Annihilation: Conquest #6 ~ Reading the first Annihilation a couple of months ago definitely changed how I looked at this sequel - based on the Prologue (prior to my reading Annihilation) I was expecting something more grounded in science fiction, and a bit confused along the way when things didn't seem headed in that direction. These last couple of issues (post-me-reading-Annihilation) I had a much clearer view of what was going on - space opera, rather than sci-fi. The heroes stand larger than life, the villain is confronted, twists and turns, but ultimately it comes down to the good guys putting their skills together and coming up with the magic attack that'll defeat the bad guy. It's not especially revolutionary (and it goes without saying that I sincerely doubt we've seen the last of Ultron, though a long hiatus might not be a bad thing, to generate some impact when the return rolls around), but it's exciting. The value is in the subplots, though - Ronan's single-minded quest to save the Kree race by killing them, Peter Quill's band of misfit heroes suffering losses and staggering onwards, Phyla-Vell having taken hit after hit and struggling to pull herself together. The only weak point, in my view, was Nova - anyone who didn't read the Nova issues that've been going on during Annihilation (admittedly, Marvel did point to them being important) might have been a bit lost with the arrival of the seriously weird Warlock (not Adam), even though the general idea of "I'm going to find help!" was set up in the marked tie-in issues of Nova. All in all, it's much a case of Annihilation again - fun and entertaining in the same way, but not more than the first Annihilation was, and in consequence seeming a bit underwhelming in the end, since it's not the first.
One area where this book has kicked the crap out of its predecessor is the art, especially the space scenes - just the opening double page of this issue has a sense of power and majesty and scope that I found sorely lacking in the space visuals in Annihilation. The ground-level fight scenes are equally energetic and defined, and overall the art for this series has been excellent at all turns. So far as character arcs go, on a personal level I'm obviously focusing on Phyla-Vell, and she had a satisfying throughline - she was the focus of the Prologue, and so she gets the epilogue in this issue, with a sombre (but not wallowing in sadness) reminder of the loss of Moondragon, and the setup for her participating in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy series. And yep, I'm definitely getting that. Sadly, one other character I'd become quite fond of didn't make it - she may not have been a big player, but it'll be a shame not to see her around and about the space adventure scene any more.
Avengers: The Initiative #11 ~ The KIA arc concludes with everything coming together for the finale - and I do mean everything, as practically every one of the myriad running subplots of this sprawling series comes into play in the final battle to take down the rogue clone-gone-wrong-with-a-superweapon (who'd ever think that would go wrong, huh?). Of course, writer Dan Slott can't resist raising as many questions as he answers - we get a bit more info on Mutant Zero, but only enough to wonder what that means, we see more development of Abby, and Hardball and Komodo's relationship, but it remains to be seen how they'll progress from this dramatic crucible, and we finally get to see under War Machine's mask, which raises the question of what the hell happened to him? I particularly liked Abby's segment of the story (no surprise there, huh?) - the overt level of it is that the Initiative has hardened her, to the point where the nervous girl we met in issue one can be a ruthless hardass when she needs to be. But at the same time, she stepped up and helped save the day - whatever the Initiative has done, the question still remains: who defines what she is, and whether she's a 'hero', them or her?
The ending is an ambiguous 'The End?' - which I think is unintentional ambiguity, but I wish Marvel would be a bit more careful with things like that, as I saw it and instantly worried that they'd cancelled another one of my favourite books. But no, future issues have been solicited like clockwork in Previews - what seems to be happening is that this arc marks the swansong for the first batch of rookies as rookies. Cloud 9, Komodo and Hardball (and their classmates) will graduate, or flunk, or whatever their fates may be, and it'll be time for the Initiative to take in the next batch. I'm not sure how I feel about that - with so much on its plate, moving Cloud 9 et al off-base (to 50 State Initiative teams, presumably, for those who pass the exam) seems like it'll inevitably mean seeing less of them, even if the title does try to keep in touch with everyone. I don't doubt Slott's ability to make the new rookies as interesting as the current batch, but... I'm used to them, I don't want to see less of them. Ah well, sic transit and all that. This first dozen issues (#1-11 and the Annual) have shown Avengers: The Initiative to be a confident, multi-layered title with the longevity to go on for years and years, and I hope it does - the more stable and central this book can be for the Marvel universe, and the whole Initiative/Registration program in general, the better it'll be.
Tarot's Spell Cards ~ Something out of the ordinary - not really for Tarot, which always includes bonus material in each issue relating to Wicca, but certainly unusual for me. This is a set of 4" by 6" art cards, including a 'cover', a backing card with credits and a photo of Jim and Holly in costume, an info card with instructions for casting circles and information on glyphs, and twelve spell cards. Each of these is decorated on one side with an image of Tarot or Raven (whichever is appropriate), mostly in a state of undress (Tarot readers should expect no less, of course) in a setting fitting for the card, and on the other side instructions for carrying out a spell. The twelve cards cover gratitude, prosperity, romance, passion, repelling evil, reducing stress, banishing obstacles, binding wrong-doers, summoning a lover, seduction, wishing revenge on enemies, and freeing yourself from negative energy - the first six are the Tarot cards, the latter six Raven (no surprise if you guessed the 'revenge' card was hers). So far as these relate to the comics, it's interesting to note that only that one card of Raven's is explicitly 'dark', with the others falling more into the grey area of being forthright and committed, but not inherently dark if that's not the user's intention - rather like Raven herself, since she calmed down after her flights of villainy in early issues. Naturally this isn't the magic you see in Tarot issues, so there won't be any flinging of fireballs or teleporting to the fairy realm - if you're looking skeptical about the whole thing, think of them as analagous prayers or meditation, both of which have their own sets of rituals and accessories, just like the spells do. Me, I'm not the spell-casting type, so I can't comment on their effectiveness (if you try them out and want to let me know, by all means leave a comment or email me) - still, these come from Jim and Holly, and Tarot over the years has proven their commitment to a positive Wiccan philosophy, so it's fair to assume they know what they're doing. So far as I'm concerned - well, maybe I'll give one or two a try some day - this is a set of art cards, and the art is as lavish and beautifully rendered as always with Tarot - for a committed fan like me, good value for money.
