Chaos War

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Chaos War: God Squad
)
"Chaos War"
Chaos War #1 (Dec. 2010). Cover art by Ed McGuinness (penciler-inker) and Morry Hollowell (colorist)
PublisherMarvel Comics
Publication dateDecember 2010 – March 2011
Genre
Title(s)
Chaos War #1-5
Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1
Chaos War: Ares #1
Chaos War: Chaos King #1
Chaos War: Dead Avengers #1-3
Chaos War: God Squad #1
Chaos War: Thor #1-2
Chaos War: X-Men #1-2
Incredible Hulks #618-620
Marvel Encyclopedia #1
Main character(s)
Amatsu-Mikaboshi
God Squad
Creative team
Writer(s)Greg Pak
Fred Van Lente

"Chaos War" is a

Incredible Hercules" storyline written by Pak and Van Lente.[1]

The plot concerns a group of

Chaos King
, the embodiment of the chaos and nothingness that preceded creation, who wants to wipe out all existence.

Publication history

Amatsu-Mikaboshi, a demonic god of evil.[2]

The storyline began in Chaos War #1, the first issue of a core

In addition, the story continues through the

Norse god superhero; Chaos War: Ares, by writer Michael Avon Oeming and co-pencilers Stephen Segovia, starring the Greek god antihero Ares; Chaos War: God Squad #1 (Feb. 2011), by writer Marc Sumerak and penciler Daniel Panosian; Chaos War: X-Men #1-2 (Feb.-March 2011), by writers Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson and artist Doug Braithwaite, featuring the titular mutant superheroes;[3] and the biweekly Incredible Hulks #618-620 (early and mid Feb. 2011), by Pak and Paul Pelletier.[4]

Plot summary

After the demonic dream-being

Amatsu-Mikaboshi, humanity is rendered unconscious.[note 1] Writer Fred Van Lente said Mikaboshi is based on the Shinto concept of the same name, "who[m] some see as the Japanese god of evil, but he really is a being that represents the polar opposite of the core values in the Shinto religion."[5]

Mikaboshi's army of enslaved alien deities then invades the underworld realms of the gods

Hela, resulting in the Greek and Norse dead having to fight for their existence. The demon-lord Daimon Hellstrom finds that the personification of Death has fled, unleashing the souls of the deceased on Earth.[note 2]

The

Norse god superhero Thor, the Silver Surfer, the siren named Venus, the planet-eater Galactus, and Sersi, a member of the evolutionarily advanced human race known as the Eternals. This informal alliance is dubbed the "God Squad".[note 3]

While Mikaboshi destroys the various pantheons of the

mythological gods, Thor engages in battle with Mikaboshi's servant Glory. Thor barely survives, reverting to an amnesiac form of his human identity, Dr. Donald Blake, and is cared for by a new character, Rebecca Steinhardt.[note 4]

The

The mystic

Devil Hulk/Guilt Hulk creature, and fights his son.[note 8] A number of dead members of the X-Men also return, seeking a prophetic diary that holds information for defeating Mikaboshi. The dead X-Men manage to prevent Carrion Crow from claiming the diary at the cost of some of their lives.[note 9]

Hercules' sister, the Greek goddess Athena, believing the current reality is irreparably metaphysically corrupt, and wishing to start fresh with a new Big Bang, is revealed as Mikaboshi's accomplice. The primeval Earth goddess Gaea and her daughter Pele, the goddess of fire, summon the surviving gods to Hawaii. The young genius Amadeus Cho calculates that Mikaboshi by now has consumed most of the multiverse, and urges humanity to escape to an unpopulated and sealed-off continuum which he knows of. Hercules argues to go down fighting, and is confronted by Athena. But Gaea and Pele destroy and recreate Hercules as a maintainer of the cycle of life, and Hercules annihilates his sibling.[note 10]

While the Hulk and his allies, the God Squad, Alpha Flight, and the surviving Dead Avengers fight Amatsu-Mikaboshi's forces, Amadaeus Cho and Galactus work on a machine that will transfer Earth to the sealed-off continuum. Not wanting to allow them to seal off the Earth forever, Hercules throws Mikaboshi inside it, sealing him off from all of reality instead. He then restores all that Mikaboshi had destroyed by expending his entire power, returning to being a "regular" mortal in the process.[note 11]

Reception

Critical reviews for Chaos War #1 were mostly positive. Doug Zawisza of Comic Book Resources gave it four stars out of five, saying it "could only be made better if it were extra-sized".[6] IGN rated it 7.0 out of 10, calling it "a fine read that has its problems. If you're a fan of [Hercules] then you'll love this escalated continuation of Hercules' story. And for those new to it all, I still recommend giving it a chance [since] the epic nature of the story may sway you to read Herc's quality back catalog".[7]

Zawisza was equally impressed with issue #2,[8] and IGN, though critical of the artwork, rated it 8.0, remarking, "While I am still not a fan of Khoi Pham's artwork in this series, the story is being told well enough in every aspect that it is hard not to recommend the book".[9]

The third issue met with mixed reactions. Greg McElhatton of Comic Book Resources gave it two out of five stars, saying, "A book involving Hercules and the other pantheons of gods fighting off the Chaos King should have been a lot of fun, but this is just a mish-mash", and that, "It doesn't help that Khoi Pham and Thomas Palmer's art is looking equally uninspired here".[10] IGN, conversely, gave it another 8.0 and bringing up a heretofore unmentioned "pacing problem" with the previous issues, and calling it artist Pham's "strongest issue so far".[11]

Reception for the fourth issue was somewhat better with Doug Zawisza of Comic Book Resources giving it three and half out of five stars, stating "Chaos War story started off with a really loud crash, a deafening noise that threatened all who heard it, but the story since has slowed considerably".[12] Jesse Schedeen of IGN was less impressed giving the issue a 6.5 out of 10, commenting that "Chaos War has had its ups and downs so far. Sadly, it doesn't appear to be shaping up to be the fitting conclusion to the Incredible Hercules saga it should have been".[13]

The fifth and final issue was also met with mixed reactions. Zawisza of Comic Book Resources gave it another four out of five stars stating, "This book was big, loud, comic book fun. Sure, it may not have warranted all of the tie-ins, crossovers, and pop-outs it got, but at its core, it provided a wild adventure that changed the landscape of the Marvel Universe".[14] However, Dan Iverson of IGN gave the issue its lowest rating, a 5.5 out of 10 remarking, "If anything can be said for Chaos War #5 it is that it truly felt like the end of the Herc and Cho story, with both fulfilling their destinies. Fans of The Incredible Hercules will at least be able to glean some sort of nostalgia from the ending... but it isn't enough to justify picking the book up at the $3.99 price point".[15]

Collected editions

Title Material collected Published date ISBN
Chaos War Chaos War #1-5 April 2011 978-0785151319
Chaos War: Avengers Chaos War: Dead Avengers #1-3, Chaos War: Thor #1-2, Chaos War: Ares #1 May 2011 978-0785155584
Chaos War: Incredible Hulks Incredible Hulks #618-622 and material from Incredible Hulks #614-617 June 2011 978-0785151579
Chaos War: X-Men Chaos War: X-Men #1-2, Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1, Chaos War: Chaos King #1, Chaos War: The God Squad #1 June 2011 978-0785153153

Notes

  1. ^ Pak & Lente, Chaos War #1, Marvel Comics, October 2010.
  2. ^ Pak & Lente, Chaos War #2, Marvel Comics, October 2010.
  3. ^ Pak & Lente, Chaos War #3, Marvel Comics, November 2010.
  4. ^ Dematteis, Chaos War: Thor #1, Marvel Comics, November 2010.
  5. ^ Monteclare, Chaos War: Chaos King #1, Marvel Comics, November 2010.
  6. ^ Lente, Chaos War: Dead Avengers #1-3, Marvel Comics, November - December 2010.
  7. ^ McCann, Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1, Marvel Comics, November 2010.
  8. ^ Pak, Incredible Hulks #618-620, Marvel Comics, December 2010 - January 2011.
  9. ^ Claremont, Simonson & Braithwaite, Chaos War: X-Men #1-2, Marvel Comics, December 2010 - January 2011.
  10. ^ Pak & Lente, Chaos War #4, Marvel Comics, December 2010.
  11. ^ Pak & Lente, Chaos War #5, Marvel Comics, January 2011.

References

  1. ^ Richards, Dave (July 1, 2010). "Van Lente and Pak Embroil the "Prince of Power" in a "Chaos War"". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Dietsch, T. J. "Cosmic Chaos: Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak pit Hercules and the all-new God Squad against The Chaos King in 'Chaos War'", Marvel Comics press release, June 25, 2010
  3. ^ a b Storyarcs: "Chaos War" at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
  4. ^ Incredible Hulks at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators
  5. ^ "Greek Week Part V: Enter the God Squad!", Comic Book Resources, March 21, 2008
  6. ^ Zawisza, Doug (2010-10-08). "Review: Chaos War #1". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  7. ^ "Review: Chaos War #1". IGN. 2010-10-06. Archived from the original on 2012-07-08. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  8. ^ Zawisza, Doug (2010-10-22). "Review: Chaos War #2". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  9. ^ "Review: Chaos War #2". IGN. 2010-10-20. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  10. ^ McElhatton, Greg (2010-11-07). "Review: Chaos War #3". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  11. ^ "Review: Chaos War #3". IGN. 2010-11-03. Retrieved 2011-01-06.
  12. ^ Zawisza, Doug (2010-12-19). "Review: Chaos War #4". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  13. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (2010-12-15). "Chaos War #4 Review". IGN. Retrieved 2011-01-11.
  14. ^ Zawisza, Doug (2011-01-26). "Review: Chaos War #5". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
  15. ^ Iverson, Dan (2011-01-26). "Chaos War #5 Review". IGN. Retrieved 2011-02-02.

External links