Customer Reviews

Annihilation, Book 2

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In Annihilation book 1 Nova and Quasar took on Annihilus, but things didn't turn out so well. Quasar fell in battle and Nova barely got away with his life. Book 2 focuses on Silver Surfer, Super-Skrull, and Ronan the Accuser.
The Heralds of Galactus are being hunted down to feed Annihilus's appetite for power. In book 1 Annihilus absorbed Quasar's energy and took the quantum bands and now he wants the cosmic energy contained in Silver Surfer and the other Heralds of Galactus.
To make things worse, Thanos has entered into alliance with Annihilus, and the Annihilation wave's destruction of the Kyln at the begining of the war released two ancient evils, Tenebrous and Aegis. These two are sworn enemies of Galactus and are themselves devourer of worlds.
Meanwhile, the Annihilation wave has entered Skrull space. However, the Skrull warlords are so busy bickering over power it seems the Skrull Empire is already doomed. The Super-Skrull embarks on a personal quest to combat Annihilus in order to save the life of his son. This involves stopping the doomsday weapon, "The Harvester of Sorrow," which is destorying whole worlds to feed the Annihilation wave.
Also in book 2, we learn what happened to Ronan the Accuser. Stripped of his title and exiled from the Kree Empire, Ronan embarks on a quest to clear his name. However, driven by manipulating forces Ronan instead winds up fighting Gamora in a battle to the death. While engaged in this struggle the Annihilation wave stikes!
One may think that a lack of A-list characters such as X-men or Avengers would be a weakness for these books. However, the major strength of Annihilation is its lack of A-list characters. All these B-listers are thrown together into one heck of a story and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. The story is great, the subplots are great, and the characters all end up cooler than they were before. Annihilation rocks! Annihilation is WAR!

When these originally came out as single issues I'd tried to skip these and only read the actual "Annihilation" books. Unfortuantely these are all essential to the story though & the actual book wound up confusing for me. I then went back when the series was reprinted in trade format and read the whole story. I'm glad I did because the "Annihilation" series were some of the best comic books I've read in a long time. Unfortuantely though the mini's collected in Book 2 while essential to the story, are over all pretty drab & boring. The art is also pretty minor league stuff & kinda tough (at least for me) to get into. Book 2 collects issues 1-4 of "Annihilation Super Skrull", Annihilation - Silver Surfer", "Annihilation - Ronin". Now these are by no means the worst stories you'll ever read, but just not on the same level as the Drax, & Nova books collected in Book 1. All in all though in the end Book 2 adds to the plot & you'll be glad you read them by the time you move on to Book 3. Definately read Book 2 if you're even slightly intersted in the Annihilation series, you'll be glad you did.

Volume 1 of the Marvel "Annihilation" event was a very well done, if flawed, collection that seemed to suffer a tad in direction and art but still managed to present something on a truly epic, universal level. Volume 2 pics right up with its collection. While things are (VERY) slowly coming together, these three mini-arcs are quite superior to the previous volume, despite being less directly involved in the main plot. First off, I'll be frank and say I was never a fan of the Silver Surfer; that has changed. He really impressed me in this mini-series and came across as more than Hollywood Oscar's twin brother. Ronan the Accuser had an interesting presence as well. But both of those pale in comparison to the story of the Super Skrull. Until this book, I had no idea who he was, but he easily steals this entire collection. Few characters in comics come across as so well-developed as Super Skrull does. He is a villain and a hero both at once and every scene he's in makes one pay attention. His inclusion alone justifies the entire "Annihilation" event and really impressed me. The art, like before, is a mixed bag. None of it really blew me away, and I get the feeling that all the "big" artists were working on "Civil War", but what's here is good and gets the job done, albeit in a less detailed, more stylized, way. In the end, while this collection's not quite as plot heavy, it is definitely more character-driven, and that makes is superior to the first volume, if just barely. An easy recommendation for an event that keeps getting bigger and better.

In Annihilation Book One, the Negative Zones "Annihilus" set loose an armada intent on taking over the universe. In Annihilation Book Two we discover the reason why.
It seems our universe is expanding. As it does, the Negative Zone becomes smaller and smaller. Annihilus is now determined to take back what's his and then some. One of the byproducts of his attack is the destruction of an interstellar prison older than time itself. Now freed are two super powerful inmates that were imprisoned by Galactus. The power of these beings rival that of Galactus himself and their very existence threatens to tilt the cosmic balance and possibly destroy the universe. Aware of the danger from the freed cosmic entities and of the threat of Annihilus is Silver Surfer. In order to help put things right, the Surfer once again becomes the Herald of Galactus and teams with all of the former Heralds to save the universe.

Joining the fray is the Super Skrull whose multiple defeats at the hands of The Avengers and the Fantastic Four have made him the disgrace of the Skrull Empire. The invasion by Annihilus threatens the home planet of the Super Skrulls family. With the help of a young star struck Skrull mechanic, Super Skrull goes to the Negative Zone in an attempt to find weaponry and form an army with the power to stop Annihilus.
Also entering the circle is Kree powerhouse Ronan the Accuser who finds himself in a situation similar to that of the Super Skrull. Ronan is accused of treason against the Kree Empire thanks to false testimony given against him. Ronan is scouring the galaxy to find the person who set him up. During his search he runs up against bronze age femme fatale Gamora, the deadliest woman in the universe and quickly discovers that the label is no idle boast. But Ronans mission and his battle with Gamora is put on hold as they too become part of the battle to stop Annihilus universal armageddon. But Annihilus has an ally of his own...Thanos.

Keith Giffen gives us a great story, full of action, wit, and good old fashioned adventure. The art is also pretty easy on the eyes. The Silver Surfer segment is probably the weakest from a visual standpoint, but its not bad and it's very well written. The best segment belongs to Ronan.

Book two of this three book saga is a very enjoyable read that I highly recommend.

Marvel's second "Annihilation" volume collects three 2006 mini-series: Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1-4, Annihilation: Super-Skrull #1-4 and Annihilation: Ronan #1-4. The first story arc features the Silver Surfer and other former Heralds of Galactus as they are pursued by and prepare to battle the impending Annihilation Wave. The second and third segments feature Silver Age cosmic villains (Super Skrull and Ronan the Accuser, respectively) who each seek public redemption from their mounting irrelevance. Like the first volume, this intersperses about a dozen "Xandar Worldmind Database" capsules of key characters and plot elements and closes with some bonus sketches.
I enjoyed the Super Skrull story the most but was not a fan of its distorted, cartoonish artwork. Conversely, the Silver Surfer story was the slowest but I enjoyed its art the most. This book offers great trade paperback value with 320 pages for the same price as the first volume's 256 pages. However, the `Book 2' title seems a misnomer as these mini-series are more sidebars than extensions of the plot from Book 1. Though I was slightly disappointed with this, I still plan to read Book 3.

I haven't bought a comic book in about 14 years I bought this Annihilation books 1 and 2. I was impressed and suffureed from memory rush. Man, did I miss these things.
Surfer was always a character I like. Super Skrull was one of my favorite. Thanos, Terrax; and when did Glorian get so powerful? I can't wait till book #3 comes.

Vol. 2 is a great appetizer to the actual Annihilation War. This book is way above mediocraty in that it allows the reader to really care about these war bound characters that will soon embark in a suicidal mission. It lets the reader care about these people who may die in battle. While the writing is great and the art work spot on, it's an acquired taste for people who love the cosmic Marvel Universe or even just good story telling.

The second hardcover collection for Marvel's interstellar Annihilation saga is yet another "preview" for the main event. This book collects three mini-series based on the Silver Surfer, the Super-Skrull, and Ronan. The downside being, the only thing that really stands out is the Silver Surfer mini, which finds the skyrider of the spaceways on the lam and seeking to unite those like himself who were former heralds of Galactus. The Super-Skrull and Ronan series' aren't anything real special and are actually kind of forgettable as a whole, with some downright silly dialogue to boot. All that being said, there is great art all around to be found, and longtime Marvel readers who remember cosmic favorites like Gamora will be pleased at some of what they find here. Worth a look if you enjoyed the first collection and are anxiously awaiting the third and final installment, but it won't kill you if you don't pick this up. And yes, as a previous reviewer stated, it would have been nice to see Adam Warlock.

I really enjoyed the first Annihilation trade but this collection almost seemed pointless. The three different stories all seemed like they didn't really fit into the overall story. If anything they were afterthoughts and shouldn't have been collected as "Part 2" of the whole when they really aren't. The art of the Super-Skrull story, while not bad, didn't fit with the story at all. Overall, this could have been skipped.

Annihilus is forever!

Continuing Marvel's epic in the stars, Book 2 tells the stories of three individuals within the larger context of the Annihilation Event. Beautifull, they're self-contained, but also have necessary plot points to know for Book 3.

The first story belongs to the Silver Surfer, which is centered on how the Annihilation Wave can be any different from when the Surfer served as a herald to Galactus. It's a well-told story with internal and external conflict, and pays respect to the various characters. Renato Arlem on art duties is absolutely stunning and captures the Surfer's melancholy and angry expressions beautifully; there's an amazing two-page spread of the Surfer and a fleet of Annihilation ships. Solid story, and solid art for the Surfer.

The second story was written well also. Writer Grillo-Marxuach gives us several perspectives on the Super-Skrull and his amoral nature. The Super-Skrull is incredibly narrow-minded and blunt in his approach, but it was so difficult for me to NOT root for this guy. The story was excellently paced for four issues, and there was a great sense of movement within the miniseries: the Super-Skrull does all sorts of traveling and seeks all sorts of people to help him in his crusade against the Annihilation Wave's planet-siphoning machine, the Harvester of Sorrow. Its ending is all you could want for the antihero.

The last story. . . hooboy. You really need to set your mind on it in order to understand this story. Heard of a guy named Glorian? Shifter of Reality guy? If you haven't, you'll be completely lost. Some several side characters are introduced and thrown away quickly, and I think writer Simon Furman just tried to cram in too much, too early for 4 issues.
That said, if you DO know the background and are willing to invest the effort to understand, this story's comprehensible and works. . . but is nothing special. It also doesn't offer any plot points necessary for the following Book, so you're getting two quality stories, and one subpar one.

If I could, I'd give the trade 3.5 stars out of 5. It didn't really do anything wrong, it just could've done things more right. I'm specifically talking about the last story. I really have no complaints about the first two. This book as a whole was generally solid. If you've gotten Book 1 already, and enjoyed it, then this book is definitely worth your 17 bucks, despite the last story.