War of Kings: Ascension #3 (of 4) - Spoilers & Discussion

[Expletive Deleted]

WoKA #3, by Abnett, Lanning, Alves, and Walker, out today . . .

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So . . . we find out a little more about the Raptors, Talon and Razor tussle with Blastaar, and Chris figures out how to re-take control of his armor. Unfortunately, he picks the absolute worst possible time: Razor has just assassinated Lilandra, with Gladiator and the Starjammers standing right in front of him.

It's a fun little issue. A little bit heavy on the exposition, but that stuff needed to be out of the way for the finale next month. Speaking of which, it was interesting to see this mini tie into the main War of Kings mini so directly. This is turning out to be a very old-school crossover, with entire storylines veering in from and off towards tie-in books. Art-wise, Alves does a nice job. Is it just me, or has he really grown as an artist since he started as a fill-in guy on Nova? Maybe I'm just getting used to his style, but he seems a lot more polished on this project.

Anyone else pick this up?

[fuzztub]

loved, loved, loved this issues. ended on a great cliff hanger and i can't wait for the next issue!!

[Limelantern]

I'm confused now, so the Raptors are a demonic, magic based type of group?

They use souls to power their armor, demons of some kind to keep those souls in line and place spells on the cosmic control rod. While at the same time they are morphic armored robots from space with creepy nasty faces under their helmets.

[CMBMOOL]

Well it was nice knowing Darkhawk while it lasted, becasue I don't think he can get himself out of this one.

[Arishem]

Gladiator looks to kill him next issue. Oh man, can't wait. I love this issue. But out of curiosity, why do the Raptors alternate between calling Blastaar "King Blastaar" and "Lord King." WTF is a Lord King?

[stingerman]

Well it was nice knowing Darkhawk while it lasted, becasue I don't think he can get himself out of this one.

Guess you didn't see the cover to Ascension #4 then!

http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/enlarg...S__ASCENSION_4

Bring him on!

[Mitteloss]

How much of the fallout of Lilandra's assassination do we see in this issue? I might pick this up, especially if the Starjammers are making an appearance.

[DeadXMan]

How much of the fallout of Lilandra's assassination do we see in this issue? I might pick this up, especially if the Starjammers are making an appearance.

let's just say you really don't want to be darkhawk in the last panel.
spoilers:

there's a vary pissed Kallark coming towards him

end of spoilers

[Expletive Deleted]

How much of the fallout of Lilandra's assassination do we see in this issue? I might pick this up, especially if the Starjammers are making an appearance.

Only about two pages worth of fallout. I think Havok has a line or two, though.

[HeckBoy]

I'm confused now, so the Raptors are a demonic, magic based type of group?

They use souls to power their armor, demons of some kind to keep those souls in line and place spells on the cosmic control rod. While at the same time they are morphic armored robots from space with creepy nasty faces under their helmets.

The armored body thing still has me confused. So when someone uses a Darkhawk/Raptor amulet, does the user "become" the armor (like their flesh and blood turn into the armor's material), are they transported to Null space or wherever and replaced w/ a robot armor that they can control, or do they wear the armor?

Also, what exactly is Talon? Is he another being using the Darkhawk armor or is he actually the armor (or is the armor more like a being onto itself)?

I'm not even completely sure what's all still canon since they're using that "Chris's Terran mind can't grasp these cosmic concepts thus subconsciously creates explanations for them that may or may not be true."

[Expletive Deleted]

Magic and science get kind of jumbled at this level, so it could go either way.

As far as the mechanics go, it seems pretty straightforward. The Raptor needs to capture a live being in order to manifest physically. In normal circumstances (ie. Talon and the Skrull), the Raptor's mind is in total control of its body. In abnormal circumstances (ie. Razor and Chris), the rules are different and a number of intermediate states (Chris wearing Razor's armor, Chris's mind in control of Razor's body, etc.) are possible.

[HeckBoy]

Magic and science get kind of jumbled at this level, so it could go either way.

As far as the mechanics go, it seems pretty straightforward. The Raptor needs to capture a live being in order to manifest physically. In normal circumstances (ie. Talon and the Skrull), the Raptor's mind is in total control of its body. In abnormal circumstances (ie. Razor and Chris), the rules are different and a number of intermediate states (Chris wearing Razor's armor, Chris's mind in control of Razor's body, etc.) are possible.

That makes sense, though now I'm wondering if the Raptors were actually once Shi'ar citizens or if they are artificial beings made by the Shi'ar. I hope they explain this a little more.

[Thursaiz]

But out of curiosity, why do the Raptors alternate between calling Blastaar "King Blastaar" and "Lord King." WTF is a Lord King?

I assume it is much like calling Queen Elizabeth 'Your Majesty', 'Your Royal Highness' and 'Queen'.

Great issue. Love the direction it is going.

[Sean Walsh]

Art-wise, Alves does a nice job. Is it just me, or has he really grown as an artist since he started as a fill-in guy on Nova? Maybe I'm just getting used to his style, but he seems a lot more polished on this project.

I really liked him and his improvements by the time they took him off NOVA (even when he began he was pretty good), but yeah this book is a lot more polished than his past work. Shows he can "bring it" - hope Marvel sees that too.

[Superbeast]

I assume it is much like calling Queen Elizabeth 'Your Majesty', 'Your Royal Highness' and 'Queen'.

Great issue. Love the direction it is going.

I think he means "Lord King" doesn't make sense as they are two seperate titles with different rights between the roles. A lord can be appointed by a king, but a lord can never become a king in most monarchy led societies.