War of Kings

War of Kings #1

by Dan Abnett (Writer), Andy Lanning, Paul Pelletier (Contributor)

The Inhumans have taken flight to outer space. Their destiny as rulers written in the ancient fates, Black Bolt and the royal family have taken command of the Kree empire! Meanwhile, Vulcan, power-mad brother of the X-Men's Cyclops and Havok, has become the newest emperor of the Shi'ar, the most advanced military civilization in the galaxy! What happens when these mighty powers turn their rage upon one another? And what happens to those caught in the crossfire?

COLLECTING: Secret Invasion: War of Kings, War of Kings 1-6, War of Kings: Who Will Rule?, Marvel Spotlight: War of Kings

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

256 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2009

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

The surprisingly good and gripping saga of the Kree-Shi'Ar war. As a result of Secret Invasion the Inhumans take over ruling of the Kree and end up facing Vulcan's Shi'Ar Empire. Throwing in the Starjammers, Guardians of the Galaxy and the Nova Corps and you have a cosmic event. Lanning and Abnett's tight control over the 40(!) comic book issue parts ensures that the quality of the event was continuous. I read comic books Secret Invasion - War of Kings, numerous War of Kings' specials, Guardians of the Galaxy #7 - 17 and Nova # 23 - 29. 7 out of 12 - Strong Three Star read.

2011 read

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as Marvel's 'events' go, I really enjoyed this one. I'm currently doing a chronological read-through of all Marvel's (relatively) recent cosmic books (I've read quite a bit of it before but not in order and all in one go) and it's made me realise how much more cohesive their cosmic events are than the Earthbound ones.

This reads like one consistent story-line, rather than a bunch of sub-stories cobbled together with spit and twine, even when you factor in some of the crossovers. This is probably because these events only crossover into a limited number of books (mainly Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy) instead of trying to drag every book Marvel publish into the fray, turning it into an unreadable mess.

This is a nice slice of space opera with high stakes and enough action to keep most adrenaline junkies happy. It also has a nice epilogue that ties together some loose ends and sets up future plot developments quite nicely.

[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 three: the War Of Kings event.

(This is only a review of the main War of Kings book. No way in *hell* anyone gonna trick me into reading the rest of the derivative third-rate drivel they padded this out with. Fuuuck that. I've read others' reviews - I don't hate myself that much.)

Oh lord, here we go with another nonsense of fucking made-up words for a bunch of irrelevant space aliens, worlds and races that either (a) you'd have to be a masochist to have read enough Marvel Cosmic to even recognize let alone care about or (b) are just there to make this tale seem more otherworldly.

Both ways, I end up feeling just so terribly bored, alienated and ready to punch either Abnett or Lanning when I get a chance to make them pay for this atrocity.

No matter how much fun one of these creators thinks it is to make up all this shit on the fly, it makes for very much more laborious storytelling. Every time some obscure word gets thrown in, the reader has to dig deep in their memory for any clues as to the context, meaning or importance of one of these trivia shards (and hope that the extraction process doesn't lacerate any important soft tissues).

I.E. I'm bored. I'm confused unnecessarily. I'm mad at the assholes who thought it'd be fun to put me through this. I'm having fantasies of practicing my Boy Scout knots with their entrails.

A funny thing happens about halfway through. Maybe their editor told the to get off their asses and start showing us something interesting, or maybe DnA realized they were way off schedule and couldn't afford to waste more pages on dull drivel. Whatever the cause, they finally buckled down and started *doing* shit. Blowing shit up, killing people, changing allegiances...actually dramatically interesting shit. THANK YOU. I was about to start counting loops on the noose.

By the time the great showdown happens, all I care about is finding out who dies and who takes over. So that I can file it away and understand a bit better what's going on in current Cosmic arcs. Not that it matters. Everyone who dies will come back (or already has), and eventually we'll regress to status quo, as is only normal in Big Two comics.

Did I enjoy this? Not really. Still find Inhumans staid and kinda boring. But they're infinitely better than the torture of getting dragged through the self-important but generally terrible politics of the Kree or Sh'iar. Lots of posturing about "duty" and petty, superficial "politics". Good god, give me Hickman any day to *actually* get how to make politics interesting. This is like children playing with plastic army men by comparison.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

My knowledge of Cosmic Marvel is limited, but I have read DnA (Dan Abnett and Alex Lanning) Guardians of the Galaxy. There's also some helpful info in the back of this book, like they used to do in old school books. The 2 have been working together for over 2 decades, mostly in the cosmic world, and it shows. They work very well together.

So it helps to have some context, and I can say I wasn't entirely lost, thanks in part to X-Men books, the X-Men cartoon in the 90s, and some GotG stuff.

This is an event, and there's supporting books around it, but you really can get away with just reading this.

It picks up at the end of Secret Invasion, which returns the REAL Black Bolt, as he was one who was replaced by a Skrull. The Inhumans were humans augmented by Kree experimentation, so they have every reason to hate the Kree, as well as the Skrulls.

Black Bolt is usually the strong silent one, and seems very in control...however, here, BB is in the mood for action.

More or less, he launches Attilan, the whole city, into space, and towards the Kree empire.

Apparently the Annihilation Event left the Kree nearly decimated, as I gathered. So when the Inhumans show up, Ronan the Accuser, who is the regent of the Kree Empire, surrenders the Kree to Black Bolt's rule.
Ronan is to marry Crystal, Black Bolt's sister in law and former Johnny Storm paramour.

We see much of things through her eyes.

On the other side of the coin, we have the Shi'ar, ruled by the evil Summers brother, Gabriel, aka. Vulcan.
So with the Shi'ar, we also know we'll see the Imperial Guard, headed up by the big purple monster (no not Barney; Gladiator.) We get a lot of things from his POV on the non Kree side.
Of course, we also end up seeing the Starjammers, now under command of Havok (Alex Summers) and Polaris (Crystal's sister in law from when she was married to Quiksilver, Lorna's brother). We also see Rachel Gray and a couple others, including Prof. X's old girlfriend...one Lilandra! (former empress of the Shi'ar)
This being cosmic, and galactic adventure, we also see everyone's faves; the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Luckily, the smaller teams (GotG and SJ) show up for action times and it's awesome action.

Pretty much, Vulcan is expanding the Shi'ar Empire, and Black Bolt is expanding the rule of the Inhumans after ages of being shat upon.

This is not a clear cut case of good versus evil, because we see that war drives even the good to bad actions, and even evil men can act for good in a roundabout way too.

Crystal and Ronan are married, before the war breaks out, so Crystal gets to see the Kree and feel for their pain.

Long story short, without spoilers? War, what is it good for? Fucking shit up and getting people killed.
There's a huge throwdown between the 2 kings, and it is EPIC. There's also lots of fighting, and good people making Machiavellian level decisions, for the greater good, but actually evil when you look at it outside of the situation. However, it also lets us see the greatness of a few characters as they rise to cosmic levels of goodness. One in particular, I think, makes more sense to me now, based on what I know from the future of Marvel books.

It's pretty awesome, and even with only a passing knowledge of cosmic Marvel, this is a very fun ride. Even with none at all, you won't actually get lost, and you might learn some new characters. If anything, this makes me more inclined to read Cosmic Marvel (at least DnA stuff...) Mike, I want you to read this forthwith, and we shall discuss, and you shall inform my sensibilities about where to go next.

[Terence · Rating 2 out of 5]

Black Bolt has become King of the Kree and finds himself at war with Vulcan and The Shi'ar Empire.


The wow factor is there with cool visuals, space battles, and explosions, but it was lacking heart. I couldn't find myself overly concerned with the events or outcomes overall. I was more torn up seeing Gladiator deal with his feelings than anything else that happened in War of Kings. Perhaps that's part of the issue with the Inhumans for some people. I don't find myself overly concerned with what happens with a King and his people in a world where the X-Men scrap for the betterment of mutants (any person or group of people who aren't the majority) and heroes like Captain America and Spider-Man try to protect everyone. Sitting back mostly aloof from everyone and everything outside themselves doesn't make them endearing. Marvel has a lot of work to do if they really want to replace Mutants with Inhumans in the MCU.

[Michael Joseph Schumann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 out of 5 stars.

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit, this was fantastic.

So we have the Inhumans, you know the guys no one seems to like (I Do...some of them) having enough of this bullshit of being treated like shit. So what do they do? Well they go after anyone and everyone trying to fuck with them. This opens with a bang as Black Bolt and his people hit the Skrulls first, pretty much dominating them in minutes.

Then they set their sights on Ronan the Accuser and the Kree. In a twist of faith Ronan bows and let's Black Bolt take over, takes Crystal as his wife, and they begin to rise. But Vulcan, the crazy fucking brother of Cyclops and Havok decides that's no good and declares war by attacking the Inhuman's on the wedding day of Crystal.

Lots of nice political fighting, which I'm a big fan of. Great deaths, awesome fights, wonderful character moments and growth, and a ending that sets up the cosmic world in a lot of cool ways.

This might be as good if not better than Annihilation for me. A 4.5 or maybe even a 5 out of 5.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abnett & Lanning... these guys always put out a quality product, and their latest cosmic super-adventure is right up there. With Paul Pelletier's clean and dynamic art, they paint a fast paced, high octane story of galactic war, letting the long languishing Inhumans take center stage in the classic galactic struggles between Kree, Skrull and Shi'ar.

This is a book steeped in Marvel tradition and continuity, and probably not all that interesting to non-comic geeks, but the pair of Dan and Andy know how to write in the Marvel tradition, and even utilize lame characters like Darkhawk in effective ways.

While the backup stories are often trite and predictable, especially the Darkhawk story, which had incredible potential and ended up like something written in the '80s, the major story is a great superhero read.

[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 big showdown, and it’s wild.

So many different stories come together here. The culmination of events is epic. As far as events go, this reads pretty surprisingly well as a stand alone. I read it in conjunction with Nova, Guardians and Skaar, so I feel like I got a really whole picture of the story.

It’s very well written. The themes, subtext and dramatic dialogue are compelling. It’s also drawn perfectly. I found myself staring at pages for long after I’d finished reading the words.

I recommend this to anyone who loves a cosmic space tale. This is like Star Wars for 616.

Definitely a solid 5 stars

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never read anything about the Inhumans before, but they seem rather interesting in a what the hell is going on kind of way. Still, I did enjoy it and I want to see a lot more in the future.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I come into this reread having read through the entire cosmic saga orchestrated by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and I think that's the only way to really appreciate this. It's a weird mesh of superhero action and grand science-fiction political drama. Space is a mess and the Kree and Shi'ar are going to war with each other. The Shi'ar find themselves ruled by Vulcan, an Omega-level mutant from Earth, while the Kree have recently submitted to the Inhumans with Black Bolt as their king. Vulcan is making enemies everywhere while he's too strong for anyone to oppose and is waging bloody wars against anyone who look at him wrong, doesn't look at him at all, or just catches his eye in one way or another. The Inhumans have promised the Kree some sort of Terrigenesis to 'evolve' them and bring their civilization back from the brink of death.

Realm of Kings is fun. It fails in many areas but overall stands out as a highlight of this decade of Marvel cosmic crossover events. It picks up the pieces of a shattered universe from previous events (like Annihilation) and gives the Inhumans centre-stage while other key players are given time to set themselves up behind the scenes. So much of the cosmic saga is about Nova, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, and watching the universe change and rip itself apart (sometimes, like in War of Kings, quite literally)- but Nova doesn't show up here and the Guardians of the Galaxy have but a minor cameo appearance. This event is just watching all these big alien civilizations duke it out and being just invested enough in the universe that you're willing to care about a book starring THE INHUMANS.

Paul Pelletier's art is a good fit for this. He can draw the big superhero fights, the cool spaceships, the massive blasts that emphasize the powers of Vulcan and Black Bolt, he does it all. Some of the faces and interactions can look weird, which sucks some of the tension out of the political drama, but those aren't really the highlight of the book anyways. He knocks it out of the park when it matters and the book is great to look at.

I do think that War of Kings is probably my favourite 'event' of this saga outside of the big climax in The Thanos Imperative. I'm reading it this time because I'm reading through Inhumans and... eh. Taking them from the political drama of Earth and throwing them into this big cosmic landscape is a cool idea but it's difficult to apply their geneocracy to the entire cosmos. That's kind of the point, but it's awkward to read and they mostly feel like plot pieces instead of interesting characters (bar Crystal, the only good Inhuman that isn't a dog).

[Terry Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot in here, and for the most part, it is superlative.

The main storyline is exciting and wholly unexpected. Abnett and Lanning plotted out so very much, across so many stories, and with a diverse cast of characters that I cannot fail them for some small missteps.

Some of the ancillary stories feel a little lame, and the Darkhawk stuff feels very unimportant. Excluding those inserts, you are almost assured to come out of this with a finer appreciation for what these gentlemen can accomplish when given a tableau large enough for their visions.

[james cardelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never been into the "space" books or science fiction reading and I read A LOT of books. For some reason, The Annihilation books just reached out to me at the comic book store so I went ahead and tried Annihilation 1. I was hooked from page 1. War of Kings is a great TPB and I would suggest it to anyone. I know we all have our own tastes but if these books could sway me into the "space"/ science fiction genre then I believe it can sway others. One this I would suggest though. If you have not read Annihilation TPB's 1,2 and 3 and Annihilation Conquest TPB's 1 and 2 I would suggest you read them first. Amazing writing and stunning art work. I learned that when reading these books you should not rush because a lot is said in each frame, both with dialoge and art. If I were asked to put these books on a list of top ten collections I could easily have them at #1. I love the Captain America TPB's from Winter Soldier through The Death of Captain America so the two would be a very close race. Just to add a little something about when you are looking for something new to read. Don't follow the hype of what people say. Follow what you heart tells you. I get a lot of heat for these two but I followed the hype on Allan Moore and Grant Morrison and was HIGHLY disappointed. I loved Watchmen but everything else by Alan Moore bored me to no end. I thought Morrisons JLA was horrible. BUT, like I said before, we all have different tastes and A LOT of people LOVE Morrisons JLA and all of Moores books so it's just one mans opinion. Enjoy your reading. Have a great day. TTYL.
JC

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

War of Kings makes for a much more cohesive story that the previous space epics Marvel tried. And the main plotline--the War of Kings book itself--is quite solid. Good pacing, good plot, nice twists and turns. It's a lot of fun. 5/5.

But the stuff surrounding it ranges from just mediocre to actually bad:

First, the whole Darkhawk storyline, which plays an important and interesting role in the main story, is just bad. It's poorly written, retcon-heavy, and, while the main twist is pretty cool and promising, the character is just too lame to care about. This is a character that was lame in the '90s. And if you remember how lame EVERYTHING was in the '90s, you'll know that's saying a lot. So having him tied to the Shi'ar makes a lot of sense, because the suit sort of looks Shi'ar-y, and making the darkhawks a villainous organization is good, but ultimately, it just doesn't make me care. 2/5.

As for the other random interludes: Gladiator's story is good in its own right, and it adds quite a bit of poignancy (and, possibly, confusion) to his later actions. 4/5. Blaastar's story is fair, but doesn't contribute much. Actually, both the Lilandra story and the (too-long!) Skaar story are the same: not bad, but doesn't really affect anything. 3/5 for those. The Crystal story is terrible--poorly written, and overwrought. Blah. 0/5. (Faerber can do better.)

So, overall, a good story with some baggage unfortunately tied up with it.

[Colby Pryor · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I cam away from War of Kings is how not to build a conflict between two families. I mean don't get me wrong, the book is well done, great story, great action, most of the characters are handled well. But as a writer I find that if I want to deal with war, to deal with royal families, and most importantly politics, I would read the A Song of Fire and Ice because that book handles the subject matter like how I would want to handle the subject matter. With War of Kings, at times it focuses too much on the action, on the war itself, instead of the political maneuverings behind the war. Like we barely get into Vulcan's head, what does Vulcan want, what his plans are, does he have one. Too much time is spent on the Inhumans and not enough on Vulcan and the political maneuverings of the Shiar Imperium. So as a writer, I respect this approach in dealing with cosmic conflict, which I am very much interested in and interested in playing with, it's not how I would handle the subject matter. So I learned which type of story I'm more interested in telling.

Otherwise, however, great book.

[Holden Attradies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story line centering around the Inhumans has being incredibly captivating. I do kind of wish it was all just in a Inhumans series with continuing numbering instead of a new series with many tie ins ever six issues or so.

Any who, the story was incredibly well paced and had me turning page after page. It was also incredibly satisfying to see major changing to the marvel universe AND a few character deaths. Will these changes last and will said characters stay dead? Probably not. But at least for now it feels like time is moving forward in this setting and that is something I rarely feel with Marvel (which is one of the vary few things I dislike about their books).

Beyond all of that there was a pretty big cast here with a lot of short cameos, but I put the book down feeling every character had just the right amount of page time. I highly recommend this book to Cosmic Marvel fans!

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read some Inhumans comics and found this one cheap. Lots of characters, lots of political intrigue, long-winded speeches and a bit of space action, but not much to hold on to. It was easy enough to follow, but as I wasn't very familiar with or interested in most of the characters, I just didn't care. The art is very pleasing and kinetic, but it couldn't save the book for me.

[ik.ben.henri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gladiator Kallark is cool.

[Gerry Sacco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn’t bad but wasn’t great. Got a bit lost in itself and had too many side characters being focused on, and not enough Inhuman material. Art was outstanding though.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's my second time to read this and...it's still a weird event. I'm not sure if I fully like it, but I more respect what it addressed and managed to accomplish. The War of Kings pits the Kree against the Shi-ar. But this time, it's a Kree led by the Inhumans and a Shi'ar led by the mutant Vulcan. And how things come together is pretty bonkers.

Despite all the tie-in material, there's no getting away from the fact that the core story is centered around the Inhumans, now allied with the Kree, the Shi'ar, and some degree the Starjammers under Havoc's lead. The Guardians of the Galaxy were part of the lead-up material and featured in one of the main issues, but didn't really get to play a key role. Nova ends up being busy with an internal conflict around this time and doesn't factor into the main event. And I guess we get a lot of introspection on the part of Gladiator?

Beyond that, the elevation of the Raptors (the Darkhawk people) to a major cosmic player is a weird thing that features in the latter half of this book but isn't properly explained without the supplementary material. I'm not sure how well it plays here but it's definitely a weird thing added to the Marvel comic universe.

[Ariel Molina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read with all tie-ins. It's a good atory overall, but reading it with all tie-ins slows down the story quite a bit, sometimes I was reading a certain series and wanted to continue reading the next issue, but the reading order told me I should go to another series first. While this generally leads to a better understanding of the storyline, and it's still the case in this event, specially in the beginning of the event with Havok fighting Vulcan.

That said, I believe the best parts were actually in the tie-ins with Darkhawk, Nova and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emerging out from the events of Infinity and Secret Invasion, War of Kings is a cosmic story about the power of fear that fans of the Inhumans and the Starjammers will likely enjoy, though other readers may be disappointed. Ronan the Accuser and Gladiator serve as especially fascinating characters in this arc, though the fate of a particular cosmic Marvel character may leave some fans disappointed. I do not, however, recommend this for readers whose only knowledge of Marvel takes place on Earth with the mainline Avengers.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

If your favorite corner of the Marvel Universe is the space opera section, this book could be one of your favorites. It's got the team of X-Men/Starjammers who've been hovering in the Sh'iar empire, it has the Inhumans returning to Kree space, it has some cameos from other Marvel space characters, and it has a ton of action and royal succession plots.

If those aren't your jam, then this probably isn't going to catch your attention. It's in no way bad, but it feels too big to be a story that draw in new readers. There's so much continuity, and so little reward for learning it.

[Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected a bit more, but I generally liked what I got.

This series is called "War of kings" but I liked that the two main protagonist weren't the two kings, but rather two individuals close to the kings - general Gladiator of the Shi'ar and Crystal of the Inhumans. And while Gladiator war a bit boring, Crystal was quite exceptional and I loved reading about her!

The ending was okay, but sadly it's just another door, inviting you the read the next event.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. It’s ok. I just didn’t find all the sound tech based on Black Bolts power as being that interesting. I mean what if Black Bolt died? Then how would all that tech work? And a flying city ship that can tear through anything because Black Bolt whispers into an oxygen mask? Yeah I guess. Its really a 2.5 but I am rounding up.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, epic, inspiring, and stunning.
This was the golden age of Marvel Cosmic, if you ask me. It reignited my love for comics outside of team loyalty and got me looking at the stars like a little kid again

[Anthony Wendel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a little disappointed the two issue War of Kings: Darkhawk miniseries wasn't included. Still, an entertaining read overall.

[Jake Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a fan of the Inhumans than this is for you

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tend to really love Marvel Cosmic stuff, but this one didn't blow me away. It was cool though, there's a lot going on up there in space.

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Abnett is one of those writers that I haven't loved anything by. I can appreciate his style but its just not for me