War of Kings Prelude: Road to War of Kings Omnibus

War of Kings #0-0.1

by Ed Brubaker (Writer)

New players take their places and old favorites assume fresh roles, as the stage is set for a War of Kings! Upheaval for the Inhumans leads Black Bolt to declare war on humanity, and the Skrulls' Secret Invasion puts them on course for the stars! Mutantkind is rocked by a third Summers brother, Vulcan, whose deadly destiny also lies in space! After a devastating ar, Star-Lord assembles a group of misfits to serve as the Guardians of the Galaxy!

Collecting: Son of M 1-6; X-Men: Deadly Genesis 1-6; Silent War 1-6; Secret Invasion: Inhumans 1-4; Guardians of the Galaxy 1-12; Nova 13-22, The Origin of Richard Rider; War of Kings Saga

Genres: Marvel, Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Collections, Fantasy, Fiction

1192 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2009

About the author

Ed Brubaker (born November 17, 1966) is an Eisner Award-winning American cartoonist and writer. He was born at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland.

Brubaker is best known for his work as a comic book writer on such titles as Batman, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist, Catwoman, Gotham Central and Uncanny X-Men. In more recent years, he has focused solely on creator-owned titles for Image Comics, such as Fatale, Criminal, Velvet and Kill or Be Killed.

In 2016, Brubaker ventured into television, joining the writing staff of the HBO series Westworld.

Reviews

[Bruno Carriço · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books is great... except for the Deadly Genesis "thing". I never expected to find something from Brubaker that i actually wouldn't like. 1st time ever! But the rest is actually pretty good.

PS - Please just jump over "War of Kings Saga" at the end of the book, if you don't want to be spoiled on the X-Men story line that makes up for around 25% of the next book: War of Kings Omnibus. Who was the brilliant mind that thought of adding this???

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cosmic Marvel of this time period was quite strong, thanks to the work of DnA on Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova. However, the oncoming War of Kings was something bigger, encompassing both the Inhumans and the X-Men. For the first time ever, this omnibus puts together all of the puzzle pieces into a single whole, making it entirely required reading for people who enjoyed the DnA Cosmic saga.

Son of M (1-6). Decimation offered some good follow-up to House of M and this is one of the best. It does a great job of portraying a shattered Quicksilver and what he does as a result. His new role as a time traveller and a dispenser of Terrigen is rather delightful, and something I wished had remained a plot point, rather than being so swiftly swept under the rug. A decade later, this is also a delightful prelude to IvX, as we get a look at mutant/inhuman relations from long before. [9/10].

X-Men: Deadly Genesis (1-6). This was the beginning of the great Brubaker/Carey X-Men run. It's a strong story, for its secrets and for its action. Vulcan is also a great new character and an answer to a X-Men promise from way back in the '90s. (And a lead-in to the cosmic War of Kings.) However, the real strength of this story going forward was the darkening and humanization of Professor X. This was the story that put things in motion to one day really let the X-Men stand on their own, without their teacher/crutch. At the time, this story was powerful; today, it's pivotal [8/10].

The Silent War (1-6). There are quite a few nice elements to this sequel to Decimation: Son of M. Hine truly seems to understand how to depict the Inhumans as inhumane and he gives us a great plot with important repercussions. It also follows an interesting format, with each issue focused on a different character. However, it doesn't have the strengths of Son of M. We don't get close enough to any character for the story to be grounding, and it's a bit plodding besides [6/10].

Secret Invasion: Inhumans (1-4). A strong Inhumans story because it gives them a galactic scope and because it touches upon their Kree origins. It's also nice to see some serious follow-up to Secret Invasion, an event that in large part ignored what should have been big plot shifts across the Marvel universe. On the downside, the MacGuffin quest of this comic seemed a little staid and easy [7/10].

Guardians: Legacy (GotG #1-6). The DnA Guardians of the Galaxy gets off to a shockingly rocky start. The main problem is in the first three issues, which follow a crisis-of-the-month format and are further hindered by an annoying post-mission-report storytelling style that totally destroys momentum in the story. Thankfully, things pick up in the last three issues, which are a great complement to the Secret Invasion event (though some of the final resolution is a bit too clichéd). There's also a neat side-plot about the future Guardians which isn't fully explained here, but does get lots of intriguing action [6/10].

Galactus (Nova #13-15). A big fight against the Silver Surfer and a strange being called Harrow. It's got a nice finale, but overall, there's not a lot depth to it [5+/10].

Secret Invasion (Nova #16-18). Nova's return to Earth allows for some nice continuity, including the returns of Nova's brother, Quasar, and the whole of Project Pegasus. But the fact that it's big long fights with skrulls keeps it from attaining too much emotional depth [6/10].

Nova Corps (Nova #19-22). A great shake-up of the status quo, as the last few years of stories pay out with the Nova Corps being (at last) reformed. This is fun world-building, and also offers a nice spotlight on Richard's character, separate from the world mind and the Corps. With all of that going on, it's fun that the best issue of this arc may actually be about Richard's past in the New Warriors, because it ties his whole story into a nice whole [7+/10].

War of Kings Prelude (GotG #7-12). An interesting volume in part because we get so many different stories, all of them interesting. Somehow DnA manage to give strong attention to all of these castmates, including some new ones. The result is an expanded universe that feels like it's revealing a galaxy that's bigger than ever, while I'm also intrigued to see where some of these stories are going [8/10].

[The Lion's Share · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was meh.

A bit all over the place to be honest and mediocre writing because of mediocre writers. I hope the main event is better.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Episch wie der Trojanische Krieg. Die jahrzentelange Entwicklung des MCU haben ein höchst komplexes Unversum erschaffen, in dem dieser wahrhaft kosmische Krieg seinen Anfang nehmen kann.

[Mohamed Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Road to War of Kings Starts Here, With a Collection of Stories that Will Lead to the Main Event
I Enjoyed Guardians Of The Galaxy Which I Give 4 Stars
X-men Deadly Genesis, Nova and Secret Invasion: Inhumans Was ok Which i Give 3 Stars
Silent War and Son Of M Wasn't That Good Which i Give 2 Stars

[Relstuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marvel Cosmic and it's well done. Well deserving of the omnibus treatment and kudos to Marvel to making this happen.

The story opens up with Quicksilver going to live for a time with the Inhumans now that he lost his abilities due to his sister's declaration that there would be "No more mutants". But he can't stand to be ordinary and so he figures out a way to cheat to get some sort of powers back. This results in was between Earth and the Inhumans. This part of the book was a bit shaky as the Inhumans face off against the Earth and the Avengers but it works for the story. We then slide into the Secret Invasion event with spoiler being one of the powered humans stolen away by the Skrulls. As a result of the invasion the Inhuman family reaches out for help to the Kree and form an alliance with them launching us towards the War of Kings.

I've already read the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Nova issues so I just scanned through those pretty quickly. While I love that this collection exists and would like to see Marvel do more collections like this I don't love the fact I ended up double dipping on the Guardians omnibus.

[Blindzider · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the quality varies, overall this was an enjoyable read.

The worst (although not unreadable) was Brubaker's Deadly Genesis. Constructing another team and mission and shoe-horning it into the original Giant-Size X-Men story, feels exactly like shoe-horning. One highlight though are the short origin stories for the new team members. Brubaker's knack for making you feel and understand them in just a few pages really shines through.

The Inhumans stories were decent, slowly trying to move the characters and race to different positions, in preparation for the War of Kings stories. These suffered the most from less than average artwork.

The Nova series was the best by far and was unfortunately hamstrung by having to tie in with things like Secret Invasion.

Guardians of the Galaxy was much more enjoyable than I had predicted although after stepping back, it's more of a ride you enjoy if you don't look too closely. There isn't a ton of characterization and the plot keeps things moving and the reader interested, but you never really get to know the team that well.

Having never read Nova or GotG, this turned out pretty good. Not bad for dipping into Marvel Cosmic for the first time.

[Omnibuster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trying something new to help me keep track of what happens. My reading comprehension is poor especially when I cant read books in shorter periods of time.

Son of M :
#1. A broken, powerless Quicksilver is living as a fugitive, living with regret, and can't come to terms with living as a human. He can't live life so slowly, calls for Wanda to hear him, and tries to be more than human again by putting on his uniform and tries to help a mutant being mugged; he fails. Peter Parker is one of the people in the world who had an another life during House of M and still remembers that life. He mourns the loss of a life with Gwen Stacy that never really happened and a son who was never actually born and can't talk to MJ about it. He saves the mutant Quicksilver tried to help and doesn't mince words with Pietro, who is responsible for House of M and for Peter's current state. Pietro throws himself off a building. Peter can't save him. The Inhuman and Pietro's wife, Crystal, appears.

#2. Crystal teleports back to Attilan with Pietro to heal him. Pietro recovers and spends time with his daughter, Luna. Seemingly out of nowhere, Pietro requests Black Bolt allow him to be exposed to terrigen mist to get his powers back; however, this is not allowed by Inhuman tradition which prompts Pietro to go down to the terrigen pool and expose himself. It seems dipping himself in the pool had no effect until he returns to his room where he finds another him waiting.

#3. Pietro learns from himself that the mists have given him the ability to vibrate his cells so fast that he travels forward in time while he is also anchored to the present. His future self suggests Pietro return back to the moment he left and embed himself in the crowd when the terrigen pool alarm goes off so he has an alibi. The Inhumans become suspicious and require he be followed by guards. As he keeps moving forward in time, he learns inorganic objects can be taken from the future back into the past. He asks Luna to return to Earth with him via Lockjaw and exposes her to terrigen mist.

#4. Black Bolt tells Crystal that Luna should spend time with her father and should be safe. Luna gains the ability to see what people are feeling and see some darkness growing within her father. They spend time at the beach, make money by placing bets based on future newspapers, and have a talk about how the mists of terrigen are needed to give mutants back their powers. They travel to Genosha. The first person they expose to the mist is Callisto; however, her powers seem overwhelming. Magneto appears.

#5. Pietro gives some mutants in Genosha their powers back but they become unstable. Magneto says the mist is a curse for mutants and chides Pietro for exposing his own daughter to it. This enrages Pietro and he starts beating on Magneto. Luna tries to shut off Magneto's mind but he tells her she must never do that to anyone even if she could control it; however, Pietro disagrees. Videmus reveals to Black Bolt that he knew of Pietro's plan and believes it will be beneficial to the Inhumans to know struggle and an unknown future. He is sentenced to solitary confinement. On Earth, the Fantastic Four relay information to the Inhumans of Pietro's whereabouts but also notes the governments of the world know as well. The Inhumans port to Genosha and a battle with the mutants ensue which Pietro and Luna use as a reason to escape; however, the US government has also arrived and shoots Pietro. Luna becomes enraged...

#6. Lockjaw appears to teleport Luna and Pietro out of General Lazer's reach; however, they leave the crystals behind much to Lazer's joy. Magneto witnesses Lazer acquiring the crystals and relays the information to the Inhumans after their fight with the mutants. Lazer will not turn over the crystals, so Black Bolt says a word: war. Luna, Pietro, and Locksaw port to California and Pietro decided it would safer for Luna to return to her mother. The epilogue shows us Pietro still in Cailfornia inhaling the mists and travels FAR into the future and it seems he has the ability to pass along mists to mutants.

X-Men: Deadly Genesis
#1. We open on Cyclops and Beast at x-Mansion with a lone Sentinel watching them. Cut to a space shuttle adrift with a lone survivor who has some set of powers and has been adrift for some time. Back to the Mansion where Nightcrawler is lamenting the loss of Xavier and remembering being saved. Emma Frost is trying to use Cerebra to locate Xavier but detects the mutant from the shuttle and is knocked unconscious. Kitty relays to Scott that the shuttle has crashed in upstate NY. Cyclops, Logan, and Rachel take the Blackbird and investigate. Back at the Mansion, the mutants start seeing things: Katya sees a dead version of Colossus, and Nightcrawler thinks he's being pursued by a mob. On Muir Island, Banshee thinks he sees Moira (not sure when she died). Cyclops, Logan, and Rachel locate a cave and Jean appears. Rachel pursues and is captured by the astronaut. He knows Scott somehow and is surprised he isn't remembered. He leaves Logan behind and takes Cyclops and Rachel. On Muir Island, Banshee is led by Moira's "ghost" to another facility where he finds a shocking video about how Xavier is a bastard. A Sentinel appears to arrest Logan.

Petra: A girl with the power to control rocks/earth and can turn coal into diamonds. She is arrested after defending herself from the police and is released into the custody of an unknown party.

#2: Kitty and Beast free Logan. Cyclops and Rachel awake in a strange place w/o their powers. Havok becomes impatient w/ Hank, Emma, and Kitty's progress in finding Scott and Rachel. he also sees images of Bobby and Lorna having a secret affair. Rachel detects residual psychic readings in the "warehouse" they're in. The astronaut claims Scott has been in this place before. Banshee tells Nightcrawler he has Moira's footage and is headed to the mansion. Nightcrawler and Logan go to pickup Banshee and they discuss the "ghosts" they've been seeing. The stolen blackbird appears on an intercept course with Banshee's flight and they collide.

Darwin: A mutant is unwanted by his mother and is sent away to a boarding school due to his super high IQ. He discovers is a mutant who can adapt to any situation. He is made aware of Xavier's school.

#3: The Sentinels put the mansion on lockdown because of the plane crash: the Blackbird. Beast tells Logan to search the wreckage for Cyclops/Rachel/Banshee and whatever Banshee had to show them. Havok sees an image of Xavier talking to Major Christopher Summers (Scott/Havok's dad). The other X-men are seeing images/ghosts. Wolverine and Nightcrawler find Banshee's body and the briefcase. Rachel learns the astronaut trains with Xavier. Beast and Logan learn from Moira's tape that Xavier killed children.

Sway: Sway is on a college tour trip with her parents when they happened to get stuck in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting. She inadvertently stops time and evades the bullets but her parents do not. She revisits the shooting site and learns she can also replay time and sees the killers drive off and follows them back to their place. She calls the police and stops time so the cops wouldn't get hurt. Back at the precinct, an officer calls Moira who asks if Sway knows about the X-Men. It seems all these one-off stories are about the powers we're seeing in the run and these are the 'children' Moira is referencing in her video about Xavier.

#4: The issue starts with Xavier going to Moira for help because he lost the mental link to Marvel Girl and the other X-men on their mission on Krakoa Island where we see them powerless against the beings of the island. Charles needs Moira's students. In the present, Scott starts remembering bits and pieces of the warehouse. In the past, Charles trains Moira's students to be X-Men in the Mindscape (a few hours in the real world equates to months in the Mindscape). Cyclops captor is called Vulcan and is made leader of the these new X-men. Cyclops meets Vulcan again who reveals he is his long-lost brother and that Charles left him and his friends for dead on their rescue mission.

Kid Vulcan: Vulcan has dreams of his past or what seems to be his past where he lived life as a slave. When his powers were discovered, he killed people on accident. He fled from wherever he is from (doesn't seem to be Earth) and ends up in New York's sewers. He's arrested and Moira finds him and introduces him to Charles who then offers his help. We see a montage of Vulcan meeting Cyclops, training, and of Charles learning Vulcan has a past that is lost to himself. Moira is suspicious of Charles' intense interest in Vulcan who wants to be an X-man.

#5: Vulcan reveals more of his story to Scott who doesn't buy it. A Sentinel appears which gives Marvel Girl a chance to escape which is actually party of Vulcan's plan. He wants Marvel Girl to find Charles. Charles appears (he's walking now) and Scott learns that Charles knows Vulcan/Gabriel. The X-men appear to fight him but Charlies admits that the stories are true but he's no longer a mutant.

What Emma Doesn't Know: This story focuses on when Charles discovers Emma Frost. She's an exotic dancer at the Hellfire Club but is unaware of what it truly is since she can't read the minds of people like Sebastian Shaw. Charles, Moira, and Gabriel/Vulcan are trying to free her and invite her to join the X-Men but she initially refuses until Charles tells her the Hellfire Club knows she's a mutant. A club hooligan grabs Emma and Vulcan blasts him. Charles uses his powers to make everyone in the area forget these events which ties to what's happening currently: Charles believes he's protecting people.

#6: Marvel Girl links with Vulcan to see what truly happened on Krakoa Island. We learn Vulcan is truly the brother of Scott and Alex. Their parents were abducted by the Shi'ar when their mother was pregnant with Gabriel. The Shi'ar accelerated his growth and made him a slave. On Krakoa island, Scott watches as Vulcan's team is killed very quickly which caused Xavier to wipe his memory which Moira did not agree with. Vulcan didn't die because his team mates used their last power save him. Darwin evolved into some essence and went into Vulcan's body. Darwin essence starts to turn back into a body. Vulcan escapes after being attacked. They have a funeral for Banshee and Gabriel's teammates. Scott tells Xavier he has to leave since he is no longer a mutant. Vulcan is flying through space towards the Shi'ar empire to avenge the death of his parents.

Silent War
The Inhumans send a covert team to Earth to get revenge for the stolen crystals and kill a human by mistake. The FF appear and defeat them soundly but the Office of National Emergency takes the Inhumans experiments on them. Gorgon is subjected to terrigenesis again and is turned into a monster. Black Bolt refuses to apologize for what happened on Earth. Luna is becoming a very capable warrior. O.N.E. decided to get volunteers for a one-way trip kind of mission to Attilan. The plan is to expose soldiers to terrigen mists so they become enhanced and unstable but to smuggle in a bomb/nuclear device. The Inhumans mount a rescue mission but are met by Sentry who bargains with Black Bolt. They teleport to Quicksilver who has absorbed the terrigen crystals into his body which enables him to confer terrigenesis through his hands. Black Bolt beats Quicksilver to a pulp but he warns them of the inevitable attack from the humans. There is a rift between BB and Medusa now and she visits Maximus in prison. We learn about their imprisoned son, how Black Bolt fears Maximus and how the people would support Maximus over him. Maximus is using his powers on Medusa who then kisses him as Black Bolt watches. Black Bolt flees in a fit of rage and returns to order the Inhumans to attack the Pentagon. The Mighty Avengers appear to defend but Sentry does not engage. Back on Attilan, Medusa orders Luna to heal Maximus. The Inhumans successfully extract their people and debilitate the Mighty Avengers. Maximus is freed and Luna heals Ahura. The Marines attack Attilan and the Inhumans engage however the Marines fake defeat to infiltrate the city. One of the soldiers is a bomb. Attilan is nearly destroyed. Maximus addresses the people. Black Bolt is imprisoned.

Secret Invasion: Inhumans
Black Bolt is a Skrull but the Inhumans don't know for how long or where the real Black Bolt is. They embark on a mission to find out. BB is held on a Skrull ship and is being turned into a weapon. He is tortured into expressing emotion so the Skrulls can extract his energy. Medusa leads her team to make an alliance with Ronan. Ahura uses his powers to free BB. They return to Attilan where it is announced that the Inhumans will once again be allied with the Kree and Black Bolt and Maximus will rule together.

Guardians of the Galaxy 1-6
Quill is trying to solidify the Guardians team. Nova can't join. Warlock is getting used to his new form and purpose. They make Knowhere their base of operations and meet with Cosmo, the security chief. They discover a man out of time and their timeline, Major Victory (who has Captain America's shield for some reason), who has no memory of when he is. The Universal Church of Truth are seeking out the Guardians for destroying one of their vessels. Starhawk appears. The team discovers a group of Skrulls seeing asylum since they do not agree with their empire's actions. Cosmo has been helping them with their own "underground railroad". The team breaks up because it's reveal Quill had Mantis manipulate everyone's minds to be more "agreeable" when being asked to join the team. Mantis also reveals that she can no longer see the future because something has changed to the point where they are involved in a future that shouldn't be happening in their timeline. Starhawks smiles at this.

Nova 13-22
Nova arrives on a planet in the middle of being devoured by Galactus. He negotiates with Galactus through Silver Surfer to delay the destruction of the planet long enough for the inhabitants to escape on ships. Nova waits too long to escape and has his systems overloaded. He loses the World Mind and is stuck with the suit's built in support system. The next planet Nova visits has been invaded by Skrulls where he also meets with Super Skrull who saves Nova's life by killing his brethren. Nova learns of the Secret Invasion on Earth and takes Super Skrull with him. Upon arriving in Earth's orbit, Super Skrull "turns" on Nova to protect him from being apprehended by the Skrulls. Nova visits his parents and then heads to Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S to find his brother and defend the facility from the Skrulls. Worldmind is put into the facilities' computer and reactivated. We discover Quasar is still alive in an energy form. The Skrulls are held off. A group of Centurions arrive much to Richard's surprise. Worldmind has been recruiting and rebuilding the Nova Corps without Richard because World Mind feels Nova has no interest in rebuilding. The new team of Corps fight the Serpent Society and other villains. Richard's brother is recruited. Nova has a reunion with some of the New Warriors. World Mind strips Richard of the Nova Force and suit. World Mind creates new Xandar on Ego the Living Planet. It's discovered that World Mind has subliminal control over all the Corps members. Richard discovers he is decaying and only has 2 days to live.

Guardians of the Galaxy 7-12
The Guardians minus Quill are on their own missions. Warlock plans on leading the Universal Church. Drax and Phyla are on their own quest to find Cammi and also Moon Dragon. Star Lord is sent to the Negative Zone by Ronan. The Guardians go to his rescue. Warlock defeats the Matriarch. Quasar regains control of the Quantum Bands. Phyla still has her sword and Moon Dragon is saved.

Nova: The Origin of Richard Rider
Essentially a recap of Nova's origins with updated art.

War of Kings Saga
Do not read this before reading the War of Kings ominbus. It will spoil events in that book. This is a good reference for the future to see the events of the entire saga.

[Bram Ryckaert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book doesn't tell a cohesive story but is a collection of arcs you need to read for War of Kings prep. So let's do a short review of them all.

- Son of M: this is just Quicksilver creating one problem that turns into a bigger problem. Not only for himself, but for everyone around him. He loves his daughter but makes the worst possible choices. A good start, liked this arc since it focused more on characters instead of action.

- X-Men Deadly Genesis: remember Giant Size X-Men #1? Well this is what really happened! Brubaker tries to wedge something in an already established story and it doesn't work out so well. Vulcan also comes off as a pretty shallow villain that's out for revenge and I'm disappointed he'll apparently play a bigger role in what's to come. Hopefully he becomes more interesting as a character. The addition I remember the most here is actually Darwin, a mutant that adapts his body to everything (and I mean everything!).

- Silent War: good arc that fleshes the Inhumans out more. What I liked the most here is how it shows Black Bolt as a character who's so powerful that he can't use his abilities and is left impotent because of it. Maximus pulls out a Churchill quote that describes the situation pretty well.

- Secret Invasion: Inhumans: the family has to rescue one of their members and I will only remember the ending where Black Bolt has some fun with a Skrull.

- Nova 13 - 22: Across all of these cosmic stories the Nova issues have been the comfort food I'm always happy to return to. It's very consistent in quality and I can never get enough of the Rider/Worldmind dynamic. But this stint is interesting because Richard's comfort zone gets challenged for the first time.

- Guardians of the Galaxy 1- 12: first issues were a bit shaky, but then it picks up. The prison riot was a lot of fun and I love Cosmo the space doggo. The final issues have an insane plot with Drax and Phyla though. Better read up on the character of Mentor if you don't know who it is. I feel like A & L should've introduced him a bit, because this is the first time he appears in this saga, but does so out of the blue. You really have to wiki him to make sense of his relation to Drax/Moondragon.

All in all a decent collection of stories, but nothing out of the ordinary. I'm really starting to wonder why this cosmic run is so praised though. Nevertheless I'll keep going til the end.

[boofykins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was an excellent collection of stories that lead up to War of Kings. I see other reviewers complaining about the inclusion of X-Men: Deadly Genesis in this book. That story is absolutely relevant to War of Kings, and I actually enjoyed the story quite a bit! I loved the included arcs: Decimation: Son of M and Secret Invasion: Inhumans, and Nova #13-22 and Guardians of the Galaxy #1-12 were bangers, in my humble opinion. Also included is a reprint of a couple of Richard Rider's early adventures with modernized recoloring. The only knock on this book is the peculiar inclusion of War of Kings Saga, which summarizes the events of War of Kings,which obviously takes place AFTER the events of this omnibus. I promptly closed the book instead of reading that. I'll take that ish in long-form when I read War of Kings Omnibus!

[guanaeps · Rating 3 out of 5]

The real gold here is the Guardians of the Galaxy issues—fun, action packed, all while setting the stage and heading towards War of Kings and more. The nova stuff can get a little tiring, but picks up towards the end with its secret invasion tie-in issues.

Deadly Genesis has Ed Brubaker attempting some retroactive continuity, in the same vein as he did with Winter Soldier in Captain America, although here it doesn't really work as well.

Son of M and Silent war are both just confusing, random, and overall the weakest entries in this hodge-podge omnibus. I love the inhumans and Quicksilver is always an interesting character, but too much of it felt kind of pointless. (Peter David goes on to write a hilarious and captivating Quicksilver in the pages of X-Factor that stems from these stories, so some good comes from these rather bland mini-series'.)

The Secret Invasion: Inhumans issues deals with the fall out of the event that takes place in Avengers Illuminati issue #5 (an issue that really should be in this omnibus, as its the entire impetus for why the Inhumans declare war on the skrulls and fly off into space) and sets the stage for the coming "War of Kings" between the Inhumans and...yeah. Decent issues, if missing the mark at times.

DnA know what they're doing though, and it shows in their stories.

[Andrew Seaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a lot to like about this but as a prequel collection to a major event, why exactly where the last two issues included? Remove them and flesh out the X-Men story. Mapping could have been much better here, even the Guardians had too much.

[Chr1skol1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the War of Kings Omnibus storyline. Must read to understand what will happen in the main story.