"Telepathic Space Dragon? Telepathic Space Dragon!" in Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar #2, by Christos Gage (writer), Mike Lilly (penciler), Bob Almond and Scott Hanna (inkers), Stephanie Peru (colorist), and Joe Caramagna (letterer)
As is typical for Marvel the last 15 years, they can't let any status quo sit long enough the creative talent can do anything with it. Annihilation ended in January of 2007, and by June of that year, we were into Annihilation: Conquest, with the Phalanx catching the Kree with their defenses down and then cutting the entire galaxy off from the rest of space. Which left the resistance down to whatever heroes happened to be inside that bubble at the time.
Marvel took the same approach they had with the previous event, with a Prologue one-shot to start, and then three 4-issue mini-series, each focused on a different character. A 4-issue arc of Nova's ongoing functioned as the fourth mini-series.
Quasar focused on Phyla-Vell, not only the daughter of Captain Mar-Vell, but now the holder of the Quantum Bands. Phyla and her girlfriend Moondragon are trying to find a mysterious "Savior" before the Phalanx can. Phyla's trying to master using the Bands to fend off a Phalanx-controlled Super Adaptoid, before the Bands run out of power. Moondragon, well, she has her own problems to contend with.
I was not happy with who the target of their search wound up being, as I can't stand that character, but otherwise enjoyed this mini-series. Phyla's struggling to have confidence in herself in a trying situation, having been raised to believe if she isn't the best immediately, then she's a failure and isn't trying hard enough. her father is held up as some ideal she must surpass (I have never understood the hoopla about Mar-Vell). This makes Moondragon an interesting partner, since she spent a long time being the height of arrogance, refusing to ever admit mistakes or treat others as equals. She's had to confront her failures and weaknesses, and continue forward, that's valuable experience. Plus, they're a cute couple, very supportive of each other.
Lilly draws excellent monsters and dragons, which gives the book a fantasy feel. The questing heroes, seeking the powerful slumbering mage. The story even concludes in a castle. His Super-Adaptoid's the Silver Age version, the green one that's a hodgepodge of different Avengers. (Oddly, Annihilus had the other Super-Adaptoid in his army, the blank-faced white one that showed up later). The generic Phalanx soldiers don't look so great, but that may just be a function of the general design, or they may just not play to his strengths.
2 comments:
So...Quasar? What ever happened to Wendell anyway? He seemed like such a nice boy.
He was a pretty decent guy, just seemed incapable of saving the universe without dying in the process. He comes back during the Abnett/Lanning Guardians of the Galaxy run, is part of the Annihilators after The Thanos Imperative, and I have no idea since then.
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