Loss of Confidence?
This issue marks the beginning of the four issue mini of the newly formed Annihilators, fresh out of the Thanos Imperative. Fortunately for new readers, you need not have read that story arc, or any that come before it. This is a stand alone story. You get a briefing within the first few pages in the dialogue as to who the main characters are. They just so happen to be the biggest hitters in the Marvel cosmic scene, having been brought together to defend the universe. Now we get to find out what threat could possibly be big enough to get these guys together.
I love the team up. It's like the Star Masters - but better. These are some of my favorite characters. I was worried that this Ikon character was going to make them seem less powerful than they are, but she doesn't. Now, I don't know if I like it or not, but Quasar has done a 180 if I'm not mistaken. He's lacks any confidence at all and thinks very dark thoughts. This isn't the Quasar I remember, who in the Star Masters was shown to have the greatest will power of them all, including the Surfer and Beta Ray Bill. Hopefully, something will come of this. I'm not familiar with this villain or his powers, but I'm assuming he is going to have to be pretty bad ass to give these guys a run for their money.
What's not to like? Some of the artwork is a little messy and looks rushed. Some angles and proportions just don't look right in some panels. The larger pictures all look excellent though and the coloring is great. Beta Ray Bill just looks weird and seems little out of character. There isn't very much action in this issue, which is disappointing considering this is one fourth of all the content we are going to get. The main story seemed to be a quick read, probably because of....
The back up story with Rocket Raccoon. I don't know how anyone doesn't love this character. To spoil it for you, after the Guardians of the Galaxy disbanded, Rocket went and got a normal job in an office delivering mail. Things go wrong for him even there. It's a cute story and it shows off a little bit of how awesome Rocket is at fighting. We also get insight into how he feels after Starlord's death.
I just enjoyed having some follow up, since there are literally a ton of characters we are not likely to see any continuing stories from anytime in the near future Examples include the Inhumans, Kree, Shi'Ar, Nova Force, Starjammers, the other surviving members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, or any other cosmic character I am leaving out that is now in limbo since the cancellation of all of Marvel's ongoing cosmic theater stories.
I'll give this a 4 out of 5 due to some art problems. I would recommend this to cosmic fans and new readers alike. Please go buy it and support Marvel's cosmic characters, who don't get as much love as they deserve. Remember, while the heroes of Earth were busy fighting amongst themselves, these guys were saving the universe.
