What made you pick up Annihilation?

[DaeJi]

Annihilation: Conquest is off to a great start, with an excellent prologue and strong starts to the minis, and a consiterable push from Marvel. All because of the strong showing for the first Annihilation event. Really, who saw it coming? What made you pick up the first series?

I heard about Annihiation well before it came out. I remember the small press releases, the spatting of information, the promise of a return to the Marvel cosmos. Still, like everyone I was lost in the hype for Civil War, a huge event promising to shake up the Marvel universe. All of the big name characters were there, and hero vs. hero action seemed too good to pass up. Naturally I just ate the event up. But I remembered Annihilation, and checked out the prologue in my LCS, mostly just to see what the Annihilation Wave was. "Hmm... cool, Annihilus." I thought. "But I don't think I'll be picking this up."

So there I was, absored in Civil War like everyone else. Planet Hulk was going on too, and that was a huge deal and something I eagerly got into, finally reading a good Hulk story after so long of not reading the Hulk. Marvel Zombies burst onto the sence, and that became the oddball hot mini of the year. And let's not forget Ultimate Marvel, always a fun time over there, with Carey's Ultimate Fantastic Four and Millar's Ultimates. Still, Annihilation was going on, but I wasn't into that. Civil War baby!

Well, it's over. Civil War... was it worth it? Planet Hulk was good, and it's leading into World War Hulk... the sequel of sorts to Civil War. Marvel Zombies... kinda left a bad taste in my mouth. A Diablo arc in UFF? Blah! And the Ultimates are where?! At least there's X-Factor... and plans for a huge X-Men crossover harking back to the days of old. Oy... what's that?

"Annihilation- Volume One Hardcover." Hey, that's a painting by Dell'Otto. I love his stuff! Wait, Annihilation? Hmmm.. I've heard of this. It seemed interesting.. let me check out reactions to it on the web. *one day later* Well, people seemed to really have enjoyed this. I'll buy this HC, see if it's any good. I doubt it though, I mean.. really? Cosmic Marvel hasn't really been too good lately.

Reading it... wow. This is pretty good. I mean, a real villain. Huge threat. Cool characters; why didn't I ever get into Drax or Nova before. Maybe I missed something.. nah, I'm sure it goes downhill like Civil War did. Hey, a second HC...

These are some good minis. I can't believe I missed these; didn't even see them while they were coming out. The Surfer is back to being a Herald? Thanos is hooking up with Annihilus, who is now some god-like figure? When did that happen... hey, Gamora! Where's Warlock.. ah, who cares, it Gamora! And that Kl'rt is a jerk.. and a hero?! Where is this thing going...

Hey, my LCS still has some issues of the main Annihilation event.. on sale?! 30% off all back issues! Score! So, let's take this thing home and see what it was about... hmm.. uh... ahuh...hmmm... ... Holy hell, I got the wrong event. I got Civil War over this pure gold of a comic series!! Where was the exposure of this?! I mean damn, Civil War and Marvel Zombies? They're the Chuck Austin to Annihilation's Alan Moore! (not really, but they weren't as good by a long shot) I can't believe I missed this.. T_T Hey, a Nova series! This goes right on the pull list.. and another HC! With the spin-offs! And a sequel?! This time I know to not miss this. Wow, I can't believe I missed such a great comic.. and I only picked it up because I like Dell'Otto's work. If it had been another cover artist, I would have never rediscovered the greatness of Marvel's space heroes, including favs like the Heralds and Phyla.

That's my testiment: I got into Annihilation because I like the artist on the HC's cover. And I'm beyond glad I did, as Annihilation is by far my favorite aspect of Marvel right now, with real heroes and real villains and none of the grey crap that is eating up the regular Marvel universe right now. I remember seeing this described as the sleeper hit that snuck under everyone's radar; it's great to see Conquest get a much bigger push. Hat's off you and yours Annihilation!

Anyone else care to share what made them pick up this series?

[Silver Nimbus]

Anyone else care to share what made them pick up this series?

Quasar. The real one - Wendell Vaughn in Annihilation: Nova. He wasn't in the list of minis so I was going to pass. Then I read he would be appearing so I bought in. Then they killed him. I only kept reading because Andy Schmidt and the previews promised the return of Quasar.

They lied through their teeth. And I will never forgive or forget it.

So no more buying Annihilation for me until they deliver what they advertised. I'm not accepting their bait and switch tactics. End of Story.

[Thursaiz]

I picked it up while trying to find an alternative to the garbage that was Civil War. I found it in Annihilation and Planet Hulk. Nova was always a favourite of mine, so to see him brought back in a huge way is fantastic. I like the new Quasar, and I'll give Marvel a chance with her.

[ninjapeps]

They lied through their teeth. And I will never forgive or forget it.

Did they specifically say that Wendell Vaughn would permanently return or just that Quasar would return? Considering the fact that there is a Quasar right now, then, yes, Quasar did return.

Annihilation looked interesting. I was about what was happening with Surfer, Nova and Super Skrull. Didn't really care about Ronan because I didn't know who he was.

[Captain Exaggeration]

I actually don't know. I didn't really care much for any of the characters besides Silver Surfer when the first event started but I guess I wanted to look into the cosmic side of Marvel... well at least the re-vamped one and I must say I love it to death now! :D

[wallred]

Quasar. The real one - Wendell Vaughn in Annihilation: Nova. He wasn't in the list of minis so I was going to pass. Then I read he would be appearing so I bought in. Then they killed him. I only kept reading because Andy Schmidt and the previews promised the return of Quasar.

They lied through their teeth. And I will never forgive or forget it.

So no more buying Annihilation for me until they deliver what they advertised. I'm not accepting their bait and switch tactics. End of Story.

That's my reason, too. I was going to pass until I read that Quasar would be showing up in Annihilation: Nova. Then, they killed him, but Quasar was going to return...uh, right. That really was a bait and switch.
I wish Phylla well, but I want my Quasar back...you know, the one that's been around for 30 years come January.

[40yearoldnovafan]

Nova! That's all I can say.

Jimmy

[nova64]

Nova! That's all I can say.

Jimmy

Yeah, what he said.

Doug

[CaptFury42]

Fan of all the Marvel cosmic material...PLUS...wanted to see how they handled a new/female Quasar. I'm loving it so far. If the next issues are like one...please have a Quasar ongoing title...:cool:

[DaeJi]

Also, I know of some people who missed Annihilation the first go around, but wanted to pick up Annihilation: Conquest. For most this has lead them into picking up Annihilation. But for all those who decided to pick up Conquest first, why did you get interested in that?

[Expletive Deleted]

I'd really enjoyed Giffen's THANOS and DRAX storylines, so . . . I was basically on board from the word go.

[DubipR]

I picked it up because it wasn't part of Civil War.

Its been ages since there's been a good cosmic story, from both companies, and this had a great premise and it unfolded beautifully. I don't give a spit that a certain Quasar died and new one took his place, that's there's no Corps, or that a few more heralds died. It was a done that it captured my attention and it did something that was needed...change in the universe, and for the better.

Looking forward to more hardcovers for Conquest and whatever comes from it.

[BeastieRunner]

For Annihilation, I picked it up for the Silver Surfer and being a fan of the Marvel cosmic universe. The first Surfer mini was awesome, then I got Nova and that was awesome. Then I picked up Super-Skrull and Ronan which were really cool as well. At the end of it, Nova rocketed up my favorite heroes list and the new Nova series is awesome!

For Conquest, it was how freaking awesome the first story was. I'm on board for all 3 minis, the Nova tie-ins, and the main mini. Since Quasar and Star-Lord are the stars this time around, I fully expect to see one of them get an ongoing title which I am betting it will be Quasar and I will add that as well even if it is Phyla.

My only complaint is I want a Silver Surfer series! :evilsmile

[K Von Doom]

Nova and Quasar (the real one)

[Chris Johnson]

The hosts of my favorite podcast, 2 Speakers and a Microphone, said how much they enjoyed it, so I picked it up. They also said that it was better than Civil War, and guess what, it was!

[aniscape]

That's my reason, too. I was going to pass until I read that Quasar would be showing up in Annihilation: Nova. Then, they killed him, but Quasar was going to return...uh, right. That really was a bait and switch.
I wish Phylla well, but I want my Quasar back...you know, the one that's been around for 30 years come January.

I wasn't collecting comics at teh time and a friend told me about Civil War and i went to the Comic store to check it out...while I was there I saw this Annihilation thing but was not interested...since I picked up the first Civil War book and went to Marvel and did some digging and saw the cover to Annihilation Nova #3 took a while but when I realized that was Quasar (Wendell Vaughn a.k.a. the real one) on the cover that was it... I went to the comic store and bought all Annihilation books...then I found these boards and joined the palaver with Andy and I got the Drax mini and just basicaly got back into comics full swing....Now....the interest is waining again...It's not that the other books are not intersting but I spend a lot of money on multiple hobbies and without Wendell I can just focus more on the others...

So long story short...Wendell Vaughn not only got me to collect Annihilation but got me to collecting comics again...

[jeffmace]

Two reasons --

(1) I like cosmic epics

(2) Something to counterbalance "Civil War"

[Babylon23]

There was actually a few different reasons:

1) I was one of the 3 people that bought and enjoyed Giffen's Drax miniseries.
2) I'm a Giffen fan in general, and loved his prior cosmic work on Thanos and LSH.
3) I love the Silver Surfer.
4) I like Marvel's cosmic characters and felt they were being underutilised.

The main reason, however, was desperation. I was dropping Marvel books left and right due to the general trend in the books and things like HoM & Civil War and really wanted to find something that I could enjoy.

[Will.S]

I liked Giffen's Drax as well and once I heard Nova was going to get a big league push I was in it for the long haul. There were also the interviews Andy and Keith were doing to promote the event, and the features here on CBR.

Plus this event felt much more different from the cosmic fare of the 80's since the characters used were not the typical ones we expected and even if they were they were used in much different roles or went through drastic changes for the better like Drax.

[Dark Soul # 7]

1. I like cosmic stories, and the promise of a threat that wasn't an omipotent uber-god was very interesting to me.

2. I was directed to an awesome internet website where I could order comics from America.

3. I just wanted to see how this story would go.

4. After the prologue left me a little disappointed the Silver Surfer and Super-Skrull minis got me hooked and excited like never before.

5. Firelord was in it.

[Baltho08]

Truth to tell, I picked it up because I liked the cover to Annihilation Prologue. Then, seeing how awesome it was, I went and got everything else from there, confused as to why Marvel wasn't hyping it like they were CW. I also had read the Drax mini, but was unaware that it was related to the Annihilation event. Either way, I'm glad I got into it; I'm a huge cosmic fan now, whereas before I was only mildly interested.
Peace.

[Lord S]

My reason for picking up the original 'Annihilation' event was Thanos, and only Thanos. Just love the character...though I knew from the get-go that he was going to die, (and even called it! (http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showpost.php?p=2665037&postcount=53))

As for 'Conquest'...I kinda wasn't too thrilled about picking it up, initially...but something about the Phalanx just sends chills up my spine. I remember feeling a real sense of fear (for the characters) when seeing them for the first time in that old 90's X-Men cartoon episode called 'Phalanx Covenant'...it was one of my favourites. The urgency to escape was overwhelming and felt very real...and it feels real here, too! Plus I like any story situated in the Kree galaxy...one of the reasons why I really loved 'Operation: Galactic Storm'.

[Nova3333]

The reason I picked up Annihilation was/is pretty straight-forward. Nova. Too long had the character languished in C-Level hell and i felt Marvel, especially after the debacle of the New Warriors series by Wells/Young had made Rich Rider into an absolute shambles of a charater that I'd loved since I was 14. When I saw De Otto's cover to the prologue and saw him taking center-stage I though this has got to be it. Maybe this time Marvel can do him some justice. And how. By time DNA and Giffen had finished with Richard Rider he'd become the hero he deserved to be after a 30 plus wait. On top of that Annihilation wasn't a standard superhero cosmic battle; it had realistic sci-fi undertones and a genuine warfare tone to it that set it apart from epics like the Infinity War. Here, characters were placed in a scenario where they could die and not necessarily would the good guys win. It had twists and turns that kept me guessing every time an issue came out. It had excellent writing and artwork and what's more despite the hype of Civil War which left me cold, Annihilation was to me the true hit of 2006. Hopefully Conquest will follow suit!

[Dorsai]

I was a Nova fan as a kid. When I first started getting back into comics after a couple of decades of being out of touch, I noticed a poster of the upcoming Nova #1. Being a little excited a favorite from my youth was being brought back, I asked the guys in the shop what Nova had been doing all this time. They suggested Volume 1 of Annihilation and I was hooked.

For me, it was an excellent way to ease back into comics.

[Drax The Destroyer]

I liked Thanos series. I liked the Drax one too. Seemed like a good setup for Annihilation. There wasnt any other cosmic title running at the time either.

[XPac]

Sadly enough, the 2 biggest incentives for me checking this series out were Quasar and Thanos.

Ah well... at least the Galactus fan in me got a really nice moment at the very very very end.

I guess to a degree that's part of the reason why I'm less excited about the second Annihilation. A lot of the cosmic characters I'm a fan of are dead (Quasar and Thanos) or simply not involved (Surfer, Galactus, Adam Warlock).

[ComicCollector777]

I picked it up because I enjoy reading about Marvel's cosmic characters - Surfer, Galactus, Ronan etc.

It sorts of shows me as a reader that there's another "world" of sorts besides earth - with interesting characters etc.

Abit off-topic but my fave cosmic stories were ones when the Silver Silver (vol. 3?) was involved in the Skrull-Kree war!