Annihilation #3-6

Annihilation #3-6

Originally released in 2006

Written by Keith Giffen

Art by Andrea Di Vito

Annihilation was one of my first attempts at dipping my toes into cosmic Marvel, and I quickly found myself lost.  Even though I've read more of that side of Marvel since then (I know who the Shi'ar are, at least), I think it might help to reframe the story in my mind, and think of it as a war story rather than a cosmic story.  I'm likely not going to know all of the characters, but that's okay, even if some dramatic cliffhangers might fall flat for me as a result.

If it is a war story, it's one where the heroes are on the losing end to start with.  Annihilus is working with Thanos, giving the Annihilation Wave access to teleportation technology.  In addition, they've captured Galactus somehow and are using him as a planet-killing weapon, draining the planet's life energy without using it to nourish Galactus.

It feels hopeless, but not to the point of being insurmountable.  In theory, if they could free Galactus, he would be on their side, which would be a huge advantage.  Still, the survivors are on the run, and Nova seems to have given up.  His last ditch effort is to send a warning to Earth, hoping that the Avengers or Fantastic Four can find a way... Except this takes place around the time of the Civil War event, meaning that due to a proposed law in a single country, Earth's heroes are so divided that they have absolutely no idea that the Annihilation Wave has been rampaging through the universe.

The battle comes at a heavy cost - Drax stays behind, fighting off the Annihilation Wave to allow the shuttle containing his adoptive daughter to escape, and two heralds of Galactus throw themselves in the path of a beam generated by their master to buy everyone else time to escape.  Still, despite being believed to be dead, the Super Skrull is revived, so it's not a total loss.

Issue 4 focuses on Drax, who survived his stand-off with Annihilus's forces, refusing to die until he kills Thanos.  As for Thanos, his alliance with Annihilus is becoming strained, as Annihilus's greed causes him to ignore basic parts of their plan (such as the need to keep Galactus alive), so he plans to use Moon dragon's mind-reading ability to help speed up his inevitable betrayal.

As it turns out, rather than conquering the universe, Annihilus's plan is to use cosmic energy to become immortal, and then kill everything that isn't him. (His name really should have been a giveaway there) I'm not sure if Thanos will like this plan (because it means he joins his beloved Death) or hate it (because he's not the one doing the killing).

Thanos seems to agree that Annihilus must be stopped, though knowing Thanos, it's unclear how honest he is or if he's just saying this to manipulate Moondragon somehow. It quickly becomes a moot point because, as Thanos goes to free Galactus (having tied the only way to do that to his own energy readings), Drax shows up, choosing the worst possible moment to attack Thanos.

As Thanos sees a vision that appears to be Death, Drax rips out Thanos's heart. Under most circumstances, this would be a good thing, but now it means that nobody can free Galactus and Annihilus's plans can continue unopposed.

The Silver Surfer is being held captive, so Drax frees him and guesses that he'd have enough power to survive whatever traps Thanos included to prevent anyone but him from freeing Galactus; surprisingly, it works.  On Hala, a group of Kree merchants took over the government, managed the war in a completely incompetent manner, and sold the planet out to Annihilus.  Ronan the Accuser is forced to work with the Super-Skrull to free Hala, and neither one is particularly happy about this partnership.

The Supreme Intelligence is kept in a state of living death, effectively making it a vegetable.  With it unable to lead, Ronan is put in charge of the Kree Empire, though he mercy-kills the Supreme Intelligence before officially taking charge. (I'm guessing that both Thanos and the Supreme Intelligence will be alive again within a few years)

With Galactus and the Silver Surfer freed, the story enters its final issue, as Galactus seeks revenge for his treatment and starvation at Annihilus's hands.  It's immediately made clear why the two of them were taken out of the picture so soon; if he had been active during the conflict, then it would have been an extremely short one.

As Galactus wipes out the majority of Annihilus's forces, others seize the opportunity to strike back.  Ronan, in particular, takes initiative, launching Hala's buildings at Annihilus's ships.

Despite Annihilus's flagship being at the center of Galactus's assault, Annihilus himself survives, seemingly due to the cosmic energy that he absorbed.  He plans to escape and rebuild his forces, but Nova tracks Annihilus down, leading to a final battle between the two.

Even running on the fumes of his stolen powers, Annihilus has the advantage, though with the assistance of Phyla-Vell, Nova is able to triumph. The result of all of this isn't necessarily a happy ending, but it's an ending - Annihilus's second-in-command gets territories that previously belonged to the Kree and Skrulls in exchange for calling off the attacks, but Annihilus is in a state where another attack won't be happening any time soon, Thanos is dead, and there's a relative peace.

I found the last four issues to be much more enjoyable than the first two, along with being much easier to follow.  It likely helped that the focus narrowed quite a bit, focusing on individuals rather than ragtag armies made up of various factions. (It also helped that I was familiar with most of those individual characters) It definitely helped me to understand the perspective of Annihilation being one of Marvel's better storylines, even without having read any of the tie-in material, and it was a massive improvement over the Civil War event that was happening at the same time.