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Annihilation: Conquest #2
Annihilation Conquest: Spectre
Après avoir dévasté l’empire Kree, les Phalanx sont partis à la conquête de l’univers. Seul l’étrange Wraith pourrait être capable de les arrêter, mais ça ne semble pas l’intéresser ! Les plus grands héros cosmiques de l’univers Marvel se mobilisent, parmi lesquels Nova, Star-Lord et bien sûr Rocket Racoon, le raton laveur le plus dangereux de la galaxie.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published July 23, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
December 6, 2016
This collection contains the Annihilation Conquest: Wraith mini-series, the entirety of the core Annihilation Conquest book, plus the issues of Nova that crossed over with the event. I've 'reviewed' the Nova issues elsewhere so I won't rehash that here; suffice it to say I gave them 3 stars. As for the rest of it:
Wraith:
Wraith is a new character, created specifically for the Annihilation: Conquest event, and he's pretty crappy. He's like somebody smooshed Elric, Lobo and Clint Eastwood together into one clichéd package that manages to be less than the sum its parts. His story's pretty tedious, too; just your bog standard revenge mission. Seen it all before and seen it done better. The only saving grace of this mini was the artwork, which was quite nice, if a bit cartoony for the tone of the story. 2 stars
Annihilation Conquest core title:
I usually abhor Marvel's crossover 'event' titles, so colour me surprised that I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit! It evolved naturally out of the previous Annihilation 'event', featured some great characters, had high stakes that actually had consequences and was an action-packed cosmic adventure that had an almost Star Wars-y vibe to it. It wasn't perfect: it featured Adam Warlock, who is a character I can't stand, as well as my least-favourite Avenger, Mantis... but as it also featured Rocket Raccoon, Bug from the Micronauts and Warlock from the New Mutants I'm willing to let that go. 4 stars
Overall mark for the book: 3 stars
Wraith:
Wraith is a new character, created specifically for the Annihilation: Conquest event, and he's pretty crappy. He's like somebody smooshed Elric, Lobo and Clint Eastwood together into one clichéd package that manages to be less than the sum its parts. His story's pretty tedious, too; just your bog standard revenge mission. Seen it all before and seen it done better. The only saving grace of this mini was the artwork, which was quite nice, if a bit cartoony for the tone of the story. 2 stars
Annihilation Conquest core title:
I usually abhor Marvel's crossover 'event' titles, so colour me surprised that I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit! It evolved naturally out of the previous Annihilation 'event', featured some great characters, had high stakes that actually had consequences and was an action-packed cosmic adventure that had an almost Star Wars-y vibe to it. It wasn't perfect: it featured Adam Warlock, who is a character I can't stand, as well as my least-favourite Avenger, Mantis... but as it also featured Rocket Raccoon, Bug from the Micronauts and Warlock from the New Mutants I'm willing to let that go. 4 stars
Overall mark for the book: 3 stars
January 2, 2017
So Dan Abnett was back to write the last volume, and offers some improvement.
Some interesting characters and developments dropped into the story at the last moment make for some omg moments, but alas Keith destroyed annihilation and conquest so all in all this 'event' was poor, yet it had so much potential.
Some interesting characters and developments dropped into the story at the last moment make for some omg moments, but alas Keith destroyed annihilation and conquest so all in all this 'event' was poor, yet it had so much potential.
August 27, 2021
Way better than volume 1.
The stinker of this volume is Wraith. What a boring lame character. His issues were just the worst.
Nova's issues were a lot of fun. But the actual Conquest storyline was awesome. To watch Ultron wreck shit was a lot of fun. People actually dying left and right. Villains feeling strong and almost unstoppable is always fun to watch. While not as good as Peak Annihilation event, this was still a lot of fun.
A 4 out of 5.
The stinker of this volume is Wraith. What a boring lame character. His issues were just the worst.
Nova's issues were a lot of fun. But the actual Conquest storyline was awesome. To watch Ultron wreck shit was a lot of fun. People actually dying left and right. Villains feeling strong and almost unstoppable is always fun to watch. While not as good as Peak Annihilation event, this was still a lot of fun.
A 4 out of 5.
May 4, 2014
All in all a poor way to round out this "event" (terrible as it turned out).
AC: Wraith
The art in the Wraith book is stunning - ethereal, exaggerated, wispy, damning. It evokes in me a mood like despair, which is exactly what this character is all about. A Kree man, out of time, out of a soul, and out of mercy for himself or others.
The storytelling is one of the most natural, fluid and easy to follow I've read in comics in ages. I have to believe the writer honed this mastery of the craft elsewhere, but to discover they're famous for writing for TV (Lost, ABC Family)?!? Odd, but what can I say against the training?
Things like the emergence of Wraith's name, the way he takes to allies, the evolution of his backstory, even some of the dialogue interplay with others - it's as if the characters are really *listening* to each other and responding to exactly what they learn. Seems striking, which probably means there's an extra level of effort put in here (maybe more than even the greats I usually rave about).
Nova: I reviewed this elsewhere, and basically while it got better than the melancholic first four issues, it went off the deep end with "evil" Nova. Ugh.
Annihilation: Conquest
Shallow stuff. Big actions, big words, full-page-splash deaths, and nothing meaningful learned about the characters. They seem to be on autopilot, doing what their biological programming meant them to do, but with no "heart" on display to let us know that they're struggling under the circumstances.
Or so it feels to me. Maybe that's a factor of the super-polished, fairly realistic (or at least overly-polished colouring) that renders so much of this cold, inert.
Or maybe it's the ultra-threat of the villain here - one we've seen before and nearly every time I think "Well that's it for our heroes then, this dude will outclass them all."
This climax to the series read like one depressing outflank after another, and I found myself resigned to the inevitable sad outcome, even with this collection of ultra-powerful heroes against the villain.
And really, why the fuck did this villain show up here? I mean, I read the passage where Abnett & Lanning shoehorned him into the story, but of all the threats to Kree and interstellar peace, did they have to pick another dude who's usually so tied to earth-bound fate and revenge that it just seems...odd to see him all of a sudden give a shit about this end of the galaxy?
Ugh, and when the villain explains his plans and how all this misery came to be, all I could think of was "oh shit, here comes the Bond villain scene." Stab myself in the eyes guys, really? Could you have either (a) just let us imagine a small sliver of what happened here or (b) delivered this info a little more artfully than just mansplain it to one of the villain's confused subjects? Given that the villain's plans are either going to play out or never be relevant, wasting a page on explaining how awesome the plans are to an underling seems retardedly out of character with this dude.
When shit goes crazy, it's actually amazing to see the characters fighting for their lives and still muster the presence of mind to call out each other by name and carry on involved conversations. I know *I* couldn't concentrate like that and still come up with witty, pithy lines. Gosh, these guys must be true heroes.
And The Villain, in the end, calling out his internal reactions out loud? Boy, that's some incredible emotionally charged moments there.
I've never felt more enthralled by the immense gravity of what comes to pass. What's this? A confusing scene in which my heroes find themselves suddenly all-powerful? What ho, this is the moment we've been waiting for! Let's race to the conclusion illustrated so big before us! I! Can't! Wait!
Uninspired writing, hyper-clean art and bombastic tone. Kinda wish I hadn't committed to reading through the cosmic stuff to present-day GotG.
Overall: wish there was more of Wraith, and that he didn't get sidelined so badly in the main story. 2 stars for A:C, 4 for Wraith, and Nova's a wash.
AC: Wraith
The art in the Wraith book is stunning - ethereal, exaggerated, wispy, damning. It evokes in me a mood like despair, which is exactly what this character is all about. A Kree man, out of time, out of a soul, and out of mercy for himself or others.
The storytelling is one of the most natural, fluid and easy to follow I've read in comics in ages. I have to believe the writer honed this mastery of the craft elsewhere, but to discover they're famous for writing for TV (Lost, ABC Family)?!? Odd, but what can I say against the training?
Things like the emergence of Wraith's name, the way he takes to allies, the evolution of his backstory, even some of the dialogue interplay with others - it's as if the characters are really *listening* to each other and responding to exactly what they learn. Seems striking, which probably means there's an extra level of effort put in here (maybe more than even the greats I usually rave about).
Nova: I reviewed this elsewhere, and basically while it got better than the melancholic first four issues, it went off the deep end with "evil" Nova. Ugh.
Annihilation: Conquest
Shallow stuff. Big actions, big words, full-page-splash deaths, and nothing meaningful learned about the characters. They seem to be on autopilot, doing what their biological programming meant them to do, but with no "heart" on display to let us know that they're struggling under the circumstances.
Or so it feels to me. Maybe that's a factor of the super-polished, fairly realistic (or at least overly-polished colouring) that renders so much of this cold, inert.
Or maybe it's the ultra-threat of the villain here - one we've seen before and nearly every time I think "Well that's it for our heroes then, this dude will outclass them all."
This climax to the series read like one depressing outflank after another, and I found myself resigned to the inevitable sad outcome, even with this collection of ultra-powerful heroes against the villain.
And really, why the fuck did this villain show up here? I mean, I read the passage where Abnett & Lanning shoehorned him into the story, but of all the threats to Kree and interstellar peace, did they have to pick another dude who's usually so tied to earth-bound fate and revenge that it just seems...odd to see him all of a sudden give a shit about this end of the galaxy?
Ugh, and when the villain explains his plans and how all this misery came to be, all I could think of was "oh shit, here comes the Bond villain scene." Stab myself in the eyes guys, really? Could you have either (a) just let us imagine a small sliver of what happened here or (b) delivered this info a little more artfully than just mansplain it to one of the villain's confused subjects? Given that the villain's plans are either going to play out or never be relevant, wasting a page on explaining how awesome the plans are to an underling seems retardedly out of character with this dude.
When shit goes crazy, it's actually amazing to see the characters fighting for their lives and still muster the presence of mind to call out each other by name and carry on involved conversations. I know *I* couldn't concentrate like that and still come up with witty, pithy lines. Gosh, these guys must be true heroes.
And The Villain, in the end, calling out his internal reactions out loud? Boy, that's some incredible emotionally charged moments there.
I've never felt more enthralled by the immense gravity of what comes to pass. What's this? A confusing scene in which my heroes find themselves suddenly all-powerful? What ho, this is the moment we've been waiting for! Let's race to the conclusion illustrated so big before us! I! Can't! Wait!
Uninspired writing, hyper-clean art and bombastic tone. Kinda wish I hadn't committed to reading through the cosmic stuff to present-day GotG.
Overall: wish there was more of Wraith, and that he didn't get sidelined so badly in the main story. 2 stars for A:C, 4 for Wraith, and Nova's a wash.
May 21, 2015
Part 2 of the Annihilation: Conquest event, comprised of the Wraith miniseries, four issues of Nova, and the actual A:C event limited series. Wraith is an anti-hero bonded to a dark symbiote who is searching for his family's killer. Nova (aka Richard Rider), last member of the Nova Corps, is mortally wounded while attempting to escape Kree space and hands the power to a Kree medic, Ko-Rel, to safeguard the Nova Worldmind.
A strong finish to another cosmic event. My only complaint is that I was not interested in Wraith as a character or his mission of vengeance. There just wasn't enough there for me to care about, and Wraith seems like an attempt to re-create a bike-riding '90's anti-hero, which seemed out of place. Adam Warlock is reborn in a confused state, which functions as a nice modern re-introduction to the character. There were some surprising moments and nice twists that rounded the story out, which, knowing comic books, probably didn't last, but were very effective for this particular story. The various groups attack the Phalanx each in their own ways, and they all blend together in a satisfying climax.
A strong finish to another cosmic event. My only complaint is that I was not interested in Wraith as a character or his mission of vengeance. There just wasn't enough there for me to care about, and Wraith seems like an attempt to re-create a bike-riding '90's anti-hero, which seemed out of place. Adam Warlock is reborn in a confused state, which functions as a nice modern re-introduction to the character. There were some surprising moments and nice twists that rounded the story out, which, knowing comic books, probably didn't last, but were very effective for this particular story. The various groups attack the Phalanx each in their own ways, and they all blend together in a satisfying climax.
September 3, 2020
Still making my way through the great Marvel cosmic saga.
This was fun. Starts off with Nova #4-7 which I enjoyed. Nova tried to fly through the barrier the Phalanx put up and damn near dies. Crash lands on a planet and the worldmind deputizes someone with the Nova power to protect Richard Rider while he heals as the people chasing him were hot in his trail. This was a nice battle here with a lot of death. Next was the Wraith. I knew nothing about this guy outside of seeing him for a brief second in Donny Cates GOTG run. He has some cool dope powers that seem to work well against the Phalanx plus I thought the character was cool. Finally we get the Conquest 1-6. Awesome story here. Phyla or Quasar and Moondragon are forced to bring Adam Warlock out of his cocoon early which as soon as the do, they are attacked. Adam brings them to a secret base where the High Evolutionary is. Ronan has formed a team with Wraith, Kl’rt and his robot friend. Loved this team. And if things weren’t bad enough, Ultron is now wrapped up in the Phalanx virus and is coming after everyone. I have been having such a good time with this saga. Next up is the War of Kings prelude.
This was fun. Starts off with Nova #4-7 which I enjoyed. Nova tried to fly through the barrier the Phalanx put up and damn near dies. Crash lands on a planet and the worldmind deputizes someone with the Nova power to protect Richard Rider while he heals as the people chasing him were hot in his trail. This was a nice battle here with a lot of death. Next was the Wraith. I knew nothing about this guy outside of seeing him for a brief second in Donny Cates GOTG run. He has some cool dope powers that seem to work well against the Phalanx plus I thought the character was cool. Finally we get the Conquest 1-6. Awesome story here. Phyla or Quasar and Moondragon are forced to bring Adam Warlock out of his cocoon early which as soon as the do, they are attacked. Adam brings them to a secret base where the High Evolutionary is. Ronan has formed a team with Wraith, Kl’rt and his robot friend. Loved this team. And if things weren’t bad enough, Ultron is now wrapped up in the Phalanx virus and is coming after everyone. I have been having such a good time with this saga. Next up is the War of Kings prelude.
September 2, 2014
Annihilation was pretty good. It's sequel isn't better though. That's not to say it's a bad book. It's just, it's only in the actual Conquest mini (and not the several tie-ins/series setting it up) that it gets any good. To be honest, when i found out the premise was the Phalanx conquering the galaxy my reaction was "oh, really? So instead of a wave of complete destruction, they now have to fight being conquered? (hence the Conquest - get it?)". It was only after the reveal (and this is kind of a spoiler, but the character is on the cover of the 5 issue) that the Phalanx were being led/manipulated by Ultron that I became more interested. Ultron in space fighting marvels cosmic super heroes is something I can get behind. I think I'd rather it have been a full out Ultron cosmic war, with multiple Ultrons, than him using the Phalanx as his lackeys. But stories involving huge Ultron armies have been done to death by this point, so fair play to them on trying to be original.
February 27, 2015
I must've missed a volume between the last one and this one. There is a new threat to the universe...The Phalanx.
April 2, 2022
Pancadaria cósmica num dos seus melhores momentos.
Nova, Quasar, Starlord, Rocket, Groot, Bug, Mantis, Ronan, Moondragon, Gamorra, Drax, Superskrull, Warlock (dos Novos Mutantes), Adãozinho, Alto Evolucionário, Aparição contra a falange e o vilão surpresa.
Do cacete.
Tudo começa com algumas edições do Nova - Richard Rider - fugindo da falange e dos seus selecionados - Gamorra e Drax. Aqui temos a Gamorra raiz; gostosona com um maiô inesplicável, capa, capuz e botas no meio da coxa, claramente um opção de conforto para caçar personagens aleatórios numa guerra intergaláctica. Também temos um edição muito legal em que a Força Nova vai para uma soldada kree aleatória que precisa proteger o Nova da incursão tecnológica falangênica; uma das melhores edições dessa fase. Depois temos o Aparição, um daqueles personagens misteriosos e genéricos em busca de vingança que tem uma capa maluca parecida com a do Spawn que parece congelar os falangetas com o poder das almas kree ou alguma bobagem assim. A cagada é que eles pulam as edições do Nova que apresentam Knowhere e o Cosmo.
Mas no final, quando chegamos nas 6 edições da Conquista propriamente dita, todas as histórias se encontram e o pau come bonito. De um lado, Ronan, Superskrull, Aparição buscando um segredo nos planetas entregues pelos Kree a Horda Aniquiladora; de outro o Starlord e seu bando de heróis tentando sabotar as estruturas de poder da falange; de outro Quasar, Serpente da Lua, Adãozinho e o Alto Evolucionário descobrindo um segredo da Inteligência Suprema e do outro a Falange e seu novo líder.
Eu não vou dizer quem é, todo mundo já deve saber, mas eu achei a revelação muito boa na primeira vez que eu li e não estragar pra galera que ainda não leu.
Essa fase cósmica da Marvel com o Giffen, o Adnett e o Lanning é fantástica, vale correr atrás.
Nova, Quasar, Starlord, Rocket, Groot, Bug, Mantis, Ronan, Moondragon, Gamorra, Drax, Superskrull, Warlock (dos Novos Mutantes), Adãozinho, Alto Evolucionário, Aparição contra a falange e o vilão surpresa.
Do cacete.
Tudo começa com algumas edições do Nova - Richard Rider - fugindo da falange e dos seus selecionados - Gamorra e Drax. Aqui temos a Gamorra raiz; gostosona com um maiô inesplicável, capa, capuz e botas no meio da coxa, claramente um opção de conforto para caçar personagens aleatórios numa guerra intergaláctica. Também temos um edição muito legal em que a Força Nova vai para uma soldada kree aleatória que precisa proteger o Nova da incursão tecnológica falangênica; uma das melhores edições dessa fase. Depois temos o Aparição, um daqueles personagens misteriosos e genéricos em busca de vingança que tem uma capa maluca parecida com a do Spawn que parece congelar os falangetas com o poder das almas kree ou alguma bobagem assim. A cagada é que eles pulam as edições do Nova que apresentam Knowhere e o Cosmo.
Mas no final, quando chegamos nas 6 edições da Conquista propriamente dita, todas as histórias se encontram e o pau come bonito. De um lado, Ronan, Superskrull, Aparição buscando um segredo nos planetas entregues pelos Kree a Horda Aniquiladora; de outro o Starlord e seu bando de heróis tentando sabotar as estruturas de poder da falange; de outro Quasar, Serpente da Lua, Adãozinho e o Alto Evolucionário descobrindo um segredo da Inteligência Suprema e do outro a Falange e seu novo líder.
Eu não vou dizer quem é, todo mundo já deve saber, mas eu achei a revelação muito boa na primeira vez que eu li e não estragar pra galera que ainda não leu.
Essa fase cósmica da Marvel com o Giffen, o Adnett e o Lanning é fantástica, vale correr atrás.
November 11, 2023
The wraith series felt very pre-2000s marvel comics in both it's writing and it's artwork, but everything else was really entertaining.
January 5, 2018
Not as fun as Annihilation, and in terms of this event, this volume suffers from the lack of Nova/GotG, who feature more heavily in volume 1, but still some cool stuff happening.
March 15, 2012
Well, I think I wanted to like this more than I actually liked it. Or, I liked the idea of it more than I liked it, I guess. It's just way too uneven.
This book starts with two opening miniseries. The Nova storyline is solid and fun, and Nova is an -ok- character (although notice that his story isn't complete in this volume. He vanishes at the beginning of the book and reappears for the big finale, which would be rather annoying if I wasn't simultaneously reading the Nova book.) Wraith was a character with serious promise--his powers seem interesting, and I was intrigued by the exolons. But he really ended up being rather insignificant and seemed more like an attempt to inject some new blood into this whole mess than to actually produce an interesting character. [And why, exactly, does he look exactly like Neil Gaiman's Sandman?] He hooks up with Super-Skrull (cool) and Ronan (less cool) but ultimately seems redundant in their story, other than as sort of a catch-all weapon against the Phalanx.
This brings us to A:C itself. First off, the teamup of Phalanx and Ultron is awesome, and I guess I should say *spoiler alert* because Ultron is obviously supposed to be a SURPRISE villain, but Marvel published this book with a giant picture of Ultron on the back! It literally says "the previously unknown mastermind of the Phalanx invasion ... will have longtime Marvel fans' jaws on the floor!" right over the picture. What a freaking letdown! Way to ruin your own surprise, Marvel!
Anyway, the StarLord team storyline through here continued from the first volume continues to be awesome. This team is just super-interesting. Unfortunately, everybody else is less so. We've got more Quasar (yawn) and Moondragon (yawn..oh, wait, she's an actual dragon now. That's actually pretty cool.) Adam Warlock shows up, and he's gained the very unique ability to....shoot stuff. (So he's now indistinguishable from everyone else.) The High Evolutionary makes a nice wildcard in all of this, and I have to say that the fate involving Adam Warlock and Ultron is a pretty cool twist on 50 years or so of Ultron's history.
Anyway, this manages to be, at times, a total blast (like every scene with Peter Quill's team) and sometimes a total drag. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning just leave me totally confused about their writing skills.
This book starts with two opening miniseries. The Nova storyline is solid and fun, and Nova is an -ok- character (although notice that his story isn't complete in this volume. He vanishes at the beginning of the book and reappears for the big finale, which would be rather annoying if I wasn't simultaneously reading the Nova book.) Wraith was a character with serious promise--his powers seem interesting, and I was intrigued by the exolons. But he really ended up being rather insignificant and seemed more like an attempt to inject some new blood into this whole mess than to actually produce an interesting character. [And why, exactly, does he look exactly like Neil Gaiman's Sandman?] He hooks up with Super-Skrull (cool) and Ronan (less cool) but ultimately seems redundant in their story, other than as sort of a catch-all weapon against the Phalanx.
This brings us to A:C itself. First off, the teamup of Phalanx and Ultron is awesome, and I guess I should say *spoiler alert* because Ultron is obviously supposed to be a SURPRISE villain, but Marvel published this book with a giant picture of Ultron on the back! It literally says "the previously unknown mastermind of the Phalanx invasion ... will have longtime Marvel fans' jaws on the floor!" right over the picture. What a freaking letdown! Way to ruin your own surprise, Marvel!
Anyway, the StarLord team storyline through here continued from the first volume continues to be awesome. This team is just super-interesting. Unfortunately, everybody else is less so. We've got more Quasar (yawn) and Moondragon (yawn..oh, wait, she's an actual dragon now. That's actually pretty cool.) Adam Warlock shows up, and he's gained the very unique ability to....shoot stuff. (So he's now indistinguishable from everyone else.) The High Evolutionary makes a nice wildcard in all of this, and I have to say that the fate involving Adam Warlock and Ultron is a pretty cool twist on 50 years or so of Ultron's history.
Anyway, this manages to be, at times, a total blast (like every scene with Peter Quill's team) and sometimes a total drag. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning just leave me totally confused about their writing skills.
June 23, 2012
This was cool. I was a little skeptical, since I enjoyed the first Annihilation so much, but the sequel did the job. A big part of it is how entertaining the Guardians of the Galaxy are, especially Rocket Raccoon and Groot. Wraith, even, was interesting despite being a walking Clint Eastwood stereotype. The main story was interesting, with Ultron being the main villain this time around. It became pretty big, but it never reached the five star tale that was the original. Still, for cosmic action, this was a great piece of comic book entertainment.
February 28, 2020
This was better than I went in expecting. There was a Nova story was that pretty good. There was also a story featuring Wraith, a character I don't much about (and as best I remember this was the first time I read about him and haven't seen him since) and then the main story which ended up being a lead in to the current incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The idea of the main villain seemed a little strange at first but made sense when you really think about it. The art in the volume really impressed me. Overall this was a very good Marvel Cosmic story, which can be hit or miss.
August 28, 2010
Except for a weak WRAITH mini-series within this book it was very strong. The art was so poor for the WRAITH series that the rest of the art, which was awesome is all under this little 3 star rating. On the whole I really enjoyed this cosmic adventure and the revamping of some of Marvels more stellar characters, but I feel Marvel does not need to put out such mixed quality books, they have the talent and resources to make things more consistent and stronger.
August 8, 2014
Not bad. I think this series is best enjoyed as a prologue to Guardians of the Galaxy. I still have no idea who Quasar is or what makes Adam Warlock so powerful, but Peter Quill and his gang of "expendables" steal the show. Last volume's Star Lord miniseries was the best part of the event, and they continue to be the most interesting and entertaining characters in the main event. Looking forward to diving into the Guardians of the Galaxy series next!
May 10, 2021
This review covers my thoughts on both Annihilation: Conquest volumes, so there may be some discussion of Book One mixed in.
I read Annihilation: Conquest when it came out in singles back in the day, and, even then, I didn't think it was a great followup to Annihilation. Today, after reading the two-volume collected edition, I contend that Annihilation: Conquest just wasn't very good at all. There were some bright spots, like Keith Giffen's Star-Lord miniseries and the Nova tie-ins, and Tom Raney's art is top notch, but over all, this story just isn't well executed. It's not that the Phalanx, having been upgraded by Ultron into Matrix clones sealing off the Kree Empire and taking over all technology within it wasn't a good concept, but it didn't really try to explore it. Like, at all. Annihilation had a lot of depth, a lot of consequence, and a lot of character growth within it, but Conquest felt like it was just checking off boxes.
Anyway, here are some of my thoughts in no particular order:
-I did like how Abnett & Lanning seemed to bring more Marvel Cosmic toys to the toybox, with cameos by the Spaceknights, the Technarchy, and other characters that were mostly left out of Annihilation. But there was so little character work that it, again, felt like checking boxes.
-It stretches credulity a bit that Peter Quill, a character with extensive cybernetic enhancements at the beginning of the story, escaped Ground Zero of the Phalanx invasion, an invasion made possible by an aggressive virus that takes control of technology, without being corrupted or killed. I mean, I'm glad he did, because I really enjoy Giffen's and D&A's take on Star-Lord, but, come on.
-Everyone seems to hate Phyla Vell. Like, not the fans or the in-story characters so much. The writers. She comes off as whiny, inept, and barely able to keep up without someone holding her hand the entire time. (I feel like this theme followed through in D&A's Guardians of the Galaxy series following Conquest, where she was repeatedly embarrassed and finally unceremoniously murdered.)
-Yeah, the Phalanx were totally the Matrix robots with the serial numbers filed off. I don't care so much, because the aesthetics were good, but, again, come on.
-Was there a bigger waste of time than Wraith? The miniseries, despite feeling like a rough draft, did have some interesting concepts and a nice Spaghetti Western vibe. Then his part in Conquest amounted to hanging around with Ronan while Ronan stepped on rakes until Wraith happened to be at the right place for the Killing Blow. Then, to the best of my knowledge, Wraith was never seen again.
-Adam Warlock annoys me most of the time. Teenage Angst Adam Warlock took a character I already don't like and turned him into absolutely the worst.
-I would think a character like the High Evolutionary wouldn't keep getting caught with his pants down. Again, I don't really like the guy that much, but would he really be so out of it that he doesn't even pay attention to massive political changes up to and including the death of the Supreme Intelligence, who, you know, fucking hired him?
-Actually, Ultron being the power behind the Phalanx was a good idea. But Ultron is so one-note that the novelty wears off pretty quickly. Ultron and the Phalanx are two Marvel entities that are universal threats that need to be completely eradicated to be stopped, but, somehow, never are, quite.
-So, the main miniseries amounts to a lot of people running around and not doing anything until they all happen to be at the right place at the right time and then they destroy the Giant Robot. There is some good character work with the Guardians of the Galaxy, some bad character work with Phyla and Ronan, and way too much fapping over Adam Warlock hitting Space Puberty. And the guy who used to be Captain Universe gets a gristly death.
-Groot could actually speak words in Annihilation Conquest. His limited vocabulary is a product of Guardians of the Galaxy, which came directly after. The inconsistency between the series annoyed me, since he lost the means to say anything other than "I am Groot" without any explanation and it wasn't addressed in any meaningful fashion until War of Kings. I actually prefer the movie compromise where Rocket, at least could translate.
-Upon rereading this, Mantis might be my favorite. I love how she is operating on a cognitive level that is out of step with rest of her team, and while it saves them in the end it is still kind of infuriating to everyone who interacts with her. I didn't read any of the Celestial Madonna stuff, but it makes sense that if that is what she is, she wouldn't be on the same tracks as the rest of the cast. (She is, to me, far superior to the movie version, at least as of this writing.)
The biggest letdown to me about this whole thing was how weak the worldbuilding was. And, not just compared to Annihilation. Abnett & Lanning's Legion was filled with big ideas and characterization, and Nova at the time was shaping up to be the same. This just felt thrown together so we could have a big cosmic sequel. I think they got better, but Annihilation: Conquest needed like six more months of prep time and a lot more focus on character. They got better, I think, but Conquest was a swing and a miss.
I read Annihilation: Conquest when it came out in singles back in the day, and, even then, I didn't think it was a great followup to Annihilation. Today, after reading the two-volume collected edition, I contend that Annihilation: Conquest just wasn't very good at all. There were some bright spots, like Keith Giffen's Star-Lord miniseries and the Nova tie-ins, and Tom Raney's art is top notch, but over all, this story just isn't well executed. It's not that the Phalanx, having been upgraded by Ultron into Matrix clones sealing off the Kree Empire and taking over all technology within it wasn't a good concept, but it didn't really try to explore it. Like, at all. Annihilation had a lot of depth, a lot of consequence, and a lot of character growth within it, but Conquest felt like it was just checking off boxes.
Anyway, here are some of my thoughts in no particular order:
-I did like how Abnett & Lanning seemed to bring more Marvel Cosmic toys to the toybox, with cameos by the Spaceknights, the Technarchy, and other characters that were mostly left out of Annihilation. But there was so little character work that it, again, felt like checking boxes.
-It stretches credulity a bit that Peter Quill, a character with extensive cybernetic enhancements at the beginning of the story, escaped Ground Zero of the Phalanx invasion, an invasion made possible by an aggressive virus that takes control of technology, without being corrupted or killed. I mean, I'm glad he did, because I really enjoy Giffen's and D&A's take on Star-Lord, but, come on.
-Everyone seems to hate Phyla Vell. Like, not the fans or the in-story characters so much. The writers. She comes off as whiny, inept, and barely able to keep up without someone holding her hand the entire time. (I feel like this theme followed through in D&A's Guardians of the Galaxy series following Conquest, where she was repeatedly embarrassed and finally unceremoniously murdered.)
-Yeah, the Phalanx were totally the Matrix robots with the serial numbers filed off. I don't care so much, because the aesthetics were good, but, again, come on.
-Was there a bigger waste of time than Wraith? The miniseries, despite feeling like a rough draft, did have some interesting concepts and a nice Spaghetti Western vibe. Then his part in Conquest amounted to hanging around with Ronan while Ronan stepped on rakes until Wraith happened to be at the right place for the Killing Blow. Then, to the best of my knowledge, Wraith was never seen again.
-Adam Warlock annoys me most of the time. Teenage Angst Adam Warlock took a character I already don't like and turned him into absolutely the worst.
-I would think a character like the High Evolutionary wouldn't keep getting caught with his pants down. Again, I don't really like the guy that much, but would he really be so out of it that he doesn't even pay attention to massive political changes up to and including the death of the Supreme Intelligence, who, you know, fucking hired him?
-Actually, Ultron being the power behind the Phalanx was a good idea. But Ultron is so one-note that the novelty wears off pretty quickly. Ultron and the Phalanx are two Marvel entities that are universal threats that need to be completely eradicated to be stopped, but, somehow, never are, quite.
-So, the main miniseries amounts to a lot of people running around and not doing anything until they all happen to be at the right place at the right time and then they destroy the Giant Robot. There is some good character work with the Guardians of the Galaxy, some bad character work with Phyla and Ronan, and way too much fapping over Adam Warlock hitting Space Puberty. And the guy who used to be Captain Universe gets a gristly death.
-Groot could actually speak words in Annihilation Conquest. His limited vocabulary is a product of Guardians of the Galaxy, which came directly after. The inconsistency between the series annoyed me, since he lost the means to say anything other than "I am Groot" without any explanation and it wasn't addressed in any meaningful fashion until War of Kings. I actually prefer the movie compromise where Rocket, at least could translate.
-Upon rereading this, Mantis might be my favorite. I love how she is operating on a cognitive level that is out of step with rest of her team, and while it saves them in the end it is still kind of infuriating to everyone who interacts with her. I didn't read any of the Celestial Madonna stuff, but it makes sense that if that is what she is, she wouldn't be on the same tracks as the rest of the cast. (She is, to me, far superior to the movie version, at least as of this writing.)
The biggest letdown to me about this whole thing was how weak the worldbuilding was. And, not just compared to Annihilation. Abnett & Lanning's Legion was filled with big ideas and characterization, and Nova at the time was shaping up to be the same. This just felt thrown together so we could have a big cosmic sequel. I think they got better, but Annihilation: Conquest needed like six more months of prep time and a lot more focus on character. They got better, I think, but Conquest was a swing and a miss.
June 12, 2023
O evento em si é legal, apesar do vilão de verdade só ser revelado na metade e não trazer muita personalidade pra história. As issues do wraith não cheguei a ler e nem recomendaria, não vejo como acrescentaria algo a história. O destaque fica para as issues do Nova que são melhores que o evento.
November 27, 2014
Best of the best, but then, I'm partial to the cosmic stuff, the epic stuff, and the planetary killers.
May 19, 2015
Such an awesome finish! Good fun. Terrific action. Just enough camp for taste! One. Great. Ride. :) Ok, saving GoTG Vol. 1 for another time. Back to reading words...
May 11, 2019
Annihilation Conquest surpasses its originator. Assimilation would have been a better title for the event. Excited to move on to more Nova and Abnett's Guardians.
September 3, 2020
Finał Anihilacji: Podbój to epickie domknięcie pewnego rozdziału w dziejach Marvela, gdzie szczęśliwie postawiono nacisk na mniej znane postacie giganta komiksu, co uważam za strzał w dziesiątkę. Niestety tytuł nie jest pozbawiony wad, a i momentami zdarzało mi się ziewnąć...
Inwazja techno-organicznej rasy Phalanx doprowadziła do upadku odradzające się imperium Kree. Część herosów w kontakcie z wirusem przeszła stronę wroga i otwarcie staje naprzeciw dotychczasowym sprzymierzeńcom. Taki los spotkał m.in. Gamorrę czy Ronana. Teraz jednak kosmiczne, sprzymierzone siły po ciosie jaki został im zadany, zaczynają odzyskiwać rezon. Tom zaczyna się od przebudzenia Novy, który rusza do walki, ale jest w tym wybitnie osamotniony, a wróg atakuje go nie tylko fizycznie, ale i elektronicznie (próbując sforsować tą świadomość Korpusu jak mu nadal towarzyszy).
Ten fragment historii może się podobać, bowiem mamy tu trochę zwrotów akcji, a nawet kogoś innego w skórze Novy, w chwili gdy wypadki przybiorą bardzo zły obrót. Zresztą sam Rider jest całkiem fajnym bohaterem. Nie bojącym się stawiania czoła zagrożeniom, choć zbyt impulsywnym, przez co wyprowadzenie go w pole jest nieco ułatwione. Jeżeli natomiast liczyliście na jakiś rozwój charakterów to tego tutaj nie ma. Akcja gna na złamanie karku, racząc Nas feriom barwnych pojedynków, wybuchów i tempem akcji wchodzącym w nad świetlną. Potem dane mi było poznać nową postać o imieniu Zjawa.
Z jednej strony ma standardową motywację, czyli zemsta. Z drugiej jest praktycznie nieśmiertelny. W dodatku ma broń, która automatycznie zmienia się dostosowując do "sytuacji", ale dla mnie koleś był wyprany z charakteru. Nie ma ani krzty iskry w sobie i nijak nie tłumaczy to, iż jest martwy, a jednak żywy. Autor znalazł miejsce na to, aby pokazać "narodziny" postaci. Niby się tutaj dzieje naprawdę sporo, ale niebyt mnie to obchodziło. To chyba najsłabsza opowieść ze zbioru Anihilacja.
Finał poprzedniego eventu był epicki. Czułem moc Ridera czy wagę sytuacji. Tutaj Abnett już na wejściu wali nas po twarzy, wrzucając kolejnego przeciwnika, którego wyjął jak magik królika z kapelusza, niby podkręcając już i tak piekielnie szybkie tempo akcji. Z jednej strony mamy działania dywersyjne Star Lorda i spółki. Z kosmosu nadciąga Zjawa wraz z sojusznikami, a na Hali Quazar podejmuje desperacką walkę z Adamem Warlockiem... Myślałem, że końcówka będzie bardziej dynamiczna, a tu... puff. Tak jakby autor złapał zadyszki już na finiszu. Finał jest odpowiednio bombowy, ale także przewidywalny.
Mamy tu trzy historie, którzy ilustrowaniem zajęło się trzech odrębnych grafików i nie są to niestety prace wybitne, aczkolwiek to co miało dobrze wyglądać, czyli sceny walk - wygląda świetnie. Coś się tu kończy, a coś zaczyna. Pomysł z użyciem mało znanych postaci jest niezły. Anihilacja to taki letni blockbuster. Ma zapewnić rozrywkę i fajerwerki, tyle że nie daje od siebie nic więcej. 3/5
Inwazja techno-organicznej rasy Phalanx doprowadziła do upadku odradzające się imperium Kree. Część herosów w kontakcie z wirusem przeszła stronę wroga i otwarcie staje naprzeciw dotychczasowym sprzymierzeńcom. Taki los spotkał m.in. Gamorrę czy Ronana. Teraz jednak kosmiczne, sprzymierzone siły po ciosie jaki został im zadany, zaczynają odzyskiwać rezon. Tom zaczyna się od przebudzenia Novy, który rusza do walki, ale jest w tym wybitnie osamotniony, a wróg atakuje go nie tylko fizycznie, ale i elektronicznie (próbując sforsować tą świadomość Korpusu jak mu nadal towarzyszy).
Ten fragment historii może się podobać, bowiem mamy tu trochę zwrotów akcji, a nawet kogoś innego w skórze Novy, w chwili gdy wypadki przybiorą bardzo zły obrót. Zresztą sam Rider jest całkiem fajnym bohaterem. Nie bojącym się stawiania czoła zagrożeniom, choć zbyt impulsywnym, przez co wyprowadzenie go w pole jest nieco ułatwione. Jeżeli natomiast liczyliście na jakiś rozwój charakterów to tego tutaj nie ma. Akcja gna na złamanie karku, racząc Nas feriom barwnych pojedynków, wybuchów i tempem akcji wchodzącym w nad świetlną. Potem dane mi było poznać nową postać o imieniu Zjawa.
Z jednej strony ma standardową motywację, czyli zemsta. Z drugiej jest praktycznie nieśmiertelny. W dodatku ma broń, która automatycznie zmienia się dostosowując do "sytuacji", ale dla mnie koleś był wyprany z charakteru. Nie ma ani krzty iskry w sobie i nijak nie tłumaczy to, iż jest martwy, a jednak żywy. Autor znalazł miejsce na to, aby pokazać "narodziny" postaci. Niby się tutaj dzieje naprawdę sporo, ale niebyt mnie to obchodziło. To chyba najsłabsza opowieść ze zbioru Anihilacja.
Finał poprzedniego eventu był epicki. Czułem moc Ridera czy wagę sytuacji. Tutaj Abnett już na wejściu wali nas po twarzy, wrzucając kolejnego przeciwnika, którego wyjął jak magik królika z kapelusza, niby podkręcając już i tak piekielnie szybkie tempo akcji. Z jednej strony mamy działania dywersyjne Star Lorda i spółki. Z kosmosu nadciąga Zjawa wraz z sojusznikami, a na Hali Quazar podejmuje desperacką walkę z Adamem Warlockiem... Myślałem, że końcówka będzie bardziej dynamiczna, a tu... puff. Tak jakby autor złapał zadyszki już na finiszu. Finał jest odpowiednio bombowy, ale także przewidywalny.
Mamy tu trzy historie, którzy ilustrowaniem zajęło się trzech odrębnych grafików i nie są to niestety prace wybitne, aczkolwiek to co miało dobrze wyglądać, czyli sceny walk - wygląda świetnie. Coś się tu kończy, a coś zaczyna. Pomysł z użyciem mało znanych postaci jest niezły. Anihilacja to taki letni blockbuster. Ma zapewnić rozrywkę i fajerwerki, tyle że nie daje od siebie nic więcej. 3/5
March 2, 2022
The Guardians of the Galaxy are such a fun group. I'm looking forward to reading more of their books. Besides that, the book was pretty good. I had already read the Nova issues in Nova, Volume 1: Annihilation: Conquest. The Wraith storyline was okay. The character reminded me a bit of Dream from The Sandman series.
November 11, 2019
The final installment in the Annihilation epic story. Freeing the Kree from the Phalanx is a job for Nova, Quasar and Star-Lord. Nova still holds the worldmind computer but is that enough to keep him from being controlled by the Phalanx? He's going to risk it not knowing that his old love Gamora is under their control and waiting for him. Ronan has to choose between blowing up his home killing the Kree to save them from being controlled by Supermor, the phalanx ruler....or allowing them to be assimilated. Which will he choose? Adam Warlock faces his father. Groot makes a sacrifice. Will the phalanx reign end?
January 8, 2018
This is how they built the Guardians of the Galaxy! What a trip! DnA are definitely the best cosmic writers I've had the honor to read. From their Legion stuff to a Marvel Cosmic Universe I never expected to like this much.
It doesn't have a full 5 stars because Wraith was painful to read... And I did have a bit of trouble with the coloring. Everything looked a bit too shiny, as if wrapped in plastic.
But anyway, great epic story. Highly recommended.
It doesn't have a full 5 stars because Wraith was painful to read... And I did have a bit of trouble with the coloring. Everything looked a bit too shiny, as if wrapped in plastic.
But anyway, great epic story. Highly recommended.
January 19, 2022
The biggest dissapointment is to eject the Nova story from this collection, which you can't even collect now, cause it's OOP.
And we get ANOTHER character to patch things up....
I don't know. Guardians were pretty fun and got me wanting more, but overall this event is suffering from the same problems as the original one, although, the whole six issues wrap things waaaay better than Giffen did the first time.
And we get ANOTHER character to patch things up....
I don't know. Guardians were pretty fun and got me wanting more, but overall this event is suffering from the same problems as the original one, although, the whole six issues wrap things waaaay better than Giffen did the first time.
April 28, 2023
Annihilation saga is literally much much important event. I can't get it how it is underated compare to other events.
When i decided to read annihilation vol 1 i had no idea after vol 3 there is annihilation :concuest vol1 and 2 and when i found out about it i was not really into it. You know i think the annihilation whole story is kinda long and heavy event. But both concuest volumes made it more pleasant story specially with the art style and graphic which is much better.
When i decided to read annihilation vol 1 i had no idea after vol 3 there is annihilation :concuest vol1 and 2 and when i found out about it i was not really into it. You know i think the annihilation whole story is kinda long and heavy event. But both concuest volumes made it more pleasant story specially with the art style and graphic which is much better.
June 9, 2024
This volume is a more entertaining than the first volume however I still found myself largely disinterested in the majority of the characters and the overall conflict. The Nova issues really elevated the story, they were excellent. Also bringing in Ultron as the mastermind behind the phalanx was an awesome move.
August 3, 2019
A new threat to the Marvel universe is created with the technological Phalanx collective. The protectors will assemble to neutralize the threat in what is a very predictable superhero story that feints deeper emotion but is ultimately a teenage hero story. Not bad not good.
July 22, 2017
Far superior to the first book...we finally get the mini-series as opposed to tie-ins. Great read!! DnA at top of their game.
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