War of Kings: Road to War of Kings

War of Kings #0

by Christopher Yost, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning

The X-Men have been defeated. Havok, Polaris, and the Starjammers are being held and tortured in the most secure prison in the universe. Marvel Girl, Korvus, and Lilandra are being hunted by the Imperial Guard. Vulcan is Emperor of the Shi'Ar Empire and his expansion has begun. No King will stand when Vulcan and his armies are done. Join Christopher Yost (X-Force) and Dustin Weaver (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic) as they spin the story of a fight against insurmountable odds. Plus, The Secret Invasion may be over, but the Inhumans are still reeling from the terrible wounds inflicted on them by the Skrulls. And this time, the Royal Family and their massively powered people have been pushed too far! You have never seen the Inhumans like this - and it's only the beginning!

Collecting: X-Men: Kingbreaker 1-4, Secret Invasion: War of Kings, War of Kings Saga

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, X Men, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2009

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Inhumans are majorly ticked off due to Black Bolt having been replaced by a Skrull for an undetermined period of time. Due to this, they turn their city into a spaceship and declare war on the whole darned universe.

As you do.

The Starjammers get involved to try and introduce some degree of damage control.

It's OK, but feels a lot like set-up for the main event. I guess the clue was in the title...

[Tiag⊗ the Mutant · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Vulcan saga continues in full force, Havok stole the show on this one.

[Subham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Havok and others are captured and so they must get free while Vulcan orders the expansion of his empire and he attacks even the other empires and does not ally with the Galactic Council but then he has to deal with his brother whose trying to get free and stuff happens and honestly its boring if you're reading it as a standalone and it ties to the wider cosmic story and its a pass honestly. Kind of boring and nothing is resolved. Its the same status quo of them free and on the run again and causing some shi'aar damage. Skip this.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mission: catch up on the last decade's worth of Inhumans. Reason: Inhumans are the new "mutants" of the MCU. Challenge: wade through some of the most tedious, second-rate, forgettable stories of the Marvel Universe that I've studiously avoided like a bad STD since getting back into Marvel comics. Round two: bridge between Jenkins Inhumans glacial primer and the War Of Kings event.

(This is mostly a review of Kingbreaker because I don't remember much about the other issues bolted into this "collection".)

Wow, what parallel universe of X-Men comics does this hail from? I *think* I've read the X-Men comics from this era (though probably five years ago), and I don't remember *any* of these events. Was this some offshoot X-book I've never heard of?

Sh'iar, Starjammers, Vulcan, Kree, Marvel Girl, Havok and Polaris. Wut?

And this book is the worst excesses of Marvel Cosmic - throwing weird name after unheard-of race after invented world at us like some t-shirt cannon stuck on "auto"...

Politics is drawn out and pointless (at least to me), battle scenes are a mess that I can't follow, and ten minutes after I finished it I could care less what this was all about. Seriously.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The xmen stuff was fine. Nothing special buy Havok got to shine. The rest was meh, and saga was horrible.

[Judah Radd · Rating 5 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

This is the bomb diggity.

I’ve slowly been working my way through what many have called “DnA cosmic marvel (after Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning.)” So far, it’s great. I’ve read Nova, Guardians, Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, Emperor Vulcan, Deadly Genesis, Son of M... pretty much all the lead-in to War of Kings. This is the last step! I’m so excited.

This book really brings us to the brink. It’s the perfect setup. There’s so much drama, and it all points to a massive conflict between Vulcan and the Inhumans. I can’t wait to see where The X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova fit in. This is going to be explosive.

This book is meant to ramp up drama before the showdown, and it really succeeds big time. The art is on point. All the players are lined up on the board. Impending doom imminent! Hell yeah.

You really need this in your life! Next stop? war of kings!!!

[William Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kyle Yost, I could kiss you. X-Men: Kingbreaker reminds me of being 12 again and reading those X books where Lilandra takes Charles as her lover. It reminds me of The Guardians of the Galaxy and all those old books that had no affiliation with the Avengers or the X-books, even. Like Nova, The New Warriors, Darkhawk. And it was amazing, to me, because for the first time in a long, long time, Havok is being utilized in the exact way he should be.

Using every outer-space nation in the Marvel universe, except the Skrull- the Kree, Inhumans, the Shi'ar, etc- this book gave me goosebumps. I expected to see Quasar show up, for Christ's sakes. It made me giddy and I couldn't have loved it more. Perfect plotting, the book did absolutely no wrong.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great read. It's nice to see comics that cover all of the bases, i.e. character development, a healthy dose of action, tying in to continuity, etc. Props to all of the creators involved! Now I want to get War of Kings hardcover, though...damn it! My only gripes are the fact that A) Vulcan is another Summers brother/relation; it is unnecessary and adds nothing to the character and B) there is a female version of Gladiator. Why O why is Marvel so interested in making female versions of everyone these days? It's so DC.

This review was for the hardcover edition, which is not listed on Goodreads.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, this was a good choice for me because it tied a lot of things together from House of M, Quicksilver's temporary descent into madness afterward and how he got his powers 'back', and some other Inhuman/Phoenix stuff! There were a variety of formats and this collection was kind of cobbled together without a lot of initial preamble, so the last issue that basically recapped everything in prose was helpful.

[Adam Stone · Rating 2 out of 5]

This primer for the upcoming War of Kings doesn't have much to offer aside from putting pieces in place for the event. The stories are flat and the character developments are fairly paint-by-numbers.

Feel free to skip this one, even if you are going to read War Of Kings.

[Terry Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolute corker of a title this was. Nothing rote or expected. Characters returned. Others lost. Others still changed dramatically. This is what finely tuned storytelling is: substantial and leaving an impact once it is done.

I am sold on Yost yet again, and I will gladly read more of anything he does.

[Judith Groen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so great! What a lead up to the War of Kings. This is going to be it, all has been set up. The War of Kings will now begin. I am so excited to see what will happen. I loved Annihilation and Conquest and I have very high hopes for this one. Nova and the Guardians are one of my favorites and I wonder how they all come together once more. I can already feel it becoming epic

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a soft spot for Marvel Cosmic. I think it started with the Micronauts. So I'm pretty excited about this event. Definitely some characters I don't recognize, but I'm liking it a lot and the "Saga" comic really helped fill me on events that I had missed.

[Mouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a mess! The cover of this shows the Inhumans fighting something alongside the New Warriors and a few Starjammers in the background. The problem is that never even happens! The Inhumans never even meet up with the Starjammers...and as for the New Warriors...they're not even in the book!
Imagine having a book with someone like Spider-Man or Captain America on it, but they're not even in it!?!
The art is fine, but the story is all over the place and it's hard to tell what's going on and where one chapter is done and another takes its place. The Inhumans story was over waaaay too quick and then we get stuck with some kind of sibling rivalry between Havok and his whiney pissed off space brother Vulcan. I didn't even know he had a space brother named Vulcan! What happened to Cyclops?
Then at the end, there's this thing that seems like it's trying to be a story, but it's more like one of those Marvel Encyclopedia thingies. I didn't know what to make of it and this whole book is unfortunately very forgettable. I'll run across this book at some point in the future and I'll not even remember if I read it-It's a good thing Goodreads is around to remind me!

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good comic book space opera. Have to read War of Kings now.

[Trevor Dailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun build-up to the War of Kings as a whole. I have been enjoying the Inhumans and the Vulcan stuff and am excited to see them come to a head.

[violetDelights · Rating 4 out of 5]

decent build up to War of Kings
★★★★☆☆☆

[Hrishi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The board is set; the pieces are moving...

This handy TPB collects the War of Kings Saga one shot, X-Men: Kingbreaker, and a Secret Invasion: War of Kings one-shot.

The Saga one shot is like catch-up on major events for those who are coming in to the War of Kings crossover absolutely cold. I thought it was a good summary, in that it covered some events that were not clear to me having skipped some X-Men TPBs en route to the crossover. The Secret Invasion one shot picks up events in the wake of the Inhumans limited series - mostly a waste of time, except it has some awesome panels.

The core of this TPB was the King-breaker four-parter, which sort of concludes the Summers brothers feud. Alas, the end is a bummer because of course Vulcan can't die/ be jailed or whatever (else there'd be no War of Kings!). It is an immensely fun read though, as there is at least one major WTF moment with the Phoenix, as well as a cameo by a certain Symbiote from the Spidey rogues gallery.

The book suffers from one fatal flaw - it exists in the shadow of the crossover that is imminent, and therefore hurriedly ties off some loose ends and does some setup. That is all it is meant for, and therefore doesn't really work as a standalone. I suppose the title should've warned me, huh? :) Fans will like it - and it has events that will matter beyond the War of Kings. An OK read

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit, I am a big fan of Marvel's space books. Ever since Annihilation came out of nowhere and kicked off a new age of awesome cosmic adventure in the Marvel Universe (it made Nova into a serious, badass, character!) I've had my eye on all of these.

Admittedly the second event, Annihilation: Conquest, was more hit-or-miss (the "Dirty Dozen with smart-ass aliens" that was Star Lord on one hand, the confused messes of Quasar and Wraith on the other), but I still have alot of love in my heart for this corner of the setting.

This trade collects the various stories that set the scene for the latest big doings in that arena, and while it is uneven due to the hodge-podge nature of the collection it certainly has raised my interest and caught me up to date on some relevant stories I apparently missed.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection is sort of a precursor to the War Of Kings story but it isn’t unnecessary. Its comprised of a one-shot, a couple of pages from an anthology, and a limited series but somehow it goes together well. Seeing Black Bolt become a forceful leader that demands respect is great and about time. The Inhumans reaction to Secret Invasion was fantastic and viewing it mostly from Crystal’s point of view was really good. The biggest chunk of this book is the Kingbreaker limited series involving what’s been going on in Shi’ar space. Vulcan is still annoying but this series leads to something bigger and hopefully better. The series wasn’t bad but could have been much better. The art was uneven overall but the book is definitely worth checking out.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Kingbreaker mini-series was quite enjoyable, but the ending was sort of a letdown. It seemed like it was building towards a real finale, but instead we get: to be continued in War of Kings. I mean, even knowing it was a precursor, I expected a bigger ending. But there was a lot of fun getting there.

Meanwhile, the Inhumans take over the Kree universe in about three pages. Particularly bothersome, since the Kree are still using the shield from Annihilation: Conquest. You remember: the one no one in the universe could get past. Well, the Inhumans get past it in just a few panels. This issue, while an interesting plot, and necessary to set up War of Kings, definitely needed a longer telling. It seemed like the outline of a story.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

My lack of understanding of Vulcan's backstory and what the heck the Starjammers were up to around the time I first read this book really limited my ability to enjoy the piece fully. It's not a bad book - but it does make you feel like you've arrived in the middle of the story despite it being the lead-up material to the War of Kings crossover event.

But hey, it's bringing the likes of Havoc, Polaris, and Rachel Summers into a cosmic-level story in the post-Annihilation Conquest world. The different spacefaring races have had to deal with a Negative Zone invasion and then an Ultron-empowered Phalanx conquest of the Kree. Things are no in great shape, but it's certainly an interesting backdrop for a story that had the potential to be on an even larger scale than Secret Invasion.

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a little worried about reading this one because it seems to be the aftermath of Secret Invasion, which I haven't read. The problem I have with these huge encompassing story arcs put out by Marvel is that they are extremely hard to follow. Civil War being a big one. Trying to figure out what order to read the graphic novels in is a virtual nightmare. With all that said I really enjoyed this one and I found an abridged version of Secret Invasion at the end. I will definitely pick up the next volume.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Secret Invasion volume nicely moves the skrull invasion to the galactic scene, and has some shocking changes for the Inhumans [8/10]. The Saga book is a nice synopsis up to the start of this volume [7/10]. The snippet from "Divided" is inconsequential, yet well-written [7/10]. Finally, "X-Men: Kingbreaker" was a solid volume that nicely advanced the plot that's been running through various stories for a while [7/10].

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a bit challenging to read. I guess I don't know as much X-Men lore and Inhuman lore as I thought. Sometimes I was just confused, but most of the time I got it.

This story mostly seems focused on setting things up, but you can tell the writer also wanted to have a conclusion to this particular arc and I think that's why it suffers. The book is pulled in two different directions and neither is done to the best. The art is solid and the characters are all well defined and recognizable.

[David Edmonds · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much to say about this other than it bridges the story from where it left off as a mostly X-Men related story to a much more broad storyline that ties into several of Marvel's cosmic titles.

Recommended only if you're interested in these titles and have been keeping up with the Marvel storylines that are leading into War of Kings.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid Marvel cosmic stuff. The volume sets up a war among the stars, giving both sides plausible motivation, even if Vulcan, the Sh'iar emperor, comes off as a standard psycho. But the story includes some creative villains, inventive technology and an aura of resigned futility appropriate for a war story.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Havok has been kidnapped by his evil brother, the ex Shi-ar Queen is determined to rescue him. Meanwhile the inhumans decide to become more militant. This is a quick moving story, and you don't really need to know all the backstory to enjoy this. A good read.

[Travis Duke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the history summary in the back helped me untangle a few thoughts. The art was good and the story was pretty good. Starts off with the in humans but focuses on Vulcan a bit more and his power struggle. Overall not bad, plus the venom cameo was badass

[Scott Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like Rise and Fall of the Shiar Empire from Uncanny, this is a great story that is incomplete in this collection. At least here, with the title and subtitle the incompleteness of the story is foreshadowed. Still...