Atomic Alert: Annihilation: Conquest

Annihilation: Conquest Prologue (Abnett/Lanning & Perkins).

The writing team of Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning is incredibly frustrating to me. When they're on, they provide high quality, engaging books, but when they're off I find then next to unreadable, and they seem to be on/off to me at about a 50/50 split.

It was with that typical A&L-patented reservation that I finally dug into Annihilation: Conquest Prologue this afternoon. The Annihilation: Conquest Wraith LS ships this week, starting the four-LS build-up to the Annihilation: Conquest event. I liked the first Annihilation go-round, but wasn't overwhelmed by it, so A:C Prologue was going to win me or lose me on what's coming.

It won me over. Big time.

A:C Prologue is just a good, solid story from start to finish. A&L focus on two characters: Phyla-Vell (the new Quasar) and Peter Quill (the once and future Star-Lord). Both characters will star in their own A:C LS so it's a good marketing decision, but having the focus on two characters gives A&L the space to really get into their respective issues and guide us through the post-Annihilation Wave.

The story here involves the attack on the Kree Empire by the Phalanx, who infect Spaceknight and Kree technology, and somehow shut the entire Kree empire off from the rest of the universe.

It all comes across as much more focused and coherent than the first Annihilation event, and it's nice to see the cosmic story pushed forward. I'm looking forward to checking out Wraith later this week, and the other LS as they come out, but I'm really looking forward to the Annihilation: Conquest LS that will drop in November.

Check out Marvel's Annihilation Hub. The four A:C LS are: Wraith, Quasar, Star-Lord, and Nova, though technically Nova won't be an LS, but issues 4-7 of the regular Nova monthly. Here's some preview pages for Wraith 1.