nova | the m0vie blog

The Thanos Imperative (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Darren

April (and a little bit of May) are “Avengers month” at the m0vie blog. In anticipation of Joss Whedon’s superhero epic, we’ll have a variety of articles and reviews published looking at various aspects of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.” This doesn’t exactly feature the Avengers, but a similarly all-star cast of cosmic Marvel superheroes…

Read our review of The Avengers here.

I have to admit, I have really enjoyed the “cosmic” Marvel crossovers in the past few years, perhaps more than I’ve enjoyed the big Avengers-themed events that they’ve been churning out consistently. Being honest, I think part of the reason that the cosmic line balanced these events so well was because it was smaller, and thus easier to handle. You didn’t have to worry about splitting character beats between the main miniseries and the supporting titles, nor did you have to worry about a dozen other comics feeding into (and flowing out of) your miniseries. At its peak, the line – as helmed by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning – consisted of two titles (Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy), and nobody else was playing in the sandbox. Maybe I’m just a little bit selfish, but it’s always fun to watch a writer play with toys that he’s not being asked to share.

Five cosmic powerhouses walk into a bar...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: andy lanning, annihilation, Comics, cosmic, dan abnett, Infinity Crusade, joss whedon, marvel comics, marvel cosmic, nova, review, richard ryder, Star Lord, starlord, thanos, the thanos imperative | Leave a comment »

Annihilation: Conquest (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Darren

This is the tenth in a series of comic book reviews that will look at the direction of Marvel’s shared universe (particularly their “Avengers” franchise) over the past five or so years, as they’ve been attempting to position the property at the heart of their fictional universe. With The Avengers planned for a cinematic release in 2012, I thought I’d bring myself up to speed by taking a look at Marvel’s tangled web of continuity.

Perhaps it was the novelty of Marvel’s Annihilation crossover which lent the series its appeal. It took some of the more often overlooked space heroes of the Marvel Universe and tied them all together as part of a gripping narrative fighting against the extinction of life itself. It was loud and bright and colourful and frentic – it was perhaps the best crossover that Marvel have produced in the past five years or so. So I was very much anticipating the sequel, Annihilation: Conquest – hoping that it could be another breath of fresh air in this long trek through Marvel’s shared universe. Unfortunately, it seemed that a lot of energy of the original was gone – the series couldn’t help but feel somewhat anti-climactic.

Feel the Wraith...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: aliens, andy lanning, annihilation, annihilation conquest, borg, captain marvel, Comics, conquest, cosmic marvel, dan abnett, games, marvel, marvel comics, Marvel Super Heroes, nova, phalanx, quasar, Roleplaying, ronan, Star Lord, starlord, Super Heroes, ultron, wraith | Leave a comment »

Nova: Annihilation (Hardcover) (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Darren

I’m currently taking a look at the modern history of the Marvel Universe. I kinda figured that I should go through at least one cycle of big continuity-heavy events to at least engage with this style of storytelling, so I can get a feel for it. Although I’m focusing on The Avengers (what with the movie and all), I’m also checking out cosmic Marvel and the X-Men at the same time. My review of the big intergalactic crossover Annihilation: Conquest is going out today, so this is a bit of a sidenote on that. Nova was the first relaunched on-going “cosmic” Marvel series, launched in the wake of Annihilation, so I thought I’d follow the first year of the book.

I have to confess that I quite enjoyed Marvel’s attempt to reinvigorate their line of cosmic comic books with the gigantic crossover event Annihilation. And it apparently did quite well, spawning a series of associated crossovers in the years that followed, as well as an on-going series following the character perhaps most greatly affected by the events of the miniseries. Although the character has had his own series in the past (no fewer than three times) and featured in a few high-profile teambooks, it’s good to see Nova returned to prominance, particularly written by two authors who clearly know and cherish him.

Iron Man expects Richard to show some Initiative...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: andy lanning, annihilation, annihilation conquest, art, cosmic marvel, cosmic marvel universe, dan abnett, geoff johns, green lantern, marvel, marvel comics, marvel universe, nova, Nova Vol. 4 | Leave a comment »

Annihilation – Vol. 1-3 (Hardcover) (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Darren

This is the fifth in a series of comic book reviews that will look at the direction of Marvel’s mainstream shared universe over the past five or so years – primarily with a focus on The Avengers as they’ve been attempting to position the property at the heart of their fictional universe. With The Avengers planned for a cinematic release in 2012, I thought I’d bring myself up to speed by taking a look at Marvel’s tangled web of continuity. This is more of a tangential entry, though, as we’re going into space with marvel’s “cosmic” titles. But still, sometimes you need to go away to come back.

When people think of the Marvel crossover events of the past decade, they’ll name ones like Civil War or Secret Invasion or House of M. Very few will mention Annihilation, Marvel’s first big cosmic crossover event of the past ten years, but those few will generally speak quite highly of it.