Annihilators by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

[NightBeetle]

Annihilators Assemble!

By Ben Morse
In March 2011, the brightest stars of the Marvel cosmos shine together as writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning bring artist Tan Eng Huat into their interstellar orbit for the out-of-this-world four issue limited series ANNIHILATORS.

Following the harrowing events of The Thanos Imperative, the Silver Surfer, Beta-Ray Bill, Quasar, Gladiator and Ronan the Accuser band together to fill the void left by the loss of Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy. For the duo collectively called DnA, this project represents a chance to check yet another box in building their impressive legacy as pioneers of Marvel’s final frontier.

“It’s another long term cosmic dream that we’ve tried to develop and move towards, and it’s finally happening,” says an excited Abnett of ANNIHILATORS. “It’s a new cosmic team and it’s all heavy hitters. It’s the ‘Cosmic Avengers’—as the fans called them—seen in Thanos Imperative. They’re probably the single most powerful Marvel team ever.”

“We picked the top flight, first class heroes,” adds Lanning. “The wish list; the A-grade, to contrast with the mavericks and misfits of [GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY]. This is the anti-Guardians, though their primary role is the same, and they’re essentially the Guardians’ legacy.”

However, that’s not all when it comes to ANNIHILATORS, as each issue will also contain a second story, also written by DnA, with art by Timothy Green III and starring the offbeat ex-Guardians pairing of Rocket Raccoon and Groot.

“It’s a double header—another Marvel first,” exclaims Lanning. “A full-length Annihilators story and a full-length Rocket and Groot story in big double-sized issues! From the biggest scale cosmic to the wackiest, and the Rocket and Groot stuff is really funny. Tim’s artwork has us rolling on the floor every time it comes in.”

“Considering himself a failures after what happened to the Guardians, Rocket is aimlessly kicking around and gets drawn into a madcap and very swashbuckling adventure that ties into his past and Groot’s too,” elaborates Abnett. “Revelations! Surprises! Woodpeckers! It’s all here!”
Back to the Annihilators, such an awe-inspiring assemblage demands equally ominous threats, and this new team will face just that off the bat with the terrifying return of the Dire Wraiths.

“Awesome bad guys,” promises Abnett. “We are slightly redefining them, in as much as we have to in order to bring them back. Their new definition is all part of their new MO. They are not playing.”

If you’re a fan of, say Silver Surfer who hasn’t checked in on the Marvel cosmic scene over the last several years, have no fear about ANNIHILATORS being impenetrable without a star chart, as it—along with THE THANOS IMPERATIVE: DEVASTATION #1, due out January 26—will serve as an ideal jumping on point for new readers.

“All you need to know is that after all the cosmic events and wars and so on these past few years, the biggest cosmic heroes of all realize it’s time they got together and stood ready to be the front line responders in the event of a Thanos Imperative ever happening again,” says Lanning. “We’re humble and very lucky that the fans made this series happen. Thank you!”

 

[SouLeSS]

Words cannot describe how excited I am for this.

 

[Watchman]

It seems that the Cosmic line is going the way of Hellboy and B.P.R.D, a series of mini-series.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

F***ing hotness. The cosmic line isn't as dead as it seemed.

 

[Dread]

This is good news, especially given with the fact that we are also getting that ROCKET & GROOT mini series. The idea of the space line surviving as mini's isn't such a bad one. Sales are too low to justify another ongoing launch. And, to be fair, NOVA's last volume lasted a full three years (36 issues), and GOTG lasted 25 issues - both seem like milestone numbers if you consider all the launches or relaunches that die out of the gate by issue six, or ten, or twelve. Heck, CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 only made it to 15 issues an an annual (and technically a SPITFIRE one shot and a two page story in AGE OF MARVELS).

Glad the space line is living on. And glad that Abnett & Lanning can apparently handle a slew of titles at once, whether they be ongoings or mini's.

 

[RockSP]

The Sausagefesters.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Patrolling space is man's work. The womenfolk stay in the spaceships and hydrate their men's supper if they knows what's good f'r 'em.

But really, I could've gone for Moondragon or Gamora to be on the team. They're A-list enough. Maybe they didn't want it to feel partly like a Guardians do-over, though.

 

[runawayboulder]

I like the idea of the occasional mini by DnA to keep the cosmic line alive.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'd prefer ongoings. Minis are too tenuous and easy to stop producing for my liking.

 

[Dread]

Patrolling space is man's work. The womenfolk stay in the spaceships and hydrate their men's supper if they knows what's good f'r 'em.

But really, I could've gone for Moondragon or Gamora to be on the team. They're A-list enough. Maybe they didn't want it to feel partly like a Guardians do-over, though.

Or an Infinity Watch do-over.

To be fair, Medusa is busy ruling over the Kree empire, since Black Bolt is dead and Ronan is busy hitting stuff.

 

[sandwraith]

Or an Infinity Watch do-over.

To be fair, Medusa is busy ruling over the Kree empire, since Black Bolt is dead and Ronan is busy hitting stuff.

He's tapping Crystal's very fine Inhuman ass you mean

There is a lot of Alpha Male rivalry potential in this group. I am a little worried that DnA might not do justice to some of these characters like the Surfer or Bill who aren't quite DnA-ized yet. Remember when Groot got DnA-ized and a few people weren't too happy with his seemingly single lined dialogued (only because we are but peons who could never understand the divine voice of true royalty)?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, I'll be the harshest critic you can find for Beta Ray Bill, but if they model him on Gillen's most recent version, I'll be happy.

 

[sandwraith]

That's the cool thing about Bill. He's got the most diverse origin ever. He's essentially the Captain America of his home planet, given the power of a Norse God and even had his own ship to command. And his name is Bill. Seriously, how many Aliens have you seen with that name?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

He got Skuttlebutt back, actually. I thought Skuttlebutt got blown up at some point, but Gillen was like, "Meh, forget that." One of the few unexplained retcons I'm totally cool with because Skuttlebutt getting blown up makes the world a little less bright.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Pretty awesome news. Kind of wished they would have just called it Cosmic Avengers and seen if it sold well enough as an ongoing, but I'll take what I can get.

 

[fifthfiend]

Cosmic Avengers

I hate that this is what it would take to sell ****ing cosmic comics but they should do this because this is what it would take to sell ****ing cosmic comics.

 

[Dread]

Pretty awesome news. Kind of wished they would have just called it Cosmic Avengers and seen if it sold well enough as an ongoing, but I'll take what I can get.

Given how AVENGERS ACADEMY might very well be canceled by or before issue #12, I doubt it would have succeeded.

Then again, I don't think HEROES FOR HIRE is going to last much longer either, but what? You think the old dinosaurs at Marvel who created this market mess for themselves have any clue on how to fix it?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Pretty awesome news. Kind of wished they would have just called it Cosmic Avengers and seen if it sold well enough as an ongoing, but I'll take what I can get.

"Annihilators" is kind of an un-superheroish name, isn't it? "Have no fear, we're here to annihilate s*** in order to keep you safe, probably including your house and other things you hold dear!"

 

[Jennifer Walters]

Best. Freaking. News. Ever.

or

Best. Freaking. News. Ever.

 

[Dread]

"Annihilators" is kind of an un-superheroish name, isn't it? "Have no fear, we're here to annihilate s*** in order to keep you safe, probably including your house and other things you hold dear!"

Threats to the cosmos aren't usually arrested or contained. They're usually annihilated. You can't lock Annihilus or Thanos in prison. At least not seriously.

Besides, if you think about it, how many hero teams have inspiring names? The Invaders? The Doom Patrol?

 

[runawayboulder]

"Annihilators" is kind of an un-superheroish name, isn't it? "Have no fear, we're here to annihilate s*** in order to keep you safe, probably including your house and other things you hold dear!"

Not to mention that the Cosmic Marvel line blew up after Annihilation and that was named after a crazed alien monster that brought them all together to begin with.

 

[JewishHobbit]

So is this Rocket and Groot back up in addition to their mini or is the mini being combined with this mini? And with two complete stories in this, what the heck are they going to charge us... $8 per issue?!

 

[RockSP]

what the heck are they going to charge us...

$4.99

 

[NDX]

I squeed, hell, I'm still squeeing, over this.

 

[El Bastardo]

I just read about this.

I say: F-yeah!