Annihilation: Nova #1-4

Okay, so the Annihilation series is big. Really big. I could recap it an issue at a time, but that would take me forever. Instead, I'm going to cover them in large 4-issue chunks, at least until I get to the main Annihilation books. This week, I covered Annihilation: Nova. Check out the entire recap after the break.

 

Annihilation: Nova #1 “All for One” by Abnett & Lanning, and Walker

At the end of Annihilation: Prologue, the Nova Corps headquartes, along with most of the Xandar Cluster were completely destroyed by the Annihilation Wave. During the attack, Drax the Destroyer and his human companion, Cammi, managed to escape. The Annihilation Wave is still in orbit around the remains of Xandar, with their leader, Annihilus in its flagship. As for the Nova Corps, only one man remains: Richard Rider.

Four days later, we find Rider sprawled out among the rubble, woken by the disembodied voice of the Xandarian Worldmind.

  With Rider disoriented, injured, and possibly suffering from PTSD, the Xandarian Worldmind explains to him that as the last of the Nova Corps, his primary objective is to preserve the Worldmind, which only has about two hours before it’s gone forever, along with the entire collective database of the Xandarian culture.

Not far from where he woke, he finds a few of the alien creatures that attacked Xandar, eating their own dead. Angry, and hell-bent on revenge, he attacks them, but due to his weakened condition, gets his ass handed to him. This forces the Worldmind to engage his flight function, jettisoning him out of there and into the Xandarian hub, where it reveals its plans for self-preservation.

  Rider, though, is reluctant to allow the entire Nova Force inside of him. There was once a member of the Nova Corps named Garthan Saal, aka Super Nova, who went insane because he couldn’t handle the full load of it. The Worldmind reassures Richard that it will help him carry it, and it will reinforce his suit as well. It also explains that he will only have to carry it for a short time. Without much of a choice, Rider goes through with it, coming out of it fully healed, and with brand new armor.

  Rider finds himself drunk with power of the Nova Force and, when he sees the Annihilation Wave ships, he immediately begins destroying as many as he can.

  After the destruction, Rider finds himself back on the remains of Xandar, with the reality of everything that’s happened hitting him like a ton of bricks. That’s when he get’s a couple visitors.

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 Annihilation: Nova #2 “And One for All” by Abnett & Lanning, and Walker

Drax and Cammi didn’t actually manage to escape. During the destruction of Xandar, they had to crash land, and are now stuck on one of the fragments, without a ship. Desperate for help, they turn to Richard Rider. Unfortunately, Rider is afraid that he is too dangerous to be around them, and refuses to help.

In a scene that’s played for a bit of comedy, the Worldmind (who only Rider can hear) chimes in, insisting he get to a safer place immediately. Drax and Cammi stand off to the side, watching what they think is Rider arguing with himself.

  Unable to leave Drax and Cammi, he takes them to one of the Xandar  hangars, arguing with the Worldmind the whole way. They reach the hangar safely, but there are some unexpected guests waiting for them when they get there.

  While Rider gets Cammi to safety, Drax quickly dispatches the alien creatures. Unfortunately, Rider is afraid to use his powers, and nearly gets the two of them killed. Drax doesn’t take this too well. With both Drax and the Worldmind in his ear, Rider removes his helmet and withdrawals himself from the situation.

  With Drax negoatiating with the Worldmind, Cammi and Rider have a few minutes to get to know one another. He’s dealing with survivor guilt, but she gives him a little good-natured ribbing for his “costume.”

Drax gives Rider his hat back, and agrees to help teach him focus and self-control in exchange for getting him and Cammi off the planet. Rider agrees.

Inside a working ship, they prepare for takeoff. The only problem is that there are still way too many warships in the area for them to get away safely. Rider has to use the Nova Force to open a stargate, but Drax assures him he will help him maintain control of it.

So they take off.

  They blast off through space, and arrive at Nycos Aristedes, nine light years from Xandar. But the engine is dead, and they are being pulled down fast by the planet’s gravity. Without brakes, or any other way to prevent crashing into the atmosphere, they radio for help. At the last second, they are caught by the being known as Quasar.

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 Annihilation: Nova #3 “Safety in Numbers” by Abnett & Lanning, and Walker

On Nycos Aristedes, Quasar is evacuating the planet. It turns out word of the recent destruction has spread far and wide. He asks Rider for help before learning the fate of the Xandar Cluster, as well as the identities of the Earth girl Cammi and her friend Drax, who maybe shouldn’t be trusted.

The Xandarian Worldmind reminds Rider that since he has fulfilled his mission to get Cammi and Drax to safety, he must how resume his mission to preserve the Worldmind. Unfortunately, it looks like 18+ million people of Nycos Aristedes may need more than just the help of Quasar to get off the planet without accidentally killing each other. 

  Drax, on the other hand, seems to think getting these people to safety is a waste of time, and that preparing for a battle would be wiser. Spoken like a true destroyer. He explains to Quasar that there is no true safety, that Richard Rider, Nova, is loaded with the entire Nova Force and is afraid of losing control of it. Oh, and that he did lose control of it once already.

  Drax knows that the safest place in the universe right now, could be right where he is, near Rider, considering the threat that is coming for them. Quasar breaks everything down for Rider. Right now, with the stargates they have, they will be able to get everyone safely away from the planet in five days. What they need is a larger stargate with a higher capacity. If they had that, they could accomplish he task in a matter of hours. Rider agrees to use the Nova Force to create the stargate they need.

Then the attack comes. Quasar blasts off into space, with Rider right behind him, despite the Worldmind’s protests.

  Rider immediately gets to work on the stargate while Quasar fends off the attacking forces.

Meanwhile, back on the Annihilation Wave flagship, Annihilus detects a strong surge in energy somewhere in the universe and decides to head straight for it.

  Quasar and Rider continue fending off the enemy ships, as the colonists of Nycos Aristedes escape. Suddenly, one of them is destroyed by a fleet of Annihilation Wave warships. And it suddenly dawns on Drax that Annihilus is behind the entire thing.

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 Annihilation: Nova #4 "Ten Minutes and Counting” by Abnett & Lanning, and Walker

Despite Quasar’s protests, Richard Rider rushes into battle alone. He needs to keep the Annihilation forces off the colonists for less than 13 minutes. With the help of the Worldmind, he is able to intuitively anticipate attacks from all around him. Whizzing through space, he wipes out a few of the enemy ships, but he still can’t hold them off on his own. Suddenly, he is joined by Quasar.

While Quasar and Nova hold off the enemy ships, Drax chimes in. He and Cammi are the last ones left on the planet. He tells them to head for the capital ships in the middle of the fleet, and that a creature known as Annihilus is to blame.

  Meanwhile, on the Annihilation Wave flagship, Annihilus senses Quasar and Nova, as well as the power they possess. Rather than fight them off, he intends to draw them to him so he may acquire their powers for himself.

Quasar and Nova fight their way to Annihilus, where they are swiftly taken down by the big man himself. Quasar tries to use his quantum power to create a force field between him and Annihilus, but it doesn’t work.

  He kills Quasar, but the time it took to do that gave Rider time to suckerpunch Annihilus. The Worldmind warns him that Annihilus outclasses him at every level. Fortunately, Rider has a plan that doesn’t need to be vocalized for the Worldmind to understand. He allows himself to be taken by Annihilus, who has unknowingly made contact with the Worldmind.

  With the Annihilation Wave attacking itself, Rider escapes. Annihilus orders all ships that have been effected to self-destruct, before he and the remaining ships retreat.

Richard Rider, a little worse for wear, drifts through space. He has decided not to follow through with his prime directive, but to hold onto the Worldmind indefinitely. Considering what they were able to accomplish together, the Worldmind concurs.

Drax and Cammi, in their own little ship, come across Nova as he drifts. They need a stargate. Nova agrees, but he has a condition.

And that’s the end of the Annihilation: Nova series. Wow, what a ride. Before I read this series, I wasn’t terribly familiar with Nova, and now that I have read it, I have to say he’s pretty cool.  But does he remind anyone else of Peter Quill? They’re both smartass men from Earth, who are more or less charged with the responsibility of defending the universe from any threats. The main difference being that Richard Rider is sort of a space cop, whereas Peter Quill is more of an outlaw. I don’t know. I just find them too be a little too similar. Perhaps Richard Rider would be a little more unique if he was still one of a number of Nova Corps officers. Of course, that would completely fly in the face of his true origin as Nova, but it’s interesting to think about.

What I do really enjoy about Nova, though, is the Worldmind. The Worldmind is sort of a sidekick without really being a sidekick. It allows for moments of levity, without being personified by a younger, cuter character. I’ll take more Worldmind any day.

We also get to see Drax in this series. Now, Drax has gone through some changes between now and the last time he appeared in a comic book. We don’t get much backstory on him here, except that he maybe killed a whole lot of people, but that’s about it. He more or less existed in this series to build up Nova as a character. I hope we get to see more of his past throughout the Annihilation series.

At the end of the day, though, this is part of an enormous crossover event surrounding Annihilus, and, I think he could be a great villain. I just want to see some more of him. We’ve seen the sort of destruction he’s capable of, and now that he has Quasar’s Quantum Bands, who knows what he’s got in store for the rest of the universe? I wish we could’ve gotten to see just a little bit more.

As for the writing, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning killed it with Anniilation: Nova. It’s a book that plays entirely to their strengths. They kept the plot moving with plenty of action set pieces, and the tone relatively light with some levity sprinkled throughout. And Kev Walker’s artwork decent, particularly when it came to the more actiony moments, but overall, it wasn’t bad. It definitely wasn’t as distracting as the art in Annihilation: Prologue.

NEXT UP: Annihilation: Silver Surfer #1-4.