just before you had him killed.

[agrich]

At least with Quasar you know he will be back. It's not like he jobbed to someone that shouldn't of been able to kill him or was killed from an attack from behind without putting up a fight


I'd say the odds are far better of Thanos coming back than the particular Quasar who died. Heck, Thanos was in issue 6, so in a sense he's already back. And as for how Thanos was killed -- well, if he'd been able to put up a fight, Drax would have been a pile of dust and bones. Thanos was killed as he was because it was the only way it could have happened (plus I believe that Thanos wanted it to happen).

As for the series, I give it an A-. There were a couple of spots where it was confusing, and a couple of things I either didn't quite buy or didn't get the payoff I was looking for. Still the best non-Starlin cosmic series I've read in some time.

[Brandon McKinnis]

I knew nearly nothing of Marvel Cosmic, now I have a fairly good amount of new characters I feel somewhat invested in. If the goal was to impress and attract new readers: A...over and over again.

[Sean Walsh]

A

It deserves nothing less. :)

[IMJ]

A-

-The story had great execution.
-The pacing was well done, and the non linear fashion of release makes for a great reread in chronological order. Note that this wouldn't work in other comic stories, but for the time tag lines (e.g., Annihilation Day + XX)
-In general, I thought the characters were handled very well.
-As a whole, the art was well done and conveyed the story in an above average fashion.
-Personal biases aside, the events of the story were relevant (although unreflected in my "grade" note that Quasar didn't go out as a hero, he went out like a whiny bitch).
-Even though justified by the Galactus Event, the last issue and the ending felt rushed.
-Other than what I percieve to be a couple of tremendous continuity guffaws (or retcons, however you want to look at it), the writing explored most of the characters well, while staying focused on the thesis of the story: That a universal wide event happens out of left field and the most unexpected cosmic characters are there to present a remedy through the chaos.

[gorthon616]

A-. It was brilliant, but there were a few moments which fell a bit short here and there.

[TCJohnson]

B+, but that includes all the minies. I really didn't care for Ronan too much and the Silver Surfer was ok but not great.

But the rest would be an A or A-

[Magneto Rocks]

C

Probably a B normally but minis brought it down. Clichéd, tired and predictable- but dammit if it wasn't done with style! Pity about the minis.

[Nova3333]

In overall terms I'd give Annihilation A-. For the majority it was thoughful, compelling piece of comic strip and storytelling on a grand scale; cosmic with a hefty does of pure sci-fi and the best war-films rolled into one..with enough twists and turns to keep the reader guesing. Taking some of Marvel's C-Listers, notably Nova, and turning him and others into A-Grade stars able to hold their own. BUT on the - side I felt some of the scenes were rushed. I was disappointed that the Centurions didn't get enough of a look in and felt that Nova's final clash with Annihilus was too quick but you can't win them all. But comparing it to Civil War..well it deserved far more publicity that it got that having the mess of Civil War heaped down our throats every day in, day out. Quesada should have made a bit for effort to give Annihilation some more air-time so Quesada, from me you get a D-!

[Captain Exaggeration]

A+ .... I'm not too generous... its just quite possibly the best comic story I ever read.

[Trey]

I'd say the odds are far better of Thanos coming back than the particular Quasar who died. Heck, Thanos was in issue 6, so in a sense he's already back. And as for how Thanos was killed -- well, if he'd been able to put up a fight, Drax would have been a pile of dust and bones. Thanos was killed as he was because it was the only way it could have happened (plus I believe that Thanos wanted it to happen).

As for the series, I give it an A-. There were a couple of spots where it was confusing, and a couple of things I either didn't quite buy or didn't get the payoff I was looking for. Still the best non-Starlin cosmic series I've read in some time.

Yes, Thanos turned off his force field and let Drax stab him.

[Cody H]

I've yet to read #6 but from what I've heard, it's solid enough that there's no way it would reduce what I already considered an A worthy story. Easily the best story I've read in a long time, and it has some stiff competition these days with three solid Spider-Man titles and Civil War running around.

[Trey]

A

The mini's were good, (loved Nova and the writing on Super Skrull)

Annihilation was great. Every character got to shine.

The art was fantastic! A ton of awesome splash pages.
The Thanos/Drax cover can certainly go down in the top 100 Marvel covers.

Each issue left you wanting more....which every writer should stride for. After #6 i'm sure we all want more.

A few minuses, no SS and Prax in #6. I would have done something with Galactus, maybe have him "die" and form a new planet composed of energy,gas, with a small solid core in the middle, ripe for explorations to gather the "Secrets of Galactus." This would free the Surfer to continue on his adventures.

A bit off-topic, Quasar died, allowing millions to get off planet, hardly "meaningless" and quite heroic.

[StoneGold]

It depends. The main mini was great. But if you include the offshoots, not as good. Super Skrull was pretty much crap, to the point where it was all but ignored by the regular mini. Ronan was basically a Judge Dredd story redone for Ronan. Which was OK, but somehow distracting, in a bizarre way. Silver Surfer was good, but characters seemed to keep randomly popping up and acting like we knew them, which was very irritating.

The only side mini that I really enjoyed was Nova. Which might be why DNA get the regular series. And the main book was fun, perhaps because it was the least cosmic cosmic book Marvel's done... ever. No abstract concepts coming to life. No holding our hands and wishing the enemy away - or wishing Golden Age superheroes come to life. No Living Tribunal. Just ass kicking. Even Galactus was at his least cosmic. He was just an ass-kicker and name-taker. Minus the name part.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

Not only was its Marvel's best event-miniseries of 2006-07, but it was easily the best cosmic epic since Infinity Gauntlet. An A, easily.

[Arkham Resident]

A-. With that much revolutionary take on so many Cosmic characters, a six- issue series just wasnt enuff. It's bound to leave everyone interested wanting for more. I also feel Marvel is trying to position Ravenous to replace Thanos as its top Cosmic Villain. I think Thanos shoes will be hard to fill though.Let's see...

[steve2275]

a for Annihilation and a for art

[Quasar's Bands]

Thus far, that mean's the series (overall) has received:

1 A+
11 A
7 A-
4 B+
3 B
1 B-
1 C

Of course, I'm guessing fans of the series are probably on this Board, so the result is somewhat skewed, but that's a heckuva report card! :) Had Quasar survived, I believe the average would have probably even been higher. Wow! (Betcha Civil War can't brag such positive feed back!)

[XPac]

Thus far, that mean's the series (overall) has received:

1 A+
11 A
7 A-
4 B+
3 B
1 B-
1 C

Of course, I'm guessing fans of the series are probably on this Board, so the result is somewhat skewed, but that's a heckuva report card! :) Had Quasar survived, I believe the average would have probably even been higher. Wow! (Betcha Civil War can't brag such positive feed back!)


Yeah... it's fairly likely that on an Annihiltion board, it's report card would be good. Nonetheless, it at least satisfied it's small hardcore readers. That's always a very good start.

[drwho]

Would have been better and gotten a higher grade from me if it was a few issues longer and there was more to the final battle than what we got. Also didn't like the quick clean up summary of the the outcome at the end. Was somewhat sterile and just boring. Ravage not a fan of. If they do another annihilation Annihillius better not be the villain again because it would be a total turn off for me.

[XPac]

Would have been better and gotten a higher grade from me if it was a few issues longer and there was more to the final battle than what we got. Also didn't like the quick clean up summary of the the outcome at the end. Was somewhat sterile and just boring. Ravage not a fan of. If they do another annihilation Annihillius better not be the villain again because it would be a total turn off for me.

Yeah... I kind of agree with that.

By involving Galactus, while having T&A (the one element in the story that can deal with Galactus) vanish into thin air, the end of the Annihilation Wave really couldn't be anything but quick and relatively anti-climactic.

If Galactus and Surfer weren't so sloppy, Nova and Phylla woudn't have even been necessary in that issue at all. And plenty of characters that were introduced weren't even there or just tossed in the background.

[Magneto Rocks]

(Betcha Civil War can't brag such positive feed back!)

Civil War is a colossal company-wide highly publicised mega crossover.

Annihilation is a small scale event which, to be brutally honest, is msotly read by die-hards.

From the very start there were going to be twenty times as many people as even READ Annihilation slaughtering civil war- and that's before issue one.

That's pretty much proven by the fact that so far it's recieved elss than 30 grades. CW would be well over 100 by now.

[Bobster777]

I give it an A-. The build up all the way to issue 6 was some of the best writing I've read in a long time. All that excitement and great moments (Drax jumping into that crowd of insects in order to buy time for Cammi and the rest) was one of the best scenes I have ever seen. However, while the ending was good, I think too much was packed into just one issue. Maybe it would have better spaced if there was an issue 7. Overall though, the best space epic I have ever read (even better than Infinity Gauntlet in my opinion) and one of the best stories ever.

[Quasar's Bands]

Civil War is a colossal company-wide highly publicised mega crossover.

Annihilation is a small scale event which, to be brutally honest, is msotly read by die-hards.

From the very start there were going to be twenty times as many people as even READ Annihilation slaughtering civil war- and that's before issue one.

That's pretty much proven by the fact that so far it's recieved elss than 30 grades. CW would be well over 100 by now.


Numbers, however, doesn't equate to quality. For every fan of CW, there appears to be a very angry critic. If you had a similar grading exercise, there'd be a lot of "As" but just as many "Ds" or "Fs". I'm collecting it, and really like Frontline, but CW is popular more for who is IN it than for the storyline. Annihilation had a beginning, a middle and an end and stands alone. Civil War is not meant to have a "true" ending and it is obvious from solicits it is going to go on a loooooong time in one fashion or another. Thus, the two are not very comparable, but personally, I think Bendis' storytelling is just getting worse (but again, that's just me). It doesn't matter which "side" you are on for purposes of the Civil War - if the story is just constantly depressing and just really not that good, then in the long term... well, history will tell. I'm a fan of "Agents of Atlas," "Watchmen" and "Animal Man" - about as far removed from Civil War in its storytelling as you can get. I just think Marvel will regret someday taking such a gritty approach to its main characters, but I hope I'm wrong....

[moon knight]

I would give it an A because it was a good story. It took place in many different places and it showcased many different heros. The only bad part of it was last isuue seemed a little rushed.

[kcekada]

Of course, I'm guessing fans of the series are probably on this Board, so the result is somewhat skewed, but that's a heckuva report card! :) Had Quasar survived, I believe the average would have probably even been higher. Wow! (Betcha Civil War can't brag such positive feed back!)

Good point.

Most people where I shop weren't even bothering with the series. With Civil War and its related titles, people just didn't have the budget or time for another series taking place in deep space.

[Magneto Rocks]

Numbers, however, doesn't equate to quality. For every fan of CW, there appears to be a very angry critic. If you had a similar grading exercise, there'd be a lot of "As" but just as many "Ds" or "Fs". I'm collecting it, and really like Frontline, but CW is popular more for who is IN it than for the storyline. Annihilation had a beginning, a middle and an end and stands alone. Civil War is not meant to have a "true" ending and it is obvious from solicits it is going to go on a loooooong time in one fashion or another. Thus, the two are not very comparable, but personally, I think Bendis' storytelling is just getting worse (but again, that's just me). It doesn't matter which "side" you are on for purposes of the Civil War - if the story is just constantly depressing and just really not that good, then in the long term... well, history will tell. I'm a fan of "Agents of Atlas," "Watchmen" and "Animal Man" - about as far removed from Civil War in its storytelling as you can get. I just think Marvel will regret someday taking such a gritty approach to its main characters, but I hope I'm wrong....


Well that's just you. I think we can all disagree. On the other hand, IF Annihialtion had gotten half the publicity civil war had, if the editors and angry bloggers reviewing CW had had their favourite characters in Annihilation, you can bet with no doubt that even with the EXACT same story, it would have been MUCH more heavily criticised.

[Acrosurge]

For now, I'll give Annihilation an A-. I loved the story and the characterizations. Giffen has been absolutely amazing for Marvel Cosmic. The points that bring my grade down are, of course, the quick nature of Quasar's death and the quick wrap up in Anni #6.

While I'm not a Quasar fan, I at least understand that he's been a major cosmic character for the past couple decades. He deserved a longer run in Anni, IMO.

I loved what Galactus did in #6. However, I must agree that it did make things pretty easy for the protagonists. They still had to face Annihilus, but Galactus basically solved the problem that has been building for the past year. I'm torn about this point, due my being such a huge fan of Big G.

[XPac]

Numbers, however, doesn't equate to quality.

Course, LACK of numbers doesn't necessarily equate to quality either.

The bottom line is that people vote with their wallents, not with internet polls and posts.

If people are continuing to buy it, then I think it's fair to argue that people are entertained enough by the product. That doesn't necessarily mean it's quality (which of course is a completely subjective standard to begin with), but it's certainly doing exactly what it was made to do.

I'm just curious why there's this "Annihilation vs Civil War" mentality to begin with. There seems to be this knee jerk reaction to bash Civil War when you're praising Annihilation.

[XPac]

I loved what Galactus did in #6. However, I must agree that it did make things pretty easy for the protagonists. They still had to face Annihilus, but Galactus basically solved the problem that has been building for the past year. I'm torn about this point, due my being such a huge fan of Big G.

And really, the only reason that the heroes had to face Annihilus at all is because the writers decided to NOT have Galactus bother doing that (even though logically one would think he would).

To me Galactus deciding suddenly that finding and stopping Annihilus wasn't worth his time just so Nova can save the day is kinda weak. This event was basically over the second Galactus was freed.

[Sgt. Preston]

I'd give this series a solid B+ for the overall story, but an A in terms of generating interest in cosmic characters. The moment in the last issue with Thanos and Death was a nice touch.

[Trey]

Well that's just you. I think we can all disagree. On the other hand, IF Annihialtion had gotten half the publicity civil war had, if the editors and angry bloggers reviewing CW had had their favourite characters in Annihilation, you can bet with no doubt that even with the EXACT same story, it would have been MUCH more heavily criticised.

That's not true. If all the readers of CW, read this series they would probably fall in the same slot as we did: They would really like it.

You're saying if they criticized CW they would do the same to Anni? Not buying that. They would see a much more cohesive event, with many players, and better art. In fact, word of mouth did bring in readers that aren't "in to" Marvels cosmic stories, and they became fans.

Of course, this is based on the samples/opinions we see on Internet messageboards. which is a big enough sample to conclude to all readership.

A sample size of 2000 is enough to draw conclusions on the entire US.

[Quasar's Bands]

I'm just curious why there's this "Annihilation vs Civil War" mentality to begin with. There seems to be this knee jerk reaction to bash Civil War when you're praising Annihilation.

I don't think that's quite right. As I said in my post, they really can't be compared - one is over, while one might never end, really. To the extent than any comparison is warranted, I think in another time in another year Annihilation WOULD have been Marvel's "big event." Instead, it was eclipsed by "Iron Man kicks Cap and Spidey's behinds." That's all.

Now, because Andy chose to lamely slaughter my favorite character (anyone remember the song "I loved her, so I had to kill her?" Andy says he liked Wendell), I'm not going to defend Annihilation further - but that doesn't make Bendis's bleak world view any "better" or even "more interesting," as some folks seem to argue.

[XPac]

That's not true. If all the readers of CW, read this series they would probably fall in the same slot as we did: They would really like it.

You're saying if they criticized CW they would do the same to Anni? Not buying that. They would see a much more cohesive event, with many players, and better art. In fact, word of mouth did bring in readers that aren't "in to" Marvels cosmic stories, and they became fans.

Of course, this is based on the samples/opinions we see on Internet messageboards. which is a big enough sample to conclude to all readership.

A sample size of 2000 is enough to draw conclusions on the entire US.

I'll disagree.

I think the people that read Annihilation right now are likely fans of cosmic stories... Annihilation is simply a product more geared to their tastes. If you expand the audience outside of that, you're more likely to get split results.

I'm sure there are plenty of CW readers that would enjoy Annihilation... but in the same breath there are probably plenty that aren't a fan of the characters or the genre. Annihilation serves a specific niche.

As an example... some of the Vertigo titles DC makes is very well written intelligent stuff. I'm sure on a Vertigo board they'd be the first to tell you that. But if you present it to more mainstread DC fans, I think plenty of them wouldn't necessarily be interested even if it was very well written. It's kind of the same thing here.

I'm not interested in comics based on westerns. Rawhide and Two Gun and whatever... I honestly don't care that much. Even if it was well written, I don't see myself buying it. Some may feel the same about the cosmic stuff. That's harder to see because we are into that on this board. But it's still a niche.

[agrich]

I think the primary difference between the two series is that, since there are no ongoing series affected by Annihilation, if you're reading it it's because you're interested in the story and the characters, period.

In contrast, if you read almost ANY of Marvel's main titles -- FF, Spider-man, Iron Man, Captain America, and many others -- you either actually have to read Civil War, or feel you have to.

This is not intended to be a slight on either series. Personally I've read both of them and enjoyed them. But if you're buying Annihilation, it's probably because you're a fan of cosmic characters and cosmic storylines, so I do think the readership of Annihilation is predisposed to enjoy it, most likely. And if you're buying Civil War, part of it is going to be people who like big crossovers and big dramas, and part of it is going to be people who maybe feel they have to buy it. For that reason, it makes sense to me that there'd be more criticism of Civil War.

In short, I'm saying that Annihilation readers probably started reading it and then continued reading it because they enjoyed it. If you didn't enjoy Annihilation, you stopped reading the thing and didn't visit the Annihilation boards. Not hard to do, since the series didn't interact with any ongoing Marvel titles. In contrast, people who didn't like Civil War either kept buying it because they felt they had to, or kept involved because one of the titles they bought every month crossed over with it. If you're a Spider-man fan, for example, you wouldn't quit reading Spider-man because you didn't like Civil War, but you'd still be getting doses of it every month, and maybe still feel like you had to buy the thing. Which might account for some negativity. "I hate this series, but I can't enjoy Spider-man/FF/Iron Man/Captain America/Wolverine unless I keep buying it."

[Andy Schmidt]

And really, the only reason that the heroes had to face Annihilus at all is because the writers decided to NOT have Galactus bother doing that (even though logically one would think he would).

To me Galactus deciding suddenly that finding and stopping Annihilus wasn't worth his time just so Nova can save the day is kinda weak. This event was basically over the second Galactus was freed.

A lot of folks have said this about G ending the war. But what I think people are missing is that Annihilus still had Quasar's bands which essentially gave him unlimited power--power enough to take G ina one-on-one fight.

So I think G stays or goes, doens't matter to A. G took out the army, but the general was far deadlier on his own two feet. Of course, if that didn't come across, then I did something wrong as the editor.

It had to be Phyla and Nova to take out the bands and deliver the killing blow.

[pesmerga316]

ummmm is that honestly saying someone witht he bands is as powerful as Galactus??

[XPac]

A lot of folks have said this about G ending the war. But what I think people are missing is that Annihilus still had Quasar's bands which essentially gave him unlimited power--power enough to take G ina one-on-one fight.

So I think G stays or goes, doens't matter to A. G took out the army, but the general was far deadlier on his own two feet. Of course, if that didn't come across, then I did something wrong as the editor.

It had to be Phyla and Nova to take out the bands and deliver the killing blow.


Hmmm.. if it's all right with you I think for my own mental well being, I'll ignore your response (though I do appreciate you making it) and pretend in my own mind that Galactus would wipe the floor with Annihilus had he gotten his hands on him. The Galactus moment was a highlight of the book, and images of Annihilus possibly getting the better of him would sort of salt that.

[Satyrquaze]

ummmm is that honestly saying someone witht he bands is as powerful as Galactus??

What I'm hearing is that not just anyone is that powerful with the bands, but Annihilus with the Q-bands added to his own power was powerful enough to hold his own against Galactus.

A similar idea was put forth in What if #25 "Atlantis Attacks" Where the Uni-Power chose that universe's Quasar to save the world from Set. The Uni-Power combined with the power of the Quantum-bands that Wendell was powerful enough to fight Set itself one-on-one, and had grown so large he was visible from space as he was standing in Times Square at the time.

[Qoorl]

I guess I'll give it an A-. I've never been a big Cosmic fan either. I got drug into it by this board and I ended up thinking it was pretty good. Civil War is... eh to me. It'd be a lot better if Cap and Iron Man and Reed and so on hadn't been turned into Jack@sses, but this ain't the CW board, so I'll close saying Annnihilation was a pretty good story.

[agrich]

I guess I'm not sure what it matters. Galactus certainly didn't avoid Annihilus or anything, he just did what needed to be done to put an end to his plans. While he was doing that, Nova took out Annihilus anyway. Once Galactus was done, Annihilus vs. Galactus would have been a moot point anyway. Plus Galactus would likely have turned his attention to Tenenbrous and Aegis or whoever. And without his Annihilation Wave forces, it's tough to see Annihilus having any interest in seeing if he could really "hold his own" against Galactus or not. What difference did it make at that point?

Something that could have been added to Andy Schmidt's post is that Galactus wasn't exactly at full strength there. Way back in FF 243, in a similarly weakened state, he got taken down by a bunch of Earth superheroes. Clearly the guy's power levels fluctuate based on how drained or empowered he is.

[Satyrquaze]

I guess I'm not sure what it matters. Galactus certainly didn't avoid Annihilus or anything, he just did what needed to be done to put an end to his plans. While he was doing that, Nova took out Annihilus anyway. Once Galactus was done, Annihilus vs. Galactus would have been a moot point anyway. Plus Galactus would likely have turned his attention to Tenenbrous and Aegis or whoever. And without his Annihilation Wave forces, it's tough to see Annihilus having any interest in seeing if he could really "hold his own" against Galactus or not. What difference did it make at that point?

Something that could have been added to Andy Schmidt's post is that Galactus wasn't exactly at full strength there. Way back in FF 243, in a similarly weakened state, he got taken down by a bunch of Earth superheroes. Clearly the guy's power levels fluctuate based on how drained or empowered he is.

Agreed, neither Galactus or Annihilus were at full power, although Galactus was not at his lowest ebb of power since he was clearly absorbing all the recepticles containing the Power Cosmic (which bore a striking resembelance to the CCR I'll point out.) that Thanos had collected for Annihilus in the early going of issue #6.

I was clarifying for clarification sake since pesmerga316 seemed to think that Andy's statement meant that anyone weilding the bands alone could take out Galactus, which is simply not the case.

Nevermind the fact that Galactus would have thought of Annihilus as an extremely annoying mote of dust after the Annihilation Wave was destroyed. Galactus wasn't retreated from Annihilus, he was ignoring him as he had larger concerns... chiefly Tenebrous and Aegis.

[XPac]

I guess I'm not sure what it matters. Galactus certainly didn't avoid Annihilus or anything, he just did what needed to be done to put an end to his plans. While he was doing that, Nova took out Annihilus anyway. Once Galactus was done, Annihilus vs. Galactus would have been a moot point anyway. Plus Galactus would likely have turned his attention to Tenenbrous and Aegis or whoever. And without his Annihilation Wave forces, it's tough to see Annihilus having any interest in seeing if he could really "hold his own" against Galactus or not. What difference did it make at that point?

Something that could have been added to Andy Schmidt's post is that Galactus wasn't exactly at full strength there. Way back in FF 243, in a similarly weakened state, he got taken down by a bunch of Earth superheroes. Clearly the guy's power levels fluctuate based on how drained or empowered he is.

Well, I guess I read the book differently.

I kind of assumed that he was ticked off at Annihilus personally, rather than merely wanting to foil his plans. If Galactus is only a few yards away, I would have thought Galactus would have been interested in taking Annihilus out given his dialogue. Obviously I read his intentions incorrectly.

[XPac]

What I'm hearing is that not just anyone is that powerful with the bands, but Annihilus with the Q-bands added to his own power was powerful enough to hold his own against Galactus.

A similar idea was put forth in What if #25 "Atlantis Attacks" Where the Uni-Power chose that universe's Quasar to save the world from Set. The Uni-Power combined with the power of the Quantum-bands that Wendell was powerful enough to fight Set itself one-on-one, and had grown so large he was visible from space as he was standing in Times Square at the time.

Honestly I would have thought the Uni-Power alone would have put Quasar somewhere in Sets league though.

Maybe it's just me, but I never got the impression Quasar or Annihilus were anywhere close to Galactus levels, so I have a tough time believing that together both would equal Galactus.

Annihilus wiped the floor with Quasar without breaking a sweat, so he'd obvioulsy be the more powerful of the two factors. But I never got the impression he was anywhere close to being half as powerful as Galactus. Course, I never got the impression he was powerful enough to beat Quasar in 2 seconds flat either, so what do I know.

[Satyrquaze]

Honestly I would have thought the Uni-Power alone would have put Quasar somewhere in Sets league though.

Maybe it's just me, but I never got the impression Quasar or Annihilus were anywhere close to Galactus levels, so I have a tough time believing that together both would equal Galactus.

Annihilus wiped the floor with Quasar without breaking a sweat, so he'd obvioulsy be the more powerful of the two factors. But I never got the impression he was anywhere close to being half as powerful as Galactus. Course, I never got the impression he was powerful enough to beat Quasar in 2 seconds flat either, so what do I know.

I never had that impression either.:rolleyes:

[AM/FM Wizard]

I give it a C-. It had a few keen moments (very few), but it just wasn't my Cosmic Marvel. While I'm glad that some of you feel you got your money's worth, I was more-or-less disappointed.

But hey, I always have my back issues of Warlock, Captain Marvel, Silver Surfer, and Quasar to make me happy.

[Lord S]

Annihilation deserved a solid A.

First the good: Lots of action and lots of exposure given to C-level characters and making them into (at least) solid B+s...Nova, Drax, Super-Skrull, Ronan. The introduction of new characters that have the potential to be regulars, like Ravenous. I liked the new status quo, (especially the downsizing of the Skrulls), as it opens a lot of doors for fresh new storylines in the future. I liked Thanos and the mystery that surrounded him and him motives. I liked Annihilus and his one-dimensional brutality. Everyone played their parts well.

Now the bad: Aside from the endless whining coming from Quasar and Thanos fanboys...a negative would be the absence of some key players like Adam Warlock, the Watcher, and the Shi'ar. Given the scope of the threat, you'd think that at least the latter two would somehow be involved, but it wasn't meant to be this time. Hopefully we'll see them in the next Annihilation.

So once again, I give Annihilation a solid A!

PS...Andy: I respect your comicbook knowledge and everything, but I seriously doubt that Annihilus (or anyone) with the Quantum Bands could pose a real serious threat to Galactus...unless he's really weak, and he didn't look too weak after he was freed. Just my opinion.

[agrich]

Well, I guess I read the book differently.

I kind of assumed that he was ticked off at Annihilus personally, rather than merely wanting to foil his plans. If Galactus is only a few yards away, I would have thought Galactus would have been interested in taking Annihilus out given his dialogue. Obviously I read his intentions incorrectly.

I just went back to issue #6, and I think it's reasonable to say that Galactus believed he DID take Annihilus out personally. I mean, Annihilus emerged from apparently being encased in a hunk of debris in the middle of a wasteland of wreckage. So perhaps Galactus didn't hang around to personally kill Annihilus because he thought he already had.

Just speculation, but re-reading the issue, it's not as if Galactus walked right by Annihilus -- not intentionally, anyway.

[DoctorDoom]

I'd give this an A. It made me buy Marvel cosmic for the first time in years.

[The Fury]

B-

Good, but need a few improvements here and there.

[CMBMOOL]

This entire event, makes me curious over the future of the Cosmic landscape of the Marvel Universe. The use of many space characters and several grand scale moments make me want to pick up the trade backs and read the entire story from beginning to end.

Thanks Andy and co., you have made a Cosmic Marvel fan out of me. :o

[Fatguy]

Great stuff, a solid A. Best cosmic story since Infinity Gauntlet. I never thought I would be such a huge, HUGE fan of Ronan and Super Skrull, and its been many years since I really cared about Nova.

[Anthony]

Annihilus wiped the floor with Quasar without breaking a sweat, so he'd obvioulsy be the more powerful of the two factors. But I never got the impression he was anywhere close to being half as powerful as Galactus. Course, I never got the impression he was powerful enough to beat Quasar in 2 seconds flat either, so what do I know.
Yeah I think Annihilus got an unstated power boost at some point. He's been whipped by way too many people for it to have gone down that way. Unless of course Wendell's using M-Body stand-ins now. And I really doubt that's the case.

Overall, I'll give it an A-, even though I would have loved to see Wendell back, I won't hold it against the Annihilation book too much.

I just doubt I'll be on board for the new Quasar mini unless it's an amazing read after the first 3 issues.

[Will.S]

Now the bad: Aside from the endless whining coming from Quasar and Thanos fanboys...a negative would be the absence of some key players like Adam Warlock, the Watcher, and the Shi'ar. Given the scope of the threat, you'd think that at least the latter two would somehow be involved, but it wasn't meant to be this time. Hopefully we'll see them in the next Annihilation.
Yeah, I would say that the absence of these 3 things made it feel somewhat less as involved as I was hoping it to be. I sincerely hope once Brubaker finishes with the Shi'ar that they can be used or at least be shown in other cosmic books in the aftermath of Annihilation.

And while I'm in no rush to have Warlock come in and save the day, I'm still interested in seeing what he's up to in the wake of all this especially when it comes to Thanos and Galactus. As for the Watcher, one of them got destroyed for not paying enough attention so that should send the message to Uatu ;)

[XPac]

Yeah I think Annihilus got an unstated power boost at some point. He's been whipped by way too many people for it to have gone down that way. Unless of course Wendell's using M-Body stand-ins now. And I really doubt that's the case.

Overall, I'll give it an A-, even though I would have loved to see Wendell back, I won't hold it against the Annihilation book too much.

I just doubt I'll be on board for the new Quasar mini unless it's an amazing read after the first 3 issues.

Yeah... I just think it would have been nice if they bothered explaining the power up (if indeed a power up took place... it's make more sense at least to me if that was the case).

I wonder how powerful he'll be next time, since he seemingly is without the cosmic rod (unless he has a spare or Nova was stupid enough to just leave it there).

[XPac]

Yeah, I would say that the absence of these 3 things made it feel somewhat less as involved as I was hoping it to be. I sincerely hope once Brubaker finishes with the Shi'ar that they can be used or at least be shown in other cosmic books in the aftermath of Annihilation.

And while I'm in no rush to have Warlock come in and save the day, I'm still interested in seeing what he's up to in the wake of all this especially when it comes to Thanos and Galactus. As for the Watcher, one of them got destroyed for not paying enough attention so that should send the message to Uatu ;)

I'm curious what happened with Warlock and Gamora specifically. Something had to have happened between them if Gamora is suddenly going around sleeping around with other heroes.

[cappa donna]

A- for not enough Silver Surfer!!!

Actually, I give it an A. :)
As well as jobbing Galactus out without giving him his most spectacular revenge. I give it an A-

[Nevets F]

This event totally deserves an A+ in my book. It was simply perfect. From set, to story, to art, etc. All great.

[Jack]

As a comics event, Annihilation without a doubt from me deserves the highest grade possible... a J.

Taking it as just another story, with all its individual parts... Probably an A-. I didn't care so much for the Ronan mini (although Ronan in the main mini was amazing), although I loved the other three.

[gorthon616]

A lot of folks have said this about G ending the war. But what I think people are missing is that Annihilus still had Quasar's bands which essentially gave him unlimited power--power enough to take G ina one-on-one fight.

So I think G stays or goes, doens't matter to A. G took out the army, but the general was far deadlier on his own two feet. Of course, if that didn't come across, then I did something wrong as the editor.

It had to be Phyla and Nova to take out the bands and deliver the killing blow.

Ok. This I don't get. And like XPac I'm just going to ignore it, because I don't think anyone got that impression and I don't think that's how the story should be made.

And as far as why Galactus left Annihilus, I just assumed that Annihilus hid... hence his whole "we'll meet again Superman! you haven't seen the last of me!" sort of statement afterwards.

I stated prior that I gave it an A-, but never really got into why.
My two main issues were that 1) I thought the ending ended on a really odd beat. It should have been two issues. The Galactus Event happened to quickly to feel really capture the awe of it all, and felt very Deus Ex Machina rather than... well Deus Ex Machina :D It also made the final battle with Nova feel a bit moot. (And yes, I know Andy's statement basically says it was meant otherwise, but I'm deny the existence of that :p ) 2) I didn't like how rattled Thanos was when he realized Annihilus's plans. No, he's not omnipotent, but when bad guy wants to destroy all existence... that's fairly standard far as far as cosmic baddies go. I'm fine with how the event actually takes place, but the jittery worried characterization that Thanos had was really off for me.

Minor quibbles would be Annihilus's phantom power upgrade should have been addressed even if as an afterthought (though I thought the implication was that he finally got more control over the Negative Zone, more so than he had before, and either got power from that or got power to do that), and Quasar's sudden death (though not a huge Quasar fan, so what are you going to do)

What really made the series for me was Ronan, Super-Skrull, and Drax. Never a fan of any of them (though the original Drax background was interesting... but not the super stupid strong guy character), but now I am totally and completely sold. Surfer, Galactus, and Starlord were solid in the story too. Nova was good, but I'm not as enthralled with the character as the aforementioned trio (Ronan, Super-Skrull, and Drax).

[Expletive Deleted]

I just figured that as mad as Galactus was, it was Tenebrous and Aegis whom he really wanted to take revenge on.

[JoeCool]

Ok, I put alot of thought into this and overall I loved the series. But there was alot of things that didn't add up and they were BIG oversights so I have to knock down points accordingly (think of it like a skater who does the craziest jumps, gets the most air, but misses technical points and lands flat on his ass once or twice).

First off, the series started off tremendously. I loved all the mini's. They were very well done and in character for the people used. However there were a few problems and before I go on I would like to point this out right now...

I AM NOT EVEN A QUASAR FAN!!!

But, the quasar death was a bit weird and out of place. It in no way felt heroic or worthwhile for what has to be considered simply out of common respect, one of Marvel's biggest cosmic heroes (let's just say the death of captain marvel it wasn't).

Next, the death of the superskrull was everything the death of Quasar SHOULD have been. It was heartfelt, emotional and well earned...

And then they bring him back???

This cheapen his valiant and warrior death. I found this to be the 2nd most irritating thing about the series.

The first of course was the death of Thanos.

And just so you know, i am not mad that he died, or that drax killed him. Overall, I loved the whole issue.

But how he died was ridiculous. I am reading eternals right now and it says they cannot die (and of course I have know this for years) short of TOTAL molecular dispersement. 2nd, we have seen thanos take punishment from galactus, go toe to toe with Odin and physically maybe take more punishment than any marvel character out ther.

Yet he died from getting his heart punched out??

Does Thanos even have a Heart??

Last, a little thing I have to nitpick at (but not too much) is that once again Silver Surfer seems to sit on the sidelines for the entire cosmic affair. Norrin Radd IS marvel Cosmic. I know they were focusing on a new direction but the ole SS gets left out too much and it is just too cliche.

Last but not least, hearing it stated that Annihilus with the bands can go toe to toe with Galactus irks me a bit.

Since when have the bands been this powerful.

What happen to the ole days of Korvac stealing the power of Galactus' ship and wiping out the ENTIRE avengers with a wave of his hand. What about Doom doing the same and his power literally warping reality. Galactus should just be able to snap his fingers and will annihilus out of reality if he wished.

Those are the negatives, the positives are many. Well written, great new focus for the marvel universe and surprise after surprise. It started off with a strong A in the mini's but the reasons above are too big for me to ignore.

I give it a C+.

-Joe Cool

[XPac]

Ok, I put alot of thought into this and overall I loved the series. But there was alot of things that didn't add up and they were BIG oversights so I have to knock down points accordingly (think of it like a skater who does the craziest jumps, gets the most air, but misses technical points and lands flat on his ass once or twice).

First off, the series started off tremendously. I loved all the mini's. They were very well done and in character for the people used. However there were a few problems and before I go on I would like to point this out right now...

I AM NOT EVEN A QUASAR FAN!!!

But, the quasar death was a bit weird and out of place. It in no way felt heroic or worthwhile for what has to be considered simply out of common respect, one of Marvel's biggest cosmic heroes (let's just say the death of captain marvel it wasn't).

Next, the death of the superskrull was everything the death of Quasar SHOULD have been. It was heartfelt, emotional and well earned...

AND THEN THEY BRING HIM BACK???


I totally agree... Super Skrulls' death was perfect. It would have been one of the finer moments of the series if they didn't just casually throw him right back in there.

I think in a perfect world, Quasar and Super Skrull somehow should have flipped roles. Or at least their treatment should have been flipped.

This was a Bendis moment for Quasar... he should have been flying around wearing a Tshirt that said "not like this..."

[Quasar's Bands]

This was a Bendis moment for Quasar... he should have been flying around wearing a Tshirt that said "not like this..."

HAHAHAHAHAHAH! Priceless. You got it exactly right. Quasar's death was a "Bendis Death." Too quick, too awkward and absent almost any sense of respect or nobility for the character's years of loyalty and service. A "Bendis Death" - gotta love it. :)

[Magneto Rocks]

"Bendis Death" should be copyrighted to Marvel, just as "Bendis style" should be copyrighted as a means of describing a ridiculously decompressed story stretched from 2 issues to 8.

[bd2999]

I rate the whole event as an A in my book. In some ways I think its better than IG because it was more character driven. I was thrilled to have a cosmic event without Warlock and Thanos as the two key players that did everything.

Galactus destroying three + star systems was very impressive and the light he was shown in was awesome. The characterization was good and the story great. Annihilus was more powerful than he should be normally but I think such a power up was long in coming really.

The only thing I can say negative about the story is one, it did not last long enough and also that the Tenebrous/Aegis storyline was not wrapped up in it. Otherwise, Quasar dieing did not bother me at all. Nor did Thanos going down. I would have liked to have seen the Shi'ar involved but it sounds like they really tried to get them and were told they could not. So you work with what you have and obviously that was more than enough. I look forward to seeing what comes out of this.

My greatest fear now is that the cosmic universe will end up back in the mainstream Marvel guys. They will basicly, like always, take the character back to "their" roots and make them the same guy they were decades ago. Nothing wrong with that on occasion but I want to see where these characters go now. Ronan is an emperor, SS is a monster now, Surfer is truely the herald again, Nova is the last nova and so on. So many good things to come out of this. Plus the Annihilation wave is now part of the Marvel U. The problem I forsee in that is I can see the FF or some other group going out there and doing something to destroy alot of it and people will be like oh the wave was not that big of a deal if Earth heros can deal with it. The story was so epic. It was everything CW has not been so far.

[Pro]

Guess i'll have to look into getting the TPB considering the grades everyone gives the series ..

[bd2999]

The first of course was the death of Thanos.

And just so you know, i am not mad that he died, or that drax killed him. Overall, I loved the whole issue.

But how he died was ridiculous. I am reading eternals right now and it says they cannot die (and of course I have know this for years) short of TOTAL molecular dispersement. 2nd, we have seen thanos take punishment from galactus, go toe to toe with Odin and physically maybe take more punishment than any marvel character out ther.


That is true, but Thanos is not an Earth Eternal. The Titans are a bit different. In fact Thanos has killed them before. Plus the whole thing was making Drax the special thing that could kill Thanos. I mean alot of people dont seem to like it, but it is what he was created to do and this time he was actually given the ability to do it.

And its not all about physical might. You can break a safe with raw brute force or the right tool. And as far as I know Eternals have hearts and other organs, they can just grow them back.

Last but not least, hearing it stated that Annihilus with the bands can go toe to toe with Galactus irks me a bit.

They never said that in the book. Annhilius lived, at least I thought, due to the fact that he had his ruby rod to help absorb some of it and had the quantum bands. Should that be enough to fight Galactus. No, but it would be enough to hold of a general attack that is not focused on you directly. Did Andy or someone else say that?

[Butch Mapa]

I'll go with a B as well.

Very well-done plot, it immediately gave a sense of scale and epic. And very well-done character arcs for Drax, Nova, and Ronan. And I liked how Keith weaved supposrting characters in and out throughout the story.

"Herald my rage" is the coolest line ever.

The art was just average though. Props to Andrea for drawing a billion bugs though! The gritty coloring worked for the story, but I feel like it didn't mesh as well as it could have with the linework.

Considering Marvel didn't support it as much as it could have, considering it starred mostly "B-listers, and considering it was going on in the shadow of Civil War, this was an absolute success!

[XPac]

They never said that in the book. Annhilius lived, at least I thought, due to the fact that he had his ruby rod to help absorb some of it and had the quantum bands. Should that be enough to fight Galactus. No, but it would be enough to hold of a general attack that is not focused on you directly. Did Andy or someone else say that?

Yup. Andy said it in this very thread.

I think a lot of the power levels of certain characters were tweaked without explanation in this series, which created some level of confusion. Annihius in particular. Sure Annihilus is powerful... but powerful enough to kill Quasar in like 2 seconds? That was news to me. Powerful enough even with the Quantom Bands to go toe to toe with Galactus? Again, not something I personally would have thought.

[Berkey]

I was a little skeptical at first but After reading the tie ins and the real series I liked it a lot I think as a level of interet it rivials if not beats Civil War.

Solid B it could have been an A if there would have been more heroes involved like before the Civil War and have some of them get invovled or at least Adam Warlock

[Lord S]

I rate the whole event as an A in my book. In some ways I think its better than IG because it was more character driven. That's absolutely true...the 'Infinity' stories were more an assemblage of heroes to battle a big threat, and then back to the status quo. Characterization (aside from Thanos and Warlock) was essentially kept to a minimum...as most of the heroes were simply used as cannon fodder.

Not here, though.

[XPac]

That's absolutely true...the 'Infinity' stories were more an assemblage of heroes to battle a big threat, and then back to the status quo. Characterization (aside from Thanos and Warlock) was essentially kept to a minimum...as most of the heroes were simply used as cannon fodder.

Not here, though.

In all fairness that's simply because more heroes were used. Starlin added a good deal of characterization for the primary characters used like Warlick, Thanos, Drax, MoonDragon, Pip, etc.

The mainstream MU returned to the status quo, but the cosmic landscape was pretty well defined (which is basically the same thing that happened in Annihilation).

The biggest difference is that the Infinity Series did tie into earth and the mainstream, while Annihilation kept it's distance.

[bd2999]

Yup. Andy said it in this very thread.

I think a lot of the power levels of certain characters were tweaked without explanation in this series, which created some level of confusion. Annihius in particular. Sure Annihilus is powerful... but powerful enough to kill Quasar in like 2 seconds? That was news to me. Powerful enough even with the Quantom Bands to go toe to toe with Galactus? Again, not something I personally would have thought.

Ok, thats fine. I was just saying that was not said anywhere in the book. I can sort of see it how they were showing Annihilus as an energy absorber. If he was taking from the energy tanks, and had the quantum bands and just had a power up he probably could fight G for a short time but not for an extended period. Anyway not a big deal to me. I just need to read the rest of the threads it seems.

[40yearoldnovafan]

I know Quasar fans are bummed and disappointed (and I would be to if Nova had died) but...

WAS THIS NOT THE BEST COMIC TO COME OUT IN A LONG TIME!!! This is one of the three books I would drive the 88 miles to retrieve my comics from the comic shop. I have not enjoyed a series this much. I don't think I have ever enjoyed a limited series this much.

Be honest, folks. You loved it. And Quasar fans - tell the truth. If Wendell had come back in the last issue, would you have thought the series was great? Again, if Nova had died, I would seriously be ticked off at Marvel & Joe Q. But there would be no denying the beautiful artwork and the great war story. Like you I would just be upset my hero was not one of the survivors.

Jimmy

[Lord S]

In all fairness that's simply because more heroes were used. Starlin added a good deal of characterization for the primary characters used like Warlick, Thanos, Drax, MoonDragon, Pip, etc.

The mainstream MU returned to the status quo, but the cosmic landscape was pretty well defined (which is basically the same thing that happened in Annihilation).

The biggest difference is that the Infinity Series did tie into earth and the mainstream, while Annihilation kept it's distance. I will admit I LOVED the characterization of Doom and Kang in 'Infinity War'...they were really (for me) what carried that series. Watching them snipe back and fourth (in their thoughts) and just generally how they were presented as the wild cards in the whole series, was quite pleasing.

[JoeCool]

I know Quasar fans are bummed and disappointed (and I would be to if Nova had died) but...

WAS THIS NOT THE BEST COMIC TO COME OUT IN A LONG TIME!!! This is one of the three books I would drive the 88 miles to retrieve my comics from the comic shop. I have not enjoyed a series this much. I don't think I have ever enjoyed a limited series this much.

Be honest, folks. You loved it. And Quasar fans - tell the truth. If Wendell had come back in the last issue, would you have thought the series was great? Again, if Nova had died, I would seriously be ticked off at Marvel & Joe Q. But there would be no denying the beautiful artwork and the great war story. Like you I would just be upset my hero was not one of the survivors.

Jimmy

It was a a very solid series. I just have to be honest and admit that I liked the mini's beforehand MUCH more than I actually liked the annihilation storyline.

I give the mini's a solid B+, and the only reason I don't give them an A was because of Wendell's odd death.

And again, I don't think you are reading into the "wendell's death" issue the correct way. As I stated before, I am not even a fan of Quasar, but just the way he died was odd and seemed out of element. If they would have switched the storyline for the Super Skrulls HEROIC death with Quasar's lame death than I would have given this series a MUCH better grade.

Because right there you are solving two HUUUUGE problems (1 being the superskrulls absolutely legendary death being ruined by his largely unexplained and ridiculous return a month later and 2 Wendell's largely unexplained and odd death to begin with)

And since you brought it up...

In my opinion Nova should have died.

If Anny can kill Quasar with the Quantum bands (which we are finding out are near Galactus level power), than Annihilus should ANNIHILATE Nova, especially with the Q-bands.

[JoeCool]

That is true, but Thanos is not an Earth Eternal. The Titans are a bit different. In fact Thanos has killed them before. Plus the whole thing was making Drax the special thing that could kill Thanos. I mean alot of people dont seem to like it, but it is what he was created to do and this time he was actually given the ability to do it.

And its not all about physical might. You can break a safe with raw brute force or the right tool. And as far as I know Eternals have hearts and other organs, they can just grow them back.


Titans are a bit different BUT thanos is a Titan Eternal that has ALWAYS demonstrated the same earth eternal ability to take TREMENDOUS amounts of damage.

In fact, I bet i could easily argue that Thanos has taken more physical damage than ANYONE in the marvel universe (except maybe wolverine). To see him just die that way was odd.

And just so you know, i love the IDEA of Drax. I love that HE killed Thanos. Just not the way it was done.

[40yearoldnovafan]

It was a a very solid series. I just have to be honest and admit that I liked the mini's beforehand MUCH more than I actually liked the annihilation storyline.

I give the mini's a solid B+, and the only reason I don't give them an A was because of Wendell's odd death.

And again, I don't think you are reading into the "wendell's death" issue the correct way.

And since you brought it up...

In my opinion Nova should have died.

If Anny can kill Quasar with the Quantum bands (which we are finding out are near Galactus level power), than Annihilus should ANNIHILATE Nova, especially with the Q-bands.

I was not happy Quasar died. And, yes, I know Nova could have died. I was afraid of this possibility.

I thought Quasar's death was sad and heart wrenching. I was so shocked that I showed my wife. You rarely see a hero die such a horrifying and traumatic death.

But I did not find his death odd. Quasar's power is energy based and the way I saw it, his energy was absorbed. As we know, energy can be absorbed. I figured the Cosmic control rod, not unlike rods at a nuclear power plant, absorbed all of Q's energy.

But like physics killed Quasar, it gave me hope that he would come back. Matter cannot be destroyed. It can be converted from one form to another. I, like others, was hoping Quasar was inside the Q bands in the form of energy. If he is, he can still come back in the future. That is my hope.

I'm not going to go into who should have died. In my opinion heroes should never die. I don't even like to see them lose. Marvel could have let Nova die and allowed Quasar to live. Nova's death would have made me and other Nova fans upset, but I would not be upset that Quasar lived

[JoeCool]

I'm not going to go into who should have died. In my opinion heroes should never die. I don't even like to see them lose. Marvel could have let Nova die and allowed Quasar to live. Nova's death would have made me and other Nova fans upset, but I would not be upset that Quasar lived

I hope you didn't read into my statement thinking I am saying that I am upset because Nova lived.

Cuz that CLEARLY is not the case.

I am just stating that it would have been more understandable IF he had died. Since i cannot see the nova force being more powerful than the q-bands and quasar had the bands for much longer than nova had the entire nova force.

Yet that is not the issue... if you find the way Quasar died to be heroic than that is good. I am happy that someone did. I just didn't. Like I stated, build the issue up Super Skrull style and give Quasar the HEROIC death that the SuperSkrull did and I will give this series a much better grade.

But for one of marvel's most powerful characters, to go without hardly putting up a fight, in the oddest of ways???

Not satisfying.

And the cosmic control rod does control energy but so does the quantam bands. WHICH are more powerful?

I am reading the bands are galactus level...

Is the rod even more powerful??

Doesn't make sense.

[XPac]

But I did not find his death odd. Quasar's power is energy based and the way I saw it, his energy was absorbed. As we know, energy can be absorbed. I figured the Cosmic control rod, not unlike rods at a nuclear power plant, absorbed all of Q's energy.



I assumed that's what happened too... though I didn't completely buy it.

Quasar draws energy from the Quanton Zone... it should have been for all intents and purposes limitless. I just have trouble imagining the cosmic rod able to absord all of that.

Since Phylea is Quasar the Quantum Zone still exists apparently, it wasn't absorbed.

[Expletive Deleted]

The entire Quantum Zone? Where'd you get that idea?

Annihilus only absorbed the shields that Quasar had thrown up. Those types of constructs are fueled by the Quantum Zone, but they're not self-reinforcing or anything. If a construct is smashed or drained, it's gone until Quasar dreams up a new one.

Or at least, that's my understanding.

[JoeCool]

The entire Quantum Zone? Where'd you get that idea?

Annihilus only absorbed the shields that Quasar had thrown up. Those types of constructs are fueled by the Quantum Zone, but they're not self-reinforcing or anything. If a construct is smashed or drained, it's gone until Quasar dreams up a new one.

Or at least, that's my understanding.

If that is your idea than how did Quasar die from your point of view?

I took it too that annihilus absorbed everything there was to get from the quantum bands, not just the constructs.

[XPac]

The entire Quantum Zone? Where'd you get that idea?

Annihilus only absorbed the shields that Quasar had thrown up. Those types of constructs are fueled by the Quantum Zone, but they're not self-reinforcing or anything. If a construct is smashed or drained, it's gone until Quasar dreams up a new one.

Or at least, that's my understanding.

Well, if I'm wrong about the Q bands in this regard even Andy made the same mistake.

When he talked about Annihius being able to go toe to toe with Galactus he said: "A lot of folks have said this about G ending the war. But what I think people are missing is that Annihilus still had Quasar's bands which essentially gave him unlimited power--power enough to take G ina one-on-one fight."

I don't necessarily buy the Q bands making anyone Galactus level of course... I just assumed you could do better than last 2 seconds against Annihilus. Especially if you're playing Quasars game by trying to manipulat energy.

[Expletive Deleted]

If that is your idea than how did Quasar die from your point of view?Annihilus absorbed his shields and disintegrated him before he could throw up more, basically.

I should note that it was a confusingly staged scene, so anything's possible. That's just my read on it.

[Expletive Deleted]

Well, if I'm wrong about the Q bands in this regard even Andy made the same mistake.

When he talked about Annihius being able to go toe to toe with Galactus he said: "A lot of folks have said this about G ending the war. But what I think people are missing is that Annihilus still had Quasar's bands which essentially gave him unlimited power--power enough to take G ina one-on-one fight."

I don't necessarily buy the Q bands making anyone Galactus level of course... I just assumed you could do better than last 2 seconds against Annihilus. Especially if you're playing Quasars game by trying to manipulat energy.I think we're talking at cross-purposes, here. I'm not saying that Quasar doesn't have access to nigh-infinite power. I'm just saying that his constructs, once created, don't self-reinforce with the full weight of the Quantum Zone behind them.

If they did, no one would even be able to scratch his shields and all of his constructs would be just this side of completely invulnerable. And that'd just be silly.

[JoeCool]

I think we're talking at cross-purposes, here. I'm not saying that Quasar doesn't have access to nigh-infinite power. I'm just saying that his constructs, once created, don't self-reinforce with the full weight of the Quantum Zone behind them.

If they did, no one would even be able to scratch his shields and all of his constructs would be just this side of completely invulnerable. And that'd just be silly.

I can agree with that 2nd paragraph.

But for an old pro like Quasar to be able to go toe to toe with anny and not put up a strong enough shield to last more than a few seconds is iffy. Or once he sense his shields being absorbed, how come he didn't reinforce -- or reverse the absorbtion.

Also, quasar has ALWAYS kept a shield of energy around his body instinctively. This is almost like a natural thing like breathing. And the quantum bands have always automatically before sucked off any excess energy from distengrator / implosion beams and the such.

For quasar to last only a few moments against an annihilus WITHOUT the quantum bands is just unreasonable in my, and apparently alot of other readers, minds.

-Joe

[JoeCool]

Well, if I'm wrong about the Q bands in this regard even Andy made the same mistake.

When he talked about Annihius being able to go toe to toe with Galactus he said: "A lot of folks have said this about G ending the war. But what I think people are missing is that Annihilus still had Quasar's bands which essentially gave him unlimited power--power enough to take G ina one-on-one fight."

I don't necessarily buy the Q bands making anyone Galactus level of course... I just assumed you could do better than last 2 seconds against Annihilus. Especially if you're playing Quasars game by trying to manipulat energy.

and if they do make you Galactus level, AND annihilus also has the cosmic control rod which he defeated and stole the galactus level artifacts with in the first place....

Than there is no way you have phyla and nova take down anny in the end.

That is the cheese of all cheese.

If you are going to insist and portray annihilus as this HUGELY powerful character than you have the Silver Surfer, Galactus or someone of the sort beat him. Not the ole typical "reed richards (or similar not very powerful idiots) beat HUGELY all powerful lords" moment.

Let's face it, if Anny was made out that strong... he should have just distengrated nova and crew the moment they showed their face (and before you say he was weakened from the wave, remember that NOVA was also weakened from the wave).

The only other explanation is if the Nova force is more powerful than the cosmic rod, which was shown to be more powerful than the q-bands which are stated as being near galactus power level (not buying it).

[40yearoldnovafan]

As we all know, many editors and writers are not historians. When they write events they do not take into account the total history of characters. The read some pertinent character issues, but do not know the characters as we do.

When the Annihilation: Nova series came out Nova was treated as if he was still a neophyte - not like a man who had been a hero since I was a child. He's displayed massive amounts of power in the past even without containing all of the Nova Force. But I had no problem with Marvel writing him as a neophyte because the story showed his growth from a boy to a hero.

Because we have never seen the Nova Corp do anything, we do not know how powerful it is compared to the Q-bands. I've read Nova's entry in the Nova Corp Files and found that with all of the Nova Force, Nova should be nearly unbeatable - a force to fear if he ever loses control. I personally think Rich could have demolished Annihilus if he didn't mentally fear unleashing the full Nova Force. I also believe he truly does not know all of his abilities or what his limits are.

I don't know how powerful Quasar was/is . Wendell was more sure of himself than Richard was in Annihilation. He seemed to be more a warrior than Nova. But his power was absorbed and Annihilus disintegrated him. That, like I said before, was a supremely shocking scene.

And I don't care how powerful Annihilus seems to be, I don't care what weapons he has HE IS NOT IN GALACTUS'S POWER LEVEL!!!

Even though these are all characters we care about, for the sake of the story they are trying to tell, writers sometimes "forget" some character history. If the story is good, I am happy. And I thought Annihilation was top notch. So I am not upset with them forgetting Rich's previous use of power, for forgetting that Rich had been a hero for many years and had gotten over many of his confidence issues, for acting as if the Nova Corp was just a ground militia who were afraid to do battle.

I enjoyed the story like I haven't enjoyed one in forever. Who is more powerful? I don't know. I just know I enjoyed Annihilation.

I know its hard/impossible to let inconsistencies slide when your hero dies. Especially when you have not seen your hero in a series for years and BANG Marvel brings him back, you're happy, and they kill him. You sit there and say WHAT THE @#$*! It's crushing.

But it's what happens when writers want to tell a story and characters get tweaked in the creative process.

[XPac]

So I am not upset with them forgetting Rich's previous use of power, for forgetting that Rich had been a hero for many years and had gotten over many of his confidence issues, for acting as if the Nova Corp was just a ground militia who were afraid to do battle.



Realistically, given their track record if I were the Nova Cops (our Nova aside of course), I'd be afraid to do battle too.

[Expletive Deleted]

Realistically, given their track record if I were the Nova Cops (our Nova aside of course), I'd be afraid to do battle too.Seriously. This was, what, the third time their base planet been destroyed?