ANNIHILATION: HERALDS OF GALACTUS #1 - Lets Talk About It!

[Sheldon]

This has two stories....

Spoilers/synopsis:

Terrax's story

Terrax, Paibok and Deliquent are getting there parasites replaced, when they suddenly stop working as Annihilus is dead. Terrax gets mad and much to Paiboks consternation blows up the ship they were on.

They end up on a planet, saved by some blue chick. The blue chick explains the planet is under the control of Randau the Space Parasite!!!!!

Terrax & Paibok bicker a bit, and eventually decide to go fight Randau.

There is a big brawl and Randau starts absorbing everyones power and getting stronger. Blue girl gets zapped.

Terrax tries to overload him, but it doesn't work, so he uses his axe, the way it is supposed to be used and chops Randau right down the middle.....pretty neat.

The planet wants them to rule over them. Terrax can't be bothered and detroys the whole bloody planet!!!!!

Delinquent makes a space ship for Paibok and him to get away on, and Terrax goes his own way.


Stardust

This one starts Annihilation date + 227

Stardust awakens and reforms from a billion pieces. His species is an ethereal one. He is several galaxies away and he begins to travel back.

He meets up with the last of his species. The annihilation wave has destroyed the rest of them. They are mad that he was fighting along side corporeal people and not them. He admits he was fighting for superior beings.

They get mad and he blasts them, but rather than destroy them he absorbs them to take with him as a consicence.

He eventually makes it to his destination....Galactus.

You see Stardust wants his job back....and Galactus is hungry, I guess negative zone enemies just don't satisfy you.
Galactus wants Stardust to prove his usefullness and loyalty. So what does stardust do? He feed Galactus the last surviving members of his species!!!!

So now big G has two heralds, and he said when Surfer eventually betrays him, Stardust has to deal with SS.

End Synopsis


So both stories were interesting enough. I needed some sort of cosmic marvel fix, and they did the job. Terrax's story was fun and silly, but had some good moments.

As soon as Galactus said he was still hungry I had a feeling that Stardust would do what he did. Still it's nice getting to know a bit more about his character.

Any other thoughts?

[MakeshiftHero]

Terrax just needs a hug and a good cry.
I read it and thought it was a great read. Plus I'm glad to see that Stardust and Terrax are both alright and out and about not just forgotten about and dead.

But since when did Paibok have ice and electric powers? The only time I've seen him in a comic was in the Drax 4 issue mini and he never showed any ability to use powers like he did in this story.

As for the Stardust story, I really like how Galactus now has 2 heralds and that Stardust really admires and respects Galactus and to me it seemed like he looks up to him as a king/sensei/father figure. Plus I also liked how they forshadowed the fact that the Surfer will one day betray Galactus. Because in Annihilation SS asked to keep his will and morals and that in the first place is what caused him to betray Galac. Also with Stardust around it will give him the chance to develop more character and become more of a favorite to others instead of showing up in the Beta Ray Bill mini and dying in Annihilation.

This book just makes me think that it would be neat if they made some kind of, Galactus and heralds book, where Galactus calls upon all his heralds to help him with something and they all team up for a mini series.

[Sheldon]

Paiboks powers were patterned after Storm, Iceman, Colossus and Angel. That's why he can shoot electricity and Ice.

[MakeshiftHero]

Paiboks powers were patterned after Storm, Iceman, Colossus and Angel. That's why he can shoot electricity and Ice.

Huh, I did not know that. Pretty interesting. But why Angel, can't all Skrulls shapeshift wings.

Plus it seemed like a pretty big change of character for Paibok from the Drax mini. I would have thought that he would have been more "sinister" like Terrax but he was the voice of reason and compassion in the story. Much different than when he was enslaving people in Alaska and killing them to make a point.

[Sheldon]

Huh, I did not know that. Pretty interesting. But why Angel, can't all Skrulls shapeshift wings.

Plus it seemed like a pretty big change of character for Paibok from the Drax mini. I would have thought that he would have been more "sinister" like Terrax but he was the voice of reason and compassion in the story. Much different than when he was enslaving people in Alaska and killing them to make a point.

I never did understand the Angel part either.... more Paibok info can be found here - http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/paibokskrull.htm

Paibok did seem different than when we saw him in the drax mini. But I guess someone had to play good cop with Terrax.

[Expletive Deleted]

The Terrax story was fun. Lots of smashing. It wasn't anything earth-shattering (pardon the pun), but it was good, solid cosmic action.

The Stardust story was, for me, more interesting, although that might just be because we didn't know as much about him going in. His origin was unique, his characterization was simultaneously sympathetic and scary, and his final disposition in this story raises some interesting possibilities.

[Expletive Deleted]

But I guess someone had to play good cop with Terrax.That's sort of how I saw it.

Although, really, pretty much anybody you put next to Terrax will end up looking like a teddy bear, by way of comparison.

[Jack]

*still reading it, so I skipped over everything*

"Hunh. Then we survived, in spite of your womanly wailing."

Awesome.

[MakeshiftHero]

That's sort of how I saw it.

Although, really, pretty much anybody you put next to Terrax will end up looking like a teddy bear, by way of comparison.

Yeah I was thinking about it the same way, cause you can't really have them both be evil cause it would take away the sense of rage and carelessness and "looking out for No.1" sense that Terrax has.

[Dark Soul # 7]

I liked it. Terrax got some much needed badass displays, what can be more badass than destroying a planet, and Stardust got an origin. Though I would've liked it if we had gotten to know how he ended up with Galactus, whom he seem's to love but feels is too high up for him.

It was a good way to set up their new status quo, which should have some interesting possibilities for future stories,a s long as nobody screws it up.

Can't wait for the next issue. Surfer and the big G against T&A, Firelord on a quest for revenge. It's all good baby.

[Captain Exaggeration]

Whoever said Stardust was in love with Galactus a couple months back... (On these formus)... is a prophet. :D

P.S: Speak up if you were the one!

[Cthulhudrew]

Paibok did seem different than when we saw him in the drax mini. But I guess someone had to play good cop with Terrax.

Would you believe that war changes a man... err, skrull?

(As for the Angel wings thing, my suggestion would be that his "power" is that it allows him to grow the wings from the same "extradimensional" mass that allows creatures to grow and such. It's not always consistent, but as I understand it, skrulls have to maintain the same general proportions/mass from their original form. So a skrull could theoretically grow wings, but would probably have to take on a much smaller form to accomodate the wingspan he'd need to get his butt off the ground. If he could even use them, which I'm not sure he could- again, due to weight/mass reasons. But to reiterate, it isn't exactly consistent, so who knows?)

[CyberCoyote]

I raced through it in the parking lot. The last page had me singing to myself all the way home, "Stardust and Gal-lac-tus sittin' in a tree. F E E D I N G.."

[Jack]

(As for the Angel wings thing, my suggestion would be that his "power" is that it allows him to grow the wings from the same "extradimensional" mass that allows creatures to grow and such. It's not always consistent, but as I understand it, skrulls have to maintain the same general proportions/mass from their original form. So a skrull could theoretically grow wings, but would probably have to take on a much smaller form to accomodate the wingspan he'd need to get his butt off the ground. If he could even use them, which I'm not sure he could- again, due to weight/mass reasons. But to reiterate, it isn't exactly consistent, so who knows?)Couldn't it simply be that he gains Angel's prowess in flight, rather than just his wings? In the MU Angel is to flight as Spider-Man is to acrobatics, or something, after all.

[The Cool Thatguy]

Surfer and the big G against T&A,

Anyone who is opposed to T&A has no right to live. I used to like Surfer...

[Enigmanaut]

You guys seriously need to stop referring to them as T&A. It's making the temptation to make lurid jokes ever more powerful.

[garin]

This was cool. Gage never disappoints, and the Stardust story was pretty interesting. Somehow I never noticed before how similar his design is to DC's new OMACs.

[Dermie]

Paiboks powers were patterned after Storm, Iceman, Colossus and Angel. That's why he can shoot electricity and Ice.

Was it ever actually established anywhere that is what/who his powers were based on? I know people have tended to assume that, but I've never seen it confirmed in any issue.

But yeah, Paibok has had the bio-electric blasts and the ice powers ever since his first appearance back in FF. He used the electric blasts in Annihilation too.

[Butch Mapa]

"The universe once knew Terrax as a conqueror... they shall know him that way again."

Could Terrax be the baddie in CONQUEST? Nah...

(Then again, he sliced a frickin' planet! I didn't know he had that kind of power!)

The art in the Terrax segment was kinda lame, although the colors were nice. The Stardust story was brilliant.

[Expletive Deleted]

"The universe once knew Terrax as a conqueror... they shall know him that way again."Huh. Y'know, I totally missed that.

Eeeeeeeenteresting.

[pesmerga316]

I get the feeling Nova or a handful of other people could curbstomp him, not a very good central bad guy lol... Tyrant on the other hand...

but since it sounds like G and the heralds aren't going to be big players, I doubt it

[tjarvis]

"The universe once knew Terrax as a conqueror... they shall know him that way again."

Could Terrax be the baddie in CONQUEST? Nah...



If that's the case, then Nova should just call up Sentry to pimpslap him again.

[Cody H]

Good stuff. It's like Annihilation never ended... well, not really, but it's good stuff. Most interesting development was definitely the possibility of the Surfer once again betraying Galactus. I imagine we'll be getting a little more on that in the upcoming Silver Surfer series.

[overcomebyfumes]

When do T&A get pimp smacked by Galactus? That's what I really want to be seeing.

Pax.

[Expletive Deleted]

Next issue.

[Cthulhudrew]

You guys seriously need to stop referring to them as T&A. It's making the temptation to make lurid jokes ever more powerful.

If Thanos were still working with them, we could call them AT&T instead.

[Cthulhudrew]

"The universe once knew Terrax as a conqueror... they shall know him that way again."

Could Terrax be the baddie in CONQUEST? Nah...

Hm. That could be Terrax in the lower left corner of the Annihilation: Conquest cover- you can't really see enough to be sure (particularly his beard).

[DoctorDoom]

Paiboks powers were patterned after Storm, Iceman, Colossus and Angel. That's why he can shoot electricity and Ice.
ANd now I know!

Also I loved this one shot!

[DoctorDoom]

Next issue.
Can't wait for ROund 2~~!

[Satyrquaze]

"The universe once knew Terrax as a conqueror... they shall know him that way again."

Could Terrax be the baddie in CONQUEST? Nah...

(Then again, he sliced a frickin' planet! I didn't know he had that kind of power!)


Hellooooo... former Herald of Galactus! if Frankie Raye can take out the entire Skrull starfleet in a single panel (the same issue of FF that Galactus eats the Skrull homeworld), then I have no trouble buying Terrax slicing a planet in half.

[Sean Walsh]

"The universe once knew Terrax as a conqueror... they shall know him that way again."

Wait.....he said "tamer", not "conqueror" (referring to his original nom-de-plume Terrax the Tamer) here...didn't he?

[Nevets F]

I really enjoyed both, the stories and the art were great.

I think Stardust is in love with Galactus.

To Christos, if you are still around here, thanks for using Paibok (if only Lyja had been used too) and a Centaurian!

[christosgage]

Thanks, but no love for the Delinquent? That poor kid's had a rough time of it!

[Satyrquaze]

Thanks, but no love for the Delinquent? That poor kid's had a rough time of it!


Sorry to break it to you, but... Delinquent is just not that likable.

[Nevets F]

Thanks, but no love for the Delinquent? That poor kid's had a rough time of it!

oh...uhm.....I feel bad now. Poor delinquent. :(

[Dark Soul # 7]

Sorry to break it to you, but... Delinquent is just not that likable.I think he's kinda funny.

[Nevets F]

I think he's kinda funny.

Me too actually.

[Jack]

(Then again, he sliced a frickin' planet! I didn't know he had that kind of power!)He controls earth... a planet is a giant hunk of rock... It's not unreasonable. Plus it was so awesome.

I also totally missed the potential significance of the conquerer line.

[Elegance Liberty]

Oh yeah, for those curious.... Stardust is asexual/genderless. (Had to wrangle that out of Mike Oeming -it's creator-, naturally)

So make of that what you will.

[Butch Mapa]

Why is he named the Delinquent, anyway?

[Trey]

Oh yeah, for those curious.... Stardust is asexual/genderless. (Had to wrangle that out of Mike Oeming -it's creator-, naturally)

So make of that what you will.

Interesting. I always thought Stardust was refered to as "he." I'm gonna check my Stormbreaker TPB.

[Cthulhudrew]

Why is he named the Delinquent, anyway?

Because when he was introduced (in FF #24 waaay back in 1964), he was called the Infant Terrible- as he was an alien child. Now that he's grown up, he's no longer a child- but he's seemingly not an adult, either.

Thus: Infant Terrible --> Delinquent

I guess "Punk Kid" didn't quite have the same ring. :)

[Will.S]

I liked both stories although Centaurians never seem to live very long during Annihilation since they get killed off left and right.

Interesting development with Stardust and Silver Surfer herald wise. While it makes sense given Galactus's hunger is increased, for some reason I felt that it made Galactus making Silver Surfer his herald again not as cool or status quo changing since SS isn't Galactus's sole herald.

[Cayman]

I really enjoyed both stories. I think Gage and Moore should both be writing ongoings at Marvel. Annihilation just keeps on giving us great books.

[gorthon616]

Whoever said Stardust was in love with Galactus a couple months back... (On these formus)... is a prophet. :D

P.S: Speak up if you were the one!

The reason why I think (well, at the very least I call him) Stardust gay is that he is male and he had (from the little I had seen of him) a different relationship with Galactus. Not some kinda brainwashed lackey or honor bound to serve or power-hungry upstart.... instead a sort of... loving reverence for Galactus, to the point where (honestly) to me it seemed like Stardust had a crush on Galactus. Galactus, it seems, doesn't reciprocate the feelings as he traded him away for the Surfer. Brutal!

OOOOooo, and now the bitter love triangle appears. The Plot Thickens. :D

[barking_frog]

I don't usually get into Marvel's 'cosmic' comics, but getting back into mainstream Marvel/DCU comics after about a 12 year absence, I'll pick up just about any mainstream #1 issue I see just so I can feel like I'm starting to accumulate some touchstones. :-)

Writer: Christos N. Gage. Penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli. Names I don't know, but that isn't saying much at the moment. ^.^

"Randau the Space Parasite" looks like a great flaming dork, but... Marvel 'cosmic' comic.

"Tomorrow... this planet shall run red with blood." The emotional content of that scene never got above an 8th grade level, but good John Wayne ending. ^.^

"We skrulls are shape-shifters. I was able to move my vital organs out of harm's way." Fast enough to shuffle organs, but not fast enough to just take a step to the left and avoid being stabbed in the first place?

Wow. Ending was a bit of a surprise. Nice to know the author isn't going to make total heroes out of these long-established villains -- at least not in one issue.

Two stories in the issue -- second one is writer: Stuart Moore, art: Mike McKone.

The story isn't the greatest here, either, but again we have a similar rather grim element. Editorial direction?

I'm not sure this book's going to have a direction -- no evidence of it in the first issue. Could easily be just a collection of short pieces. Camuncoli's art didn't do a thing for me -- I liked McKone better, but it still seemed simplistic. (Laura Villari's colors were beautiful on McKone's pencils, though). The writing in both stories completely failed to interest me -- I rank this book right above X-Men #194 among the worst books I've read this month (X-Men has the 'honor' of last place).

Still, I'm curious about where it's going. I'll pick up #2, but if the quality remains the same I'll drop the book at that point.

[Expletive Deleted]

It's a two issue mini-series.

As for the structure, yeah. There's no real overarching plot to the two issues. It's more about short character pieces and wrapping up dangling storylines from ANNIHILATION than it is about anything else.

[Shadowdreamer85]

Why is there so much confusion/debate related to Paibok?! First, there are his abilities. Ok, it's true that with the elite class of skrulls (War Skrulls, Super skrulls), you see skrulls getting a major power boost beyond their normal shape-shifting via their advanced technology and in some of these cases, you see them getting abilities modeled after some superhero (Kl'rt the Super Skrull = the Fantastic Four). The same can be said for Paibok the Power Skrull. Here we see a skrull getting a major power boost, just like the rest of the elite, but flight is not one of them. That's something that has been recently showcased as a general skrull ability as part of their shape-shifting. They can shift their body mass around to form wings, which actually takes mass away from their body, putting it into wings used for flying. Essentially, just making their wings makes it easier for them to fly (big wings + light bodies = flight). They're not getting mass shunted from another dimension -_- A good theory, but if you wanna see a good example of that, check out Hulk. Second, skrulls tend to always take the quick and easy road out of life-threatening injury through organ shifting. Writers use it because it's easy to explain ("oh, i just moved em out of the way") and gets the cool-factor of seeing someone getting a hole blown through their chest. The "comic logic" answer would be that even though the average skrull can shift around body mass, it's not the same fluid flexibility where their whole body can shift around a blast in a curve akin to Mr. Fantastic. So, they're slow on the outside, but just fast enough on the inside. Oh and the last thing, since when is Paibok the "good cop"? We all know from the Drax mini he's sinister, manipulative, and cruel, and those are traits that don't really vanish into thin air. We actually see him for the villain he was all along at the end of the story. Terrax is surprised the people didn't really want to be saved and more than happy to be subjugated, but Paibok knew the whole time. He used Terrax to take out the competition, so he could take his place. An entire planet of subservient beings - mighty tempting to a power-hungry Skrull. Too bad for him he pissed off Terrax royally and got the planet blown up, but these things happen.

Paibok aside, great pieces on both Terrax and Stardust. Not only did you get to see some major shows of power, you got to see who they were and what makes them tick. If this was a sign for Heralds #2, it's just gonna get better! Can't wait to see how all the heralds will play out on the cosmic landscape from now on.

[Smokeyjay]

I don't usually get into Marvel's 'cosmic' comics, but getting back into mainstream Marvel/DCU comics after about a 12 year absence, I'll pick up just about any mainstream #1 issue I see just so I can feel like I'm starting to accumulate some touchstones. :-)

Writer: Christos N. Gage. Penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli. Names I don't know, but that isn't saying much at the moment. ^.^

"Randau the Space Parasite" looks like a great flaming dork, but... Marvel 'cosmic' comic.

"Tomorrow... this planet shall run red with blood." The emotional content of that scene never got above an 8th grade level, but good John Wayne ending. ^.^

"We skrulls are shape-shifters. I was able to move my vital organs out of harm's way." Fast enough to shuffle organs, but not fast enough to just take a step to the left and avoid being stabbed in the first place?

Wow. Ending was a bit of a surprise. Nice to know the author isn't going to make total heroes out of these long-established villains -- at least not in one issue.

Two stories in the issue -- second one is writer: Stuart Moore, art: Mike McKone.

The story isn't the greatest here, either, but again we have a similar rather grim element. Editorial direction?

I'm not sure this book's going to have a direction -- no evidence of it in the first issue. Could easily be just a collection of short pieces. Camuncoli's art didn't do a thing for me -- I liked McKone better, but it still seemed simplistic. (Laura Villari's colors were beautiful on McKone's pencils, though). The writing in both stories completely failed to interest me -- I rank this book right above X-Men #194 among the worst books I've read this month (X-Men has the 'honor' of last place).

Still, I'm curious about where it's going. I'll pick up #2, but if the quality remains the same I'll drop the book at that point.


You raise some good points.

But I thought this issue was mainly for the people who followed the Annihilation storyline and was more of a tie-up to the end. It was more like a "what happened to the characters after the end of the story" followup.
I don't think there would be any strong plot within this story but more of a fleshing out of the characters.


I enjoyed the issue because I enjoyed the Annihilation series and was interested in the characters. Particularly Stardust. I like his backstory and I liked how he's one of the few heralds or only herald that actually loves Galactus and won't betray him.

Edit: I'm liking Stardust more than Silver Surfer. Mainly for Stardust character design and I'm glad that there fleshing out the other heralds rather than always focusing on Silver Surfer.

A Silver naked bald dude on a surfboard does not make me this he's cool. Though in the FF4 2 movie, Silver Surfer looks awesome in real life.

[barking_frog]

But I thought this issue was mainly for the people who followed the Annihilation storyline and was more of a tie-up to the end. It was more like a "what happened to the characters after the end of the story" followup.
I don't think there would be any strong plot within this story but more of a fleshing out of the characters.

I enjoyed the issue because I enjoyed the Annihilation series and was interested in the characters.

Aye, I'm starting to realize how Heralds fits into the 'scheme of things' now -- did I mention I've been back in comics for about ten days? ;-) I understand now that 'Annihilation' was some sort of big Marvel event I totally missed (I saw #5 of 6 of what I assume is the main series?) -- I didn't realize that at all when I opened the book. So yes, I was expecting the beginning to an ongoing story that was going to pull me in and carry me for four or six issues -- which of course this utterly failed to do, and with perfectly good reason.

Expletive Deleted shed a lot of light on the situation in re Heralds for me just by mentioning that it's a two-issue book. ^.^

I probably will pass on issue #2 at this point, but might go back and look up the Annihilation back issues and come back to Heralds once I've read the story it's a sort of sequel to. :-)

[Dermie]

I probably will pass on issue #2 at this point, but might go back and look up the Annihilation back issues and come back to Heralds once I've read the story it's a sort of sequel to. :-)

Yeah, it would probably be best to hold off on #2 until after Annihilation, since these two oen-shots are to tie up loose threads from the miniseries. You'll get more out of them if you've read the prior material.

[Xero]

Yes Stardust does have man-love for Galactus, which is one of the things that made his story so good.

[Red Orion]

Interesting. I always thought Stardust was refered to as "he." I'm gonna check my Stormbreaker TPB.

Stardust was reffered to as "he" several times by the cosmic beings who save Bill in Stormbreaker #5.

[barking_frog]

Yah, Stardust (that's the character in the second story in the issue with all the pretty colors right?) never struck me as being feminine -- at the end I'd assumed either 1) Platonic sense of 'love', 2) wacky alien genders and 'male/female' did not apply ('he' remains the gramatically correct singular form when gender is in question, even if it's not PC and despite the fact that so many people try to use the plural 'they' in its place), or 3) gay alien. The idea that 'he' was female never crossed my mind.

[Karthak]

Stardust was reffered to as "he" several times by the cosmic beings who save Bill in Stormbreaker #5.

Who were those suckers that saved Bill, by the way? I haven't been able to figure it out.

[Acrosurge]

Yah, Stardust (that's the character in the second story in the issue with all the pretty colors right?) never struck me as being feminine -- at the end I'd assumed either 1) Platonic sense of 'love', 2) wacky alien genders and 'male/female' did not apply ('he' remains the gramatically correct singular form when gender is in question, even if it's not PC and despite the fact that so many people try to use the plural 'they' in its place), or 3) gay alien. The idea that 'he' was female never crossed my mind.I think some people might immediately think Stardust's name is feminine, however the character never struck me that way when you consider how he/it moves. As for his relationship with Galactus, I would currently define Stardust's love as passionate loyalty/dedication, but not romantic. We'll see what happens to the character in the future.

[Red Orion]

Who were those suckers that saved Bill, by the way? I haven't been able to figure it out.

It's been speculated that they were the True Beyonders since one of the first things they say to Bill is "we are BEYOND you". All we really know is that Asteroth was a member of there race that they imprisoned.