Annihilation (comics)
"Annihilation" | |||
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Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||
Publication date | November 2005 – May 2007 | ||
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Main character(s) |
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Creative team | |||
Writer(s) |
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Artist(s) | Gabriele Dell'Otto (all covers) | ||
Penciller(s) |
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Editor(s) | ISBN 0-7851-2513-2 |
"Annihilation" is a 2006
Publication history
A 48-page
While not published with the Annihilation banner, Drax the Destroyer: Earthfall #1–4 (Sept 2005) and Thanos #7–12 (2004) were preludes to the event.
Plot
Thanos
Drax the Destroyer: Earthfall
Drax the Destroyer is on a prison transport ship that crashes in Alaska. He befriends a teenage girl named Cammi and protects the locals from the Blood Brothers, Lunatik, and Paibok. During the battle, Drax gains a new body. A second prison ship arrives and arrests both Drax and Cammi.[6]
Annihilation: Prologue
The Annihilation Wave, a large armada of warships under the control of
Elsewhere in the galaxy, Ronan the Accuser, Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire, is arrested for treason. The Super-Skrull learns that the Annihilation Wave is moving toward the Skrull Empire, while the Silver Surfer decides to investigate.[7]
Annihilation: Nova
After the fall of Xandar, Richard Rider, the last surviving known
With the entire knowledge and experiences of the Xandarian culture, as well as the full power of the Nova Force at his disposal,
Nova Prime, along with
Annihilation: Silver Surfer
Annihilus dispatches the Seekers, led by Ravenous, to capture beings imbued with the
Galactus reveals that the Annihilation Wave's destruction of the Kyln may have freed two Proemial Gods, Tenebrous and
Annihilation: Super Skrull
Once the Annihilation Wave reaches the Skrull empire, it begins using a weapon known as the Harvester of Sorrows, a massive ship which renders entire planets into fuel for the armada. Learning that the planet his son lives on is in its path, Kl'rt the Super-Skrull and a young Skrull engineer, R'Kin, travel to the Negative Zone to find a way to stop the Harvester. Kl'rt locates Hawal, the warden of a prison planet and designer of the Harvester. Using torture, Kl'rt forces Hawal to design a virus that can destroy the Harvester. He also unites the planet's prisoners into an army.
When Kl'rt brings his army back to the Skrull empire to attack the Harvester, R'Kin betrays them. Kl'rt is able to escape and destroy the Harvester, but not before his son is consumed by it. Kl'rt appears to be killed in the process.[10]
Annihilation: Ronan
On the run from
Just as Glorian's plan approaches completion, the Annihilation Wave attacks Godthab Omega. Ronan, Korath, Gamora, and Glorian all battle Annihilus's forces. Tana Nile is killed, preventing Ronan from proving his innocence. Undeterred, Ronan resolves to return to the Kree, violating his exile to warn them of the coming danger.[11]
Annihilation
205 days after Annihilation Day,
Thanos kidnaps Moondragon and tells Drax via Phyla-Vell that she will be killed if Drax pursues him. Ravenous leads an attack on the United Front and he has many of Nova's former allies in his thrall, including Terrax. During the conflict, a huge energy spike restores the deceased Super-Skrull Kl'rt to his full power. Ravenous' troops retreat as Annihilus' ship arrives. With Thanos' aid, Annihilus has turned an imprisoned Galactus into a weapon. The United Front is broken and defeated. In the aftermath of the battle, Nova sends out a warning to the heroes of Earth about the approaching wave. Drax stays behind to hunt and kill Thanos.[13]
Thanos had allied himself with Annihilus out of curiosity. When he learns Annihilus' plan is to extinguish all life in the universe, Thanos plans to betray him by releasing Galactus. Just before he can do so, Drax appears and kills him.[14] Drax and Moondragon then release the Silver Surfer, who in turn releases Galactus.
At the same time, Ronan the Accuser and a small band of allies (including Ronan's sworn enemy, the Super-Skrull) arrive on the homeworld of ruling Kree House Fiyero. Ronan learns that House Fiyero had allied themselves with Ravenous and Annihilus. Ronan kills the members of Fiyero and is called by the populace to be the new emperor.[15]
Galactus proceeds to unleash a massive, omnidirectional blast that later becomes known as the "Galactus event." Silver Surfer is sent ahead of the blast by Galactus to herald the imminent destruction, as the unleashed "Galactus obliteration perimeter" wipes out the majority of the Annihilation Wave, more than three star systems and even vaporizes a Watcher.
Nova, Peter Quill and Phyla-Vell have teleported close to Annihilus' flagship and are preparing to make the last jump when Galactus' energy wave arrives. Annihilus, finding that he has been betrayed by Thanos and undone by Galactus, uses Quasar's quantum bands to protect himself from the energy blast. Nova battles Annihilus, but is unable to win until Phyla manages to steal the Quantum bands from Annihilus. Nova kills the weakened villain.
A treaty between the remains of the Annihilation Wave and the Kree was signed, ceding certain Kree territories to Ravenous. This ends the overt hostilities, but both sides are unhappy.[16]
Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus
After being captured, enslaved and made a pawn of Annihilus, Terrax has broken free only to crash-land on a planet ruled by the Space Parasite. He decides to destroy this murderous entity as a way to regain his honor.[17]
Stardust returns from death and re-devotes himself to Galactus. As proof of his commitment, Stardust feeds the last of his race to the malnourished Galactus.[17]
Galactus sends the Silver Surfer to track Tenebrous and Aegis. Surfer ends up destroying them with the energy of the Crunch.[18]
Firelord tracks down many of the Centurians—Annihilus's elite force that murdered his homeworld and many other worlds. He kills some, but others plead for mercy, saying they were tricked. Firelord allows them to live, but only if they behave from that moment on.[18]
Sequels and spin-offs
After the Annihilation event concluded, Marvel announced a new Nova ongoing series, written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, as well as a second crossover event in a similar format, Annihilation: Conquest, by the same authors.[19] The second volume of Guardians of the Galaxy, which began in 2008, features several of the characters in Annihilation. In November and December 2019, Marvel released Annihilation: Scourge, a six issue storyline where Annihilus works with Nova, the Fantastic Four, Beta Ray Bill, and the Silver Surfer to stop a different invading army. In 2021, Marvel released Last Annihilation, a crossover between the Guardians of the Galaxy and SWORD in which Dormammu, Lord of the Dark Dimension, has merged with Ego the Living Planet and plans to conquer space.
Other versions
What If?
In a special What If by David Hine and Mico Suayan,[20] the Annihilation Wave reaches Earth in the climactic battle of the Civil War between Iron Man's pro-Superhuman Registration Act side and Captain America's anti-Superhuman Registration Act side. Nova is outraged; the heroes are fighting over secret identities when such a massive threat is coming, revealing that in this world, Drax was unable to revive Galactus and thus the Wave continued its march, taking much of the Kree Empire along with Ronan and the Super-Skrull. The Wave hits Earth in a massive strike on multiple cities, the heroes and villains uniting to fight it off while sustaining massive casualties. With more of Annihilus' forces coming, this reality's Watcher tells the heroes that the Terminus device can be used to open a black hole to suck the fleet away. With the help of the Inhumans, they trick Annihilus into sending his forces toward the moon. Nova intends to stay and set the device off and Captain America and Iron Man volunteer to help him fight off the Wave to buy Earth time. The three sacrifice themselves to set off the device, sucking the Wave into the black hole and leaving Earth ravaged but still alive.
Reviews
- Casus Belli (v4, Issue 15 - Jun/Jul 2015)[21]
Collected editions
Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
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Annihilation Classic | Bug #1, Tales to Astonish #13, Nova #1, Quasar #1, Rocket Raccoon #1-4, Marvel Spotlight #6, Logan's Run #6, Marvel Premiere #1 | October 2008 | 978-0785133889 |
Guardians of the Galaxy: Road to Annihilation Vol. 1 | Warlock #1-4, Captain Marvel #4-6, 15-16, Infinity Abyss #1-6, She-Hulk #7-8 | January 2017 | 978-1302904418 |
Guardians of the Galaxy: Road to Annihilation Vol. 2 | Sensational She-Hulk #44-46, Thanos #7-12, Marvel Monsters: Monsters on the Prowl, Nick Fury's Howling Commandos #1-6 | April 2017 | 978-1302904425 |
Annihilation Book 1 | Drax the Destroyer #1-4, Annihilation Prologue, Annihilation: Nova #1-4 | February 2007 | 978-0785129011 |
Annihilation Book 2 | Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1-4, Annihilation: Super-Skrull #1-4, Annihilation: Ronan #1-4 | May 2007 | 978-0785125129 |
Annihilation Book 3 | Annihilation #1-6, Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1-2, Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files | July 2007 | 978-0785125136 |
Annihilation: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 | Drax the Destroyer #1-4, Annihilation Prologue, Annihilation: Nova #1-4, Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1-4, Annihilation: Super-Skrull #1-4 | April 2018 | 978-1302912864 |
Annihilation: The Complete Collection Vol. 2 | Annihilation: Ronan #1-4, Annihilation #1-6, Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1-2, Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files | May 2018 | 978-1302912871 |
Annihilation Omnibus | Drax the Destroyer #1-4, Annihilation Prologue, Annihilation: Nova #1-4, Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1-4, Annihilation: Super-Skrull #1-4, Annihilation: Ronan #1-4, Annihilation #1-6, Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1-2, Annihilation: The Nova Corps Files | May 2022 | 978-1302934071 |
References
- ^ Star War: Giffen talks "Annihilation", Comic Book Resources, December 14, 2005
- ^ Keith Giffen on Annihilation[permanent dead link], Newsarama, December 19, 2005
- ^ "The Power Cosmic: Andy Schmidt talks 'Annihilation'", Comic Book Resources, December 15, 2005
- ^ Annihilation Editor Andy Schmidt: “War Report” Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine, Comics Bulletin, June 23, 2006
- ^ Thanos #7–12 (2004)
- ^ Drax the Destroyer #1–4 (Sept – Dec 2005)
- ^ Annihilation: Prologue one-shot (March 2006)
- ^ Annihilation: Nova #1–4 (Apr – July 2006)
- ^ Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1–4 (April–July 2006)
- ^ Annihilation: Super Skrull #1–4 (Apr – July 2006)
- ^ Annihilation: Ronan #1–4 (Apr – July 2006)
- ^ Annihilation #1 (Aug 2006)
- ^ Annihilation #2–3 (Sept–Oct 2006)
- ^ Annihilation #4 (Oct 2006)
- ^ Annihilation #5 (Nov 2006)
- ^ Annihilation #6 (Dec 2006)
- ^ a b Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #1 (Jan 2007)
- ^ a b Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus #2 (Feb 2007)
- ^ Cosmic Conquistadors: DNA Talk "Annihilation : Conquest Prologue" & "Nova", Comic Book Resources, March 30, 2007
- ^ Annihilation Makes Things Civil: Hine talks "What If? Annihilation", Comic Book Resources, October 5, 2007
- ^ "Annihiliation | Article | RPGGeek".
External links
- Overview from Marvel's site
- Annihilation at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
- Marvel announces Cosmic "Annihilation" (press release), Newsarama
- Keith Giffen & Andy Schmidt Answer Your "Annihilation" Questions, Part 1, Comic Book Resources, February 20, 2006
- Keith Giffen & Andy Schmidt Answer Your "Annihilation" Questions, Part 2, Comic Book Resources, February 21, 2006
- Review of Volume 1 and Volume 2, Comics Bulletin