Annihilation: Conquest #1 ~ There's one word that sums this up: fun! You don't need to have read the Prologue, or the lead-in miniseries (I only read Quasar) - they're good, and enrich this issue, but everything you need to enjoy the hell out of yourself is right here. The opening pages are a neat little set-piece that demonstrates the kind of pulse-pumping space opera action that this book can deliver - Abnett and Lanning know how to write action, and Tom Raney (with Scott Frank in inks and Frank D'Armata colouring) produces some vividly powerful pages, especially in the beginning with a Phalanx 'Stomper' rampaging around like a maniac Martian war machine from War of the Worlds, towering over the rag-tag rebels fighting it. As an added bonus, the issue has 26 story pages, rather than the regular 22, at no extra cost - can't complain about that.
Ronan, Super-Skrull, and Wraith are re-introduced (quite fluidly, bearing in mind I've never read any of them), setting them up for their role in the months to come, but Quasar dominates this issue, first explaining what's going on for the benefit of the newly-hatched Adam Warlock (as well as any latecomer readers), and then trying to figure out how to proceed when it seems that the 'saviour' is a basket case who doesn't have the first clue what to do himself. The story is fast-moving and full of action, but it knows variety is the spice of life, and takes time for brief moments of introspection, and even comedy, with Quasar and Moondragon having their usual cute back-and-forth dialogue. As promised there's twists and revelations too - I feel safe in spoiling that Xemnu shows up as a Phalanx Select (I know, Xemnu!), but it'd be a shame to spoil where Warlock takes Quasar and Moondragon to hide out from their pursuers, or the final page reveal of the mastermind behind the Phalanx. It's a doozy, though.
Ms. Marvel #21 ~ It's all about Cru. I had an inkling, back when Cru was first introduced in issues #2-3, that there was more there than just a one-note monster, and after all this time, and all Carol's been through in the meantime with Civil War and Operation Lightning Storm, Brian Reed proves me right. I won't say it's a flawless revelation of just what was going on back then - there's a couple of minor points I'd like some clarification on - but overall this is a fluid continuation of the story begun way back when. It's also a good continuation of the story as it's been running through the more recent issues, with Carol's newfound nigh-invulnerability and her psychological reaction to that, Agent Sum's likewise rather startling ability to shrug off damage, and even the ups and downs of Carol's love life, played out rather amusingly - and surprisingly grippingly - on her cellphone's voicemail while she and Cru are fighting. Oh, and Machine Man is hilarious, of course. Scary, but hilarious. All in all, it's another fun, exciting, interesting and cool issue of a book that really knows what it means to be a superhero comic.
The addition of a few preview pages of Captain Marvel was a nice surprise - I doubt I'll get it, but since it's written by the same author as Ms. Marvel, and features Ms. Marvel in an upcoming issue (I forget which, but I remember seeing it in previews), it's a good idea to put the title out for readers' attention. Annihilation: Conquest and Shanna the She-Devil also had extra material this week, with a page of 'which superhero would you date' for various Marvel creators, a quick interview with Iron Fist and The Order writer Matt Fraction, some sketches and info on New Exiles, and some trivia about the X-Men - I don't know why Marvel's suddenly decided to pack in some special features in their books, DVD-style (though I'm half-expecting something from the X-Men trivia page to be revelant to Secret Invasion, the way things are going), but I think it's a good move - the 'which superhero' page was funny, and the New Exiles preview reminded me that I'd been thinking of checking that book out.
The Order #4 ~ This book is Marvel Comics - superheroes as real people, flawed and interesting and human, struggling with supervillains on one hand, and the same daily grind the rest of us have to deal with on the other. In fact, if I had to pick just one book to represent who Marvel is as a publisher of superhero comics, I'd pick The Order (DC would be JSA) - writer Matt Fraction simply does not miss a beat from start to finish of every issue, and Barry Kitson's art turns a great story into a great comic. The only perplexing thing is that Marvel didn't put the Fraction interview page, which appeared in Shanna and Ms. Marvel, in this issue, since it would certainly have been of interest to Order readers. Still, if the placement of glorified in-house ads is the worst criticism I can level at an issue, that's a good day.
This issue focuses on Magdalena Marie, aka Veda - the one who can command the elements, in the form of golems. She's an interesting change of pace, since with the exception of Anthem - who's the leader - the book's been showing us younger characters so far, Aralune and Calamity. Veda is more mature, more collected, more able to look at herself and accept what she sees - she's the kind of superhero who you'd expect to be leading a team, not just a member of one. But there's nothing illogical about her place in the Order - personal maturity doesn't bestow super-team command skills as a side-effect, after all - and it's an interesting dynamic to have an articulate, thoughtful character among the younger, brasher heroes. It also benefits the issue's structure - with the Zobo (zombie hobo) attack storyline gaining momentum it's necessary for more of the team to be shown more of the time, and Veda is a character who can clearly and concisely speak her mind with ease; we get the same amount of character exploration in a smaller amount of space. When the character concepts and sketches first began to circulate for this book, Veda was the one I most looked forward to getting to know, and it's turned out to be 100% worth it.
Shanna the She-Devil: Survival of the Fittest #4 ~ This was a miniseries that started out with potential - a revisiting of Shanna with a more complex storyline, more characters, more motives and antagonist with goals more interesting than "I'm a dinosaur and I'm hungry." But the plain fact is that that potential hasn't been realised. The newly-introduced elements, like the caveman Nazi city, don't mean anything to the story, the characters have been all buy generic - I didn't get any sense of anything between Shanna and the guy she snogs at the end, for all I know it's just because he was the last one standing - no-one had any developed motives besides running away from dinosaurs, and the villains were just more dino-bait who happened to shoot at the good guys now and then. Khari Evans' art was an interesting change of pace, but the story just wasn't there - Gray and Palmiotti must have had an off day when they dashed off the script to this one, because they can do far better. All in all, there's no reason to buy this - if you like the idea of Shanna, get the original Frank Cho miniseries, and if it's Evans' art that catches your interest, get Daughters of the Dragon (which Gray and Palmiotti actually put some effort into).
