Annihilators: Earthfall

War of Kings #3.2

by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Tan Eng Huat (Illustrator)

From the fallout of ANNIHILATION and the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy, an all-too-familiar cosmic threat has returned, this time with Earth as his beachhead. His followers span a thousand worlds, awaiting only the word to begin new wars in his name…unless Gladiator, Quasar, Ronan, Ikon and Beta-Ray Bill — the all-new Annihilators — can silence him first! So why are the Avengers standing in their way, and what are the true stakes if either side fails?

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book

112 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Kemper · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cosmic heavyweight team of Quasar, Gladiator, Ronan, Ikon and Beta Ray Bill are having just an average day at the office breaking up an interstellar war between various factions of the Church of Universal Truth when they learn that there’s something on Earth that’s a threat to the entire universe. Their arrival trips the alarm that summons the Avengers. Gee, I sure hope that there won’t be any kind of misunderstandings that could cause a fight between two super-hero teams….

Seriously, it’s standard operating procedure in comic books to have the good guys initially fight in some kind of team-up issue, but this one is pretty ridiculous because the conversation goes something like this:

Avengers: Hey, Annihilators! What are you doing on Earth?

Annihilators: There’s no time to explain!

Avengers: Well, you’re tearing up this town of what seems to be ordinary people so we’re getting a little concerned here.

Annihilators: I told you already that there’s no time to explain!

Avengers: How about a quick summary? Ten words or less?

Annihilators: There’s no time to explain!

Avengers: Well, shit. I guess we gotta fight then.

Annihilators: Wait! A lot of us are friends who have been allies before so there's no reason you shouldn't trust us. We don’t have time to explain why it seems like we’re attacking innocent civilians, but we’re here on a matter of utmost urgency about saving the universe so could you please just give us five minutes?

Avengers: Seems like you could have explained it a little in the time it took you to say all that.

Annihilators: Perhaps, but that time has passed. Now there is no more time to explain.

Avengers: Now you’re just messing with us.

Annihilators: Why won’t you realize that there is no time to explain?

Avengers: Screw it. We’re fighting.

Annihilators: Dude, I told you we need five minutes to save the universe. What's the hurry?

Avengers: Wolverine’s getting impatient. He’s got like seven other teams to go fight on today so he wants to get on with this.

Annihilators: Very well. Let us fight then. But rest assured even when we have long conversations during the various battles there still won’t be any time to explain.

Avengers: Whatever.

Oh, and the Rocket & Groot bonus story is kinda fun, but I still think the art and tone of doing a kind of wacky cartoon adventure doesn’t really jibe with the funny talking raccoon threatening to blow someone’s head off with an enormous gun.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

In their second (and, to-date, last) outing, the Annihilators (minus the Silver Surfer, who has left the team for unexplained reasons) head to Earth to stop the Magus (remember him from Guardians of the Galaxy? No, not the movies...) and end up doing the now-we're-fighting-now-we're-teaming-up dance with the Avengers. It's quite entertaining but a bit been-there-done-that-bought-the-T-shirt.

There's also a (very) brief Rocket Raccoon and Groot backup strip which was quite amusing but nowhere near as good as the one in the last volume. They significantly fewer pages to play with, though, so it's not surprising.

Overall, this volume was OK but a bit of a damp squib considering it was the swan song of Marvel's cosmic line (until the Guardians movie resurrected it, anyway).

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm confused as to why this exists. I didn't care for the art at all.

The story itself was interesting. The conclusion left a lot to be desired but, as a premise, it was interesting. I'm confused about this line up, as it seems to be a lot of the intergalactic characters that aren't all that captivating.

This... isn't a recommend unless you just really love Wendell/Quasar.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars. Just a tad better then Annihilators. The team heads to earth to take out a threat. With no time to spare or explain anything to the people of earth, the team goes on the attack. Of course the Avengers show up and we get a fight then later team up once the Avengers understand the threat the Annihilators came to stop. Decent story. Then in the back of all the issues there’s a small Rocket and Groot adventure that was petty fun.

[Ondra Král · Rating 2 out of 5]

Místy fajn, místy extra pitomé 2,5*

[Joeseph Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

As mentioned in my Annihilators review (the story before this one) I am a fan of Cosmic Marvel stories and love what Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have done with it in the last few years. AS a fan I am shocked to be giving 2 star reviews to both Annihilators and Annililators: Earthfall and I don't faught the creative team for those 2 stars.

With Earthfall we have the Alpha Class plus power level heroes mainly consisting of aliens (with one human in Quasar) rushing to earth to save it and the Avengers mistaking their approach to Earth and actions immediately after it as hostile and come in to be the heroes that they are.

Much like the story before Earthfall, not only did the team rush to Earth, the storyline was rushed s well. Non-stop action all the way through. A story that take place in the span of, well, potentially an hour or a few hours. Could have easily been a one shot rather than a mini series. Sharing space with Rocket Raccoon and Groot again, it was easily the size of a one shot.

The conflict of Quasar has with the Annihilators on Earth and how that is expressed is interesting...and would have been even more so if the team continued to have stories where that could be explored.

Lingering question...why didn't Cosmo accompany the heroes? The storyline would have been dramatically different with his presence on Earth is what I suspect the answer would be...but the question leaves many of the characters introduced in DnA's Cosmic Marvel run up in limbo....plenty of loose ends that will hopefully see their stories returned to.

I liked SWORD being in this to the limited degree that they were and it would be interesting to have that organization explored more... but SWORD has a chance to shine a series of their own and that was cancelled. Hopefully Cosmic Marvel has not and we'll see the creative team continue with more stories to tell them in, however, next time I hope Marvel gives the team the room to explore the stories properly with.

[Judah Radd · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently interviewed the writer Dan Abnett and it was fucking awesome! Check out part 1 here https://youtu.be/vWI5mkTn8Ws and part 2 here https://youtu.be/A_VQ0ieJvhg

**second read**

The review stands. Not great. Decent. Fun and fast, but pretty mindless.


****first read****
An improvement from Annihilators.

The story was streamlined and cohesive. The characters played well off each other. There were some good laughs.

Was the plot generic? Yeah. It’s not literature. It’s just a fun comic book with a bunch of characters we all like.

I was pleased, even if my beloved Silver Surfer was excluded this time around.

The Groot/Rocket story was really fun (and stupid.)

For the main story; usually I groan when the Magus shows up (he kinda sucks)... but he was tweaked in a kinda cool way for this one.

Want a fast, mindless, fun and enjoyable read? This is a good choice.

[Arlomisty · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not as good as some of the other Marvel Graphic novels that I've read lately... the story was so so and the art was actually terrible compared with what I've seen recently.... it was an ok read..

[Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of this story was the kid Magus, but honestly, most of the story was just middling. Artwork was ok, but the whole thing was pretty average. Even Rocket and Groot was so so this time.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, let me say that I'm kind-of reviewing the other "Annihilators" with this one, since they are both so short and supplemented with Groot/Rocket stories.

My biggest problem with the two titles with this team is lack of women, and the chemistry between the team not being great. I actually really like most of the characters picked for this team, but they're not meshing well. Even their arguments are bland.

Ikon is just about the worst. She is the token female, but it is really all about making sexual innuendos and jokes. Honestly, she is blatantly sexually harassing Wendell and it bothers me. He is shown as uncomfortable, uncertain, and in no issue has he showed any type of reciprocation. Blech.

But I love Cosmo, always.

[Joey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvel's most overpowered team is also incredibly unique. Spun out of the Annihilation saga, the victors continue to kick butt on Earth this time around. Great second volume for a team of High-level, spacefaring heroes that could've potentially led to amazing adventures beyond this, but unfortunately was short-lived. In this and the first collection, the Rocket and Groot 'B' stories were more hilarious than anything from the duo that appeared in the guardians of the galaxy books!

[Malum · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another "Ok but not great" adventure for the Annihilators.
It's funny, the Annihilators solve their problems the same way that the crew of the starship Enterprise normally do--by just making a bunch of stuff up: "If we recalibrate the doolizzle and plug the glap into the flazzle, then we can win!".
Also, its too bad the actor that plays Silver Surfer had prior commitments and couldn't appear in this episode.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of an improvement from the previous story, Annihilators: Earthfall is taking the galactic battle to earth. The team of superheroes will put their cosmic duties aside to focus on the human home world.

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now, this is more like it. If you read my review of the first Annihilators book, you know that I was a little disappointed by it. This story was much better. I had doubts about how good a story about this cosmic team coming to Earth would be, but Dan Abnett actually came up with a logical reason for it. I was also worried about the inclusion of the Avengers. With the first book, I complained about the fact that none of the personalities of the team members really came out; except for Quasar, but all he did was complain. Thankfully, Quasar seems to be over himself, and everyone else is easing into being part of the team. Plus, having the teams conflict with each other and then work together was great. Another worry I had was the editing of the collected edition. In the first book, the main story and the backup feature were separated. Here, the two stories are presented as they were in the original periodical issues. I thought that this would basically create a constant interruption, but really it just gives the reader cliffhanger endings, which is a lot of fun.
The main story, like the first book, made great use out of an old long-unused Marvel villain. Note: one surefire way of reviving a villain and making him creepier is to make him a little kid. *shudders*
The backup tale is once again a Rocket Raccoon/Groot story. Unfortunately, Groot's inane "I am Groot." speech is still intact. I still hold out hope that he will speak in complete sentences in the future. Other than that, the story was good, with probably the best use yet of the villain Mojo. Abnett also made great use of the stolen shipment device from the first book.
Basically, most of my worries, except for Groot's speech, are put to rest here. Maybe in future cosmic stories, that problem will be cleared up as well.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Abnett and Lanning have had a great run on the cosmic heroes of Marvel Comics. War of Kings, Realm of Kings, Annihilators and The Thanos Imperative were all excellent. And in my opinion they've just gotten better and better.

But they've stumbled here. The whole of Earthfall is just loud, noisy, lacking any character development, and dumb. The Annihilators rush to Earth to save it from imminent doom only to run smack dab into the New Avengers and of course they have to duke it out stupidly before anyone thinks to say, um, we're here to save the Earth. Stupid. That whole scene was played out 40 years ago.

Add on top of that, yet another rather mindless regurgitation of Magus as the villain and it's a very poor book. The art is stunningly ugly at times. Gladiator gets a chin like the Rankin-Bass version of Fred Astaire. I've only given it 2 star because I like the heroes involved. It honestly deserves a one star.

I suspect this will be the end of the series for a while.

[Hrishi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Argh - the main story in this comic is so formulaic you could feed it to a baby. To wit: one team of good guys is alerted to a threat and rushes into combat, second team of good guys misinterprets said action and there is a dust up, eventually sense prevails and they work together to beat the baddie. End. Yeah, this reads like the worst Doctor Who episodes. Actually, this reads like the very worst ones - that three part Tenth Doctor story Utopia/ The Sound of Drums/ The Last of the Time Lords.

The only reason I'm tempted to give it two stars is the last five pages of each issue are a quite fun Rocket & Groot story that by itself would get a decent guffaw from me. So yeah - one star for the main event, three stars for the side show! Naah - one star overall!

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit that I liked Earthfall more than the original Annihilators mini-series as it gave the team a nice contrast. The first book was all about them being very powerful and answerable to almost no one. This second book had them bringing their significant power on a cosmic threat...but one that had decided to hide on Earth. And that brought them into direct contention with the Avengers, which is just a great way to stress the differences between the Marvel cosmic arena versus their more usual local conflicts.

It's still not the greatest book around but I think it got to do more with the Annihilators versus the previous title. I can't remember what happened to the Annihilators after this but if anything, it's a solid story to end with.

[Silas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fairly forgettable volume. It was also a bit jumbled. From the start, I wondered why Silver Surfer wasn't there. While it was addressed in the book that he wasn't there, it didn't explain why. Perhaps I missed something in between the last Annihilators book I read. The conflict with the Avengers did seem a bit too forced, like they couldn't explain what they were doing while they were fighting like every other comic book. Despite these issues, I did appreciate some more background on the Church of Universal Truth, since they come up in later Guardians of the Galaxy books that I have read. For me, that works out to a more or less average book.

[Matt Sabonis · Rating 3 out of 5]

An alright volume, but I wouldn't have pegged it for the last story by this team of creators about this group of characters. While, yeah, it's nice to wrap a little bow on that whole Magus storyline, a lot of this comes across as...inconsequential? No, light, which is not how previous volumes have come across. The stakes simply aren't properly portrayed, and I blame that on the space they have for the story. But still, it's fun, and the great character touches are still there, so it's still worth reading.

[Davy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second Annihilators (with a different undertitle, does it mean more is coming ?) has the same problems as the first one: the potential of a big team (without the Silver Surfer, but it's not clear why) and a big story, but the authors fale to make it. You could imagine that the Annihilators meeting the Avengers because the Universal Church of Truth is on Earth, is a plot that could fill hundreds of pages, but as the first Annihilators everything is handled way to fast. The Annihilators really need a cosmic boost !

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This could've been really great, but in the end it was just worthless. The art in the main story was absolutely hideous at times, and the plot was very predictable. I only bought it for the Rocket Raccoon & Groot backup, and even then I only got it because it was on clearance. I would never pay full price for this unless I just wanted to throw money in the garbage and there was no garbage can around.

[violetDelights · Rating 2 out of 5]

★★☆☆☆☆☆
unfortunately this is how Abnet and Lanning's run ends, with a huge whimper. The two annihilators series are totally bland and uninteresting. this one features a classic "heroes fighting each other for no reason" and making rash decisions that are rushed and out of character in certain circumstances. This one is hurt by the rocket and Groot storyline not being very worthwhile. On reread, I'll just finish it with the Thanos imperative.

[Brandt Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this Annihilators book better over the last one. Great to see them fight the Avengers, though the fight could have been better and more in-depth for my liking. Also like how the Humans tried to have the moral high ground on, "This is Earth, so we get a say on what happens here no matter the cost the the rest of the Galaxy." When the Avengers, FF, and X-Men do pretty much the same thing when they are in space. Got to love the hypocrisy.

[Alex Sarll]

The main story is a generic slugfest (including the obligatory heroes-misunderstand-and-fight-before-teaming-up tedium) which doesn't make nearly enough use of Beta Ray Bill or Cosmo the telepathic Soviet space-dog. But the back-up strip, with Rocket and Groot...Timothy Green really does draw the best Rocket going. I love the film Rocket, but he can only ever be a shadow of the pure form, and the pure form is this psychotic little furball.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

While not remotely close in quality to the Annihilation books, Annihilators could've had a longer run if it stayed away from Earth. Here, we see why. Setting them up against and then with the Avengers is too cliched to work. Readers weren't given anything here other than a generic conflict. We got very little development. It seemed like Lanning and Abnett weren't given enough leash. The art was good but unremarkable. Overall, the cosmic Marvel line has, unfortunately fallen far.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The big, cosmic team formed after the 'Annihilation: Conquest' mini-series head to earth to deal with a menace.
They but heads with the Avengers before both teams realize if they don't work together earth is in a lot of trouble.

I like this team, wish Marvel had done more with them. Nice mix of sci-fi, super hero with a genuinely creepy bad guy.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, five stars because of Rocket Raccoon and Groot.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annihilators vs Avengers! Fun, but could have been twice as long and better developed.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rocket Raccoon and Groot appear in a short backstory in this mini - only about 20 pages total. An odd little story reminiscent of The Truman Show.

[Sisyphus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feel like they just made this so they could force an Avengers vs. Annihilators thing. Anyway, Cosmo is still the best.