Customer Reviews

Annihilation: Conquest, Book 2 (Bk. 2)

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

 

 

I had just about given up on Marvel and their "Events".

Most of them boil down to interesting ideas with anti climactic resolutions and, more often than not, no resolution. The "Annihilation" and "Annihilation Conquest" sagas were the exception. These stories stood apart from the rest of the seemingly endless story arcs happening in the Marvel Universe. These stories made this jaded 40 something year old comic collector a believer in Marvel again. Characters that were minor, obscure and outright forgotten were brought back with new life breathed into them with some wonderfully creative, witty and ambitious writing by Keith Giffen, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. Classic Bronze Age characters like Warlock, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon and Starlord were brought back to tell one of the most entertaining stories that I've read in decades. Annihilation Conquest Book 2 delivers one spectacular finale.

The techno-organic race known as The Phalanx has infected the universe with a virus that has taken over all machine and all organic life. Fighting off the attack is the last of the Nova Centurions Richard Rider, a rag tag and rather eclectic group of "Guardians" made up of Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Mantis and Starlord. Also joining the fray is Ronan The Accuser, the Kree Empire, the Super Skrull, Quasar, a newly evolved Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, The High Evolutionary and a new character called Wraith who seems to have the ability to strike fear even into an emotionless race of machines. This is quite the line up of characters.

But what this united group of heroes and former villains discovers is that the Phalanx have a new leader...Ultron. Now more powerful and more of a threat than ever before. Annihilation Conquest Book Two does not disappoint. It has one heck of an action packed ending, smart, witty, exciting, surprising and just plain fun. Also, Annihilation Conquest Books One and Two give birth to one of the most entertaining ongoing series around today...The Guardians Of The Galaxy.
The Hardcover version is really nice and can still be had for roughly the same price as the paperback. It's larger than the trade paperback and that emphasizes the very attractive art by Sean Chen, Scott Hanna, Kyle Hotz, Tom Raney and Wellington Alves. The writing by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning is terrific.

Annihilation Conquest Book Two collects Wraith 1 thru 4, Nova issues 4 thru 7 and Annihilation Conquest issues 1 thru 6.

One bit of advice for those considering purchasing Annihilation Conquest Book Two. I would recommend purchasing Nova, Vol. 1: Annihilation - Conquest and Nova Vol. 2: Knowhere (v. 2). Annihilation Conquest Book Two contains "some" of the relevant "Nova" issues pertaining to the Annihilation Conquest story and fills in the gaps with a page of text and it's just not the same thing. If you've already invested in the first "Annihilation" saga and are thinking of purchasing books one and two of the "Annihilation Conquest" saga, then you might as well have the entire story and get the first two volumes of Nova, it's definitely worth it.

Over the past several years, Marvel has dusted off its space bound races and heroes and put them into a couple of large events. The first, Annihilation, was a reasonable sales success and featured an invasion of the universe led by Annihilus and his horde of followers from the negative zone. This time around, we have the Phalanx, a hive mind created by a techno virus that is reminiscent of the Borg from Star Trek. The Phalanx infects the population of a planet they wish to take over and in short order they have a whole new batch of converts. In Book One, we saw the new Quasar, Moon Dragon, Nova, and a number of other would-be heroes, including Rocket Raccoon, step up to oppose the Phalanx despite the seemingly insurmountable odds.

In Book Two, the saga's conclusion, the story starts off with Nova #4-7 and it's a strong beginning. Nova encounters the Phalanx and is forced to make a run for it, but not before he's infected with the virus. The story has a real "out of the frying pan and into the fire" feel to it and the tension is amped up to a major degree as you wait to see how he can possibly survive what's happening. The next segment is a miniseries featuring a character called The Wraith. He was an ordinary Kree and the series shows how he has become the one being in the universe that the Phalanx fear and sets him up to play a large part in the Conquest story line. Finally, there is the Conquest mini series itself, which is reprinted in its entirety and tells the main story of the clash with the Phalanx.

Because of the nature of this collection, it suffers from being more than a little disjointed. You aren't reading one story, but three. The connection is not seamless and another four issues of Nova's story are summarized in a page of text rather than reprinted due to space considerations. Still, the overall quality is well above average and it's a treat to see characters like Ronan the Accuser get treated as more than a quick knockout for the Fantastic Four or Avengers for a change. Other characters like Star Lord or Rocket Raccoon would never even see the light of day without a series like this and yet they prove very entertaining.

I won't give away much of the plot because I don't want to spoil this for new readers. Suffice it to say that this is something of a space opera with lots of ups and downs. Readers will ride a roller coaster as it looks like the heroes face certain defeat one moment, certain victory the next, and then back to doom again with the next plot twist. There are plenty of laughs, but also some good action scenes and even a death or two. Abnett and Lanning are the main architects and they've crafted an entertaining story that strikes the right balance between delivering the goods without ever taking itself too seriously.

Annihilation: Conquest could've done with more Star Lord, Nova, and Quasar, and a whole lot less Wraith. Seriously, his adventures were even more filler than those of Super Skrull in Annihilation and only half as well-executed. The pacing of Book 2 feels rushed. The big bad is revealed about ten pages before he is destroyed in a battle lasting approximately 5 panels. Really? Book 1 is fun. Book 2 is ok. Get it for Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Mantis, and the rest of the guardians. Although if you skip it, you'll live.

Annihilation Conquest is a mega crossover involving multiple comics, mini series and one-shot specials. Because of the number of characters and creators involved it's naturally inconsistent in quality and for some reason the editors chose to omit some vital parts of the story.

This book starts with several issues of Nova. Rick Rider is the last of the galactic police known as the Nova Corps and tries to take on the new galactic threat by himself. His story has strong action, good characters and moves quickly but then stops dead. The last issue or two are omitted entirely and summed up in a text page. This really annoyed me (especially since Book 1 wasted several pages recapping the first Annihilation series) and broke the momentum of the book.

Then we meet Wraith. Wraith is an incredibly boring Deus Ex Machina character who tries much too hard to be cool and dark and edgy. He is very forgettable and not been seen since.

Then we get to the concluding miniseries where, in proper comic book fashion, it all comes down to a fight with a giant robot. Luckily Nova returns with reinforcements to save the day.

Sure would have been nice to see the story where he met those reinforcements.

I give high marks to Nova (the issues they actually included) and the conclusion but Wraith's dull series and the bizarre decision to leave out some important plot points drag down the book's overall score.

Title: Annihilation Conquest: Book 2 (HC)
Publisher: Marvel
Writers: Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Artists: Sean Chen, Kyle Hotz, Tom Raney, Wellington Alves (pencils), Kyle Hotz, Scott Hanna, Brian Denham (inks), Frank D'Armata & Guru eFX, Gina Going-Raney (colors), Aleksi Briclot, Adi Granov, Clint Langley (covers)
Collects: Annihilation Conquest: Wraith #1-4, Nova #4-7, Annihilation Conquest #1-6
Price: $39.99

Completing the Annihilation Conquest event in grand style, this massive 352-page book focuses on event surrounding Nova, Gamora, new character Wraith, and finally reveals the driving force behind the Phalanx invasion - everyone's favorite A.I. robot - Ultron.

There wasn't much not to like about this book. The Nova story was good, and went further in showing just how powerful Nova really is with the entirety of the world-mind power at his disposal. Aside from the continual flow of background and tactical information the world-mind gives him, the armored space suit, the extremely powerful gravimetric forces he wields, and his enhanced strength durability, this story shows how strong his recuperative powers are. After getting fried like a piece of bacon in one scene, the world-mind shuts down Richard Rider's consciousness and goes into overdrive mending his body. It was really neat to see him go from crispy critter to fully re-formed and functional soldier in a matter of just a couple of days. Also cool to see was the world-mind seeking out a replacement Nova while Rich was out of service. The Nova issues were a fun read, and the art by Sean Chen helped, considerably, to give it that "total package" experience.

The section of the book focusing on the new Kree character, Wraith, was a very interesting story. The character is introduced, shown to have remarkable, mysterious powers, and his origin is revealed. Though not a lot happens, in terms of action or moving the overall story forward, the story is still important as the nature of this character's unique powers plays a critical role at some point in the overall story. I hope the character sticks around for a while longer, but I have a feeling he may disappear into the shadows, again, at the conclusion of the story. The art on this section of the book was the weakest, in my opinion, of the entire Annihilation Conquest saga. However, it didn't detract too much from the quality of the writer's story, which was very imaginative and well-suited to sci-fi works.

The third part of the story was my favorite. I suppose this is how it should be, as it centered on the key events and battles of the eventual downfall of Ultron and his Phalanx minions. The big-screen action and effects were illustrated with great skill by Tom Raney, Scott Hanna, and Frank D'Armata. The pages are just beautiful. Frank D'Armata and his digital coloring studio Guru eFX pull out all the stops to make this one of the best looking Marvel books, ever. All the metallic surfaces (and there's an awful lot of them in this sci-fi epic) gleam and reflect light. Light from lamps, explosions, rocket engines or eye sockets seems to actually glow on the pages. Liquids seem ready to run off the pages. And the speed-blurring or explosion-blurring effects really add a lot to the overall visual force of the book. I give the art a "10" on this section of the book.

Of course, the book ends much like you would expect. The good guys prevail, Ultron is defeated once again, there are losses on both sides, and the foundations for a new comic series are laid down - in this case, that series is Guardians of the Galaxy. I have yet to read this new series (on-going for about a year at the time of this writing) but I now plan on it thanks to the strength of the writing in this book

Fans of sci-fi are sure to enjoy this book, which, I feel, was a stronger overall story and event than the previous Annihilation storyline. The price tag is hefty on this book, but you do get a lot of good stuff in those 14 issues. Still, if you don't mind the soft cover edition, it's going to save you a good five dollars. If you plan of sharing the book with others, go for the hardcover edition.
Either way, it's a good story and I'd recommend it to most of my friends who also enjoy sci-fi.

Writing: 8/10
Artwork: 8/10
Cool Factor: 7/10
Value: 7/10

Overall: 7.5/10

Part 2 of Annihilation: Conquest was more enjoyable for me than part 1 for several reasons. First, Nova is back. I loved Nova in the Annihilation event and he has really come into his own as a major player in the marvel universe as a result. Having him here boosts the story by one star automatically.
Secondly, we find out who the villian is behind the phalanx attack. I won't spoil it for you, but it's a major villian from the marvel universe.
Third, we have Adam Warlock back in play. Look back in the marvel library for events like the Infinity Gauntlet and you'll see him in his prime. He plays a major role in the story.
We also have an all new character introduced in Wraith. He's kind of like a renegade goth cowboy. Very strange, but kinda cool.
The only downfall of this book to me was the failure to include Nova issues 8-12 and annual #1. There is a major portion of the story missing, and the end of this volume is confusing without it. Luckily you can get the missing issues in Nova Vol. 2: Knowhere (v. 2). This is a solid story. Not as good as the original Annhilation event, but a close second. Still, it's better than the majority of marvel titles coming out right now (World War Hulk and Secret Invasion...Yuck).
If you enjoy this I suggest checking out Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1: Legacy (v. 1). Most of the characters from Conquest are included. I can never get enough Rocket Racoon!

I did not read the first Annihilation saga so this book was a bit of an expensive risk. In the end, the story isn't the best graphic novel ever it IS really fun and well constructed. None of the components in this collection felt out of place. They all built to an exciting payoff and not much was left unaddressed. It fulfills its mission of being a fun, exciting space superhero story and kudos to the team who worked on it.

My only complaints - the collection skipped some issues of the NOVA comic that appear, in hindsight, to be essential to the story. An explanation is given but some of the climax is reduced because of the omission.

the first part of this hard cover are NOVA 4-7 and issue 7 leaves you hanging. at first i thought they forgot to put in an ending to the story but then i discovered the 2 paragraph summary of issue 8-12...talk about dissapointment. i then i had to order NOVA vollume 2 to get the rest fo the story. talk about FRUSTERATING!!!!...its okay, i can wait till i get the rest of the story. over all the ANNHILATION conquest is good revamping of the cosmic characters. i really started to like NOVA, DRAX and STAR LORD. this story lets you know that there are things going on beyond EARTH and whatever crap they currently have going on.

No doubt this is another beautiful hardcover book from marvel. But Annihilation: Conquest, just did not live up to the original Annihilation saga for me. This is still a great read, well worth the read and looks great on the shelf it just cant compare to the first saga.

Annihilation: Conquest gathered many of Marvel's fringe sci-fi characters together in a story that was reminiscent of Star Trek's Borg invasion. The Kree have suffered enough in the two sets of Annihilation stories. Let's have the third go after a fresher target.