Kings Collide, Empires Shatter
Black Bolt, King of the Inhumans and the Kree leads his people to war against Vulcan, King of the Shi'ar empire.
My Thoughts:
The writing duo of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning script a war unlike anything the Marvel universe has seen before. Out of all the cosmic stories Marvel has published, this is by far the one I have enjoyed the most. It is far superior to Annihilation and Annihilation Conquest.
There was a lot of hype leading up to this event which pits two fierce Kings against one another. I like both Black Bolt and Vulcan and honestly wasn't sure which one I wanted to come out victorious at first. I think I started leaning towards Black Bolt a little. The story didn't end like I thought it would which is both good and bad. Good because it was unpredictable but bad because it wasn't what I was hoping for. Of course in such an epic event, someone is going to get killed. The first death I didn't see coming. Lilandra was murdered which greatly effects the Shi'ar empire even after the war ends.
I knew at some point Black Bolt and Vulcan would face off against one another. The fight was definitely awesome. It didn't end like I thought it would. I thought one would kill the other but instead both of them ended up dying. I didn't want to see Black Bolt die since he just came back after the Secret Invasion. I was hoping he would take the throne for a long time to come.
With both Kings dying in the war, Medusa leads the Inhumans and Kree as Queen but the Shi'ar were without a King. After a lot of pushing and persuasion, Gladiator accepts rule over the Shi'ar. A worthy choice to say the least but I'm curious to see what happens next as we are left with a cliffhanger showing Magus who was watching the events unfold.
The art is by Paul Pelletier and Bong Dazo. They did a great job on the art which I thought was a perfect fit for the comic. The coloring was nice and bright. The covers were great. No complaints at all.
If you're interested in a cosmic story and aren't sure which one to check out I would say this one is perfect for you assuming you like some or all of the characters involved in this. The premise is cool and the book packs plenty of action and excitement.
Rating: 4/5