Bought/Thought April 1st - SPOILERS

[iloveclones]

Karnak needs to kick more ass.

[Johhny Carson] And the question issssss.....?[/Johnny Carson]

 

[moraldeficiency]

snapping smasher's neck was a good start, I'm not a giant fan of his, "let's use the bush Iraq war plan on the shiar" though.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I thought it was funny that Triton was so smug about it. Karnak really should've come up with something better, though. That's what he gets from peering behind the veil and seeing the weakness in the Shi'ar's strategy? For realz?

 

[moraldeficiency]

Well vulcan seems pretty stupid though, he was just amazed that he was counter attacked.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think he was more pissed than amazed.

 

[Themanofbat]

I was actually talking to a friend about this earlier and I got this wrong, it was johnny that was talking but I thought it was reed when they first approached him. My mistake.

No sweat...

I just wanted to clarify in case my comic had a missing page or something...

 

[Franklin Richards]

I loved how Triton's Zero G training came in handy. Great to see Triton getting some love.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, that was my favorite part of the issue. It's one of those moments where you're confused at first but when what's happening really hits you, you smack your head and say "duh!" Such an obvious tactic to have water-dwellers sabotage a ship's artificial gravity and attack its officers on their "turf."

 

[Dread]

I hate missing all this WAR OF KINGS discussion, since that means trying to comment to a few points raised at once and that makes a post long.

Right now I agree with the sentiment that WAR OF KINGS is closer to ANNIHILATION than CONQUEST was. There is more planet-bursting action right from the bat, and the centers of the narrative focus have more charisma. The Inhumans and the Starjammers, specifically Havok and Polaris, have more charisma than Adam Warlock and Phyla Vell did in CONQUEST, which was a bit of why it wasn't as strong as ANNIHILATION; Abnett & Lanning picked the wrong stars. As supporting members of a large team on GOTG who get maybe 1-2 issues to themselves out of maybe 7-8, Warlock and Phyla are fine. They just can't carry an entire event. The Inhumans and some spare X-Men, however, are better suited for the role.

Personally, I think putting more elements into "Cosmic Marvel" this year and the end of last was a good idea. The Shi'ar may spend much of their time in the X-Men wheelhouse, but they also are a major space power and among the last left after Annihilus and Ultron ravaged other empires, such as the Skrulls and the Kree. They even ruled over both at one time. Not having the Starjammer/Emperor Vulcan stuff interact with the rest of the space line felt artificial, and I am glad that has ended. I didn't read Brubaker's RISE AND FALL OF THE SHI'AR EMPIRE nor did I read the EMPEROR VULCAN mini. I basically had WAR OF KINGS SAGA, then KINGBREAKER, and the event proper, and I'm fine. Granted, I also read DEADLY GENESIS that created Vulcan, but that isn't good at all. Vulcan works far better as an insane cosmic tyrant than trying to make a big deal about his X-Men roots, because deep down he isn't much of a character. One doesn't need to be a deep character to provide a good space menace for a cosmic crossover.

I also think this is Havok's big moment to finally step out of Cyclops' shadow and take down a big bad. Once upon a time Cyclops had plenty of big moments wasting Apocalypse in X-Factor or Mr. Sinister in Inferno. Havok really hasn't had a big enemy to his own until now, and honestly I hope he isn't denied that moment of victory over Vulcan just to make up for Black Bolt seemingly getting his ass kicked by Hulk or something (even if it was a Skrull). Right now I want to see Bolt avenge himself over Gladiator.

As for the side-titles, I am curious how they fit in as well. NOVA's place is obvious; the corrupted-by-power Worldmind is about to lead his new squad of novice (and mostly Earthling) Centurians right into the "War of Kings" in response to those Kree worlds being destroyed by Nega-Bombs, and likely Richard Rider's fears will come true. The new Corps are in no way ready, and will be slaughtered en masse. That brings him into it easily.

As for GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, I don't know what brings them into it, especially as their own title has their own worries. There is Blastaar wanting to invade Earth via the 42 prison in the Negative Zone, which he was set up to rule by Ronan before the Inhumans came in to fill the power void left by Annihilus' death (his minion's forces, led by Ravenous, suffered losses via Phalanx attacks in CONQUEST). The Universal Church of Truth is likely protecting a cocoon that has Adam Warlock's evil entity, Magus, which is due for his decade resurrection (least that is my guess). Possibly it is due to Phyla Vell becoming a new avatar of death for Oblivion, as the WAR OF KINGS will likely provide a lot of souls to collect. Still, the GOTG are out to protect the universe from destruction since the last space wars have weakened space & time; a third war between the Shi'ar and the Kree/Inhumans/Starjammers would certainly merit being involved.

The only real mystery right now is Darkhawk. WAR OF KINGS: DARKHAWK basically claimed that instead of being created by an alien criminal and his band of scientists seeking ultimate weapons, Chris Powell is in fact one of two "Raptors" left in the universe and they are basically a band of space cops. That's a bit cliche and leaves a lot of things to be explained; Darkhawk's 90's series lasted 50 issues and covered his origins for a lot of it. The Nova Corps are basically space cops, so it seems pretty stuck. "Oh, Darkhawk is a space cop too, just, uh, from a different race. Yeah." That's like having the Green Lantern Corps have competition from non-GL's.

I am curious how the event will work overall considering Abnett & Lanning are writing ALL of it; the core mini itself, Darkhawk's side ASCENSION mini, and the two ongoing titles that tie in, NOVA and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. If it succeeds or fails, there will be no other writers to credit. Will it all read like a long story, or will the core story be in WAR OF KINGS, with details being in the side books? That was how CONQUEST worked, with all of the elements coming in for the finale (Nova was really not involved in the core CONQUEST mini until the last issue when he and Warlock from NEW MUTANTS joined the fight against Ultron).

Even with these concerns, Abnett & Lanning have impressed me on their tenure on NOVA and GOTG, and with a better cast of stars heading WAR OF KINGS, I think this will be an improvement over their last event; they've had a year to hone their craft, after all. I have more faith in this being at least decent than I do of whatever DARK REIGN crap is due in the pipeline from Bendis.

Having the Inhumans rule the Kree, who created them, is a nice touch, and I am liking their new sonic based technology (makes sense since Black Bolt is essentially a sonic powered demigod).

 

[iloveclones]

I hate missing all this WAR OF KINGS discussion, since that means trying to comment to a few points raised at once and that makes a post long.

Because you hate making long posts so much?

 

[Dread]

Because you hate making long posts so much?

Sometimes I don't strive to have every post of mine be 10,000 words. Believe it or not.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I do not.

 

[fifthfiend]

Protip: If you're going to lie, make it at least somewhat believable.

(Or dive so far into falsehood that your average person will be too stunned to refute you, in the manner of so many politicians.)

 

[Dread]

Bah, you guys seriously don't know how many times on weeks when I buy more than 4-5 comics when I imagine how many hours my long arse reviews will take and then don't want to bother. That's usually why they usually get posted on Thursday or Friday rather than Wednesday most weeks.

I said not EVERY post. I said nothing about MOST.

 

[fifthfiend]

That's why you fail at lying. Either be honest cause we all know you sit down at the keyboard and go like "YES TWENTY THOUSAND WORDS ABOUT COMICKS **** YES UNF UNF UNF", or sack up and just say something balls-ass crazy like "I hate long goddamn comics posts I ****ING HATE THEM AND THE ****ERS WHO WRITE THEM AND ANYONE WHO DISAGREES" and while everyone reads it and goes "wait, wtf?" you loot their 401k and retire to an island.

 

[Dread]

You're thinking in too black and white terms. I do get very long winded. Just not 100% of the time. There is that 1-5% of the time when I can type a short post and survive, or am not in the mood to type for 3 hours.

 

[iloveclones]

I think Dread needs an Intervention. Let's get him into Long Posters Anonymous.

 

[sandwraith]

Damnit! Ronan just wants some LOVE! Why doesn't Crystal get it????

 

[TheCorpulent1]

'Cause she's a sweet girl-next-door type and he's a hulking, ugly tyrant?

 

[sandwraith]

Come on,Even George Constanza nails the hotties every so often. Ronan
is not hulking ugly...well...not before Titan pasted him but he has a sweet sensitive side that few have seen.

If women could only accept men for who we are and vice versa, there would be less pain in the Universe....Damn it Ronan, you deserve better...

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Just remember, he was gonna destroy his own people rather than let the Phalanx have them in Conquest.

 

[Manic]

Also, he ugly. If Crystal was really into him, they'd have at least held hands or hugged by now.

 

[Mr. Green]

Agents of Atlas is awesome. The last issue was really good. Too bad Pags isn't on the art anymore.

 

[CaptainCanada]

He's back with #5 (since the book is double-shipping next month).

 

[RockSP]

OK.

I just finished Iron Man #12 - Another solid issue.

So far the World's Most Wanted arc has been an exciting ride. Tony is the guy who always has the answers, and with him being a futurist, usually before you even ask the question. It's a cool change to see him as a fugitive on the run with his enemies having the upper hand and on his tail.

The whole "futurist" thing is a pretty recent addition, though. He was just a tech genius before.

So instead we get Kid Eternity and Bombshell and some useless half black half latino looking chick who I don't even remember from Terror Titans.

What makes you say she's half black?