11 April 2009

War of Kings

I've always liked Marvel Comics' space sagas, particularly those that build on previous stories, so War of Kings is something to savour.

The kings in question are Vulcan (brother to the X-Men's Cyclops), who is Emperor of the Shi'ar and Black Bolt, Leader of the Inhumans and, now, also the Kree.

Those of us who have been reading Marvel Comics for thirty years or more will appreciate the long interrelated histories behind the words "X-Men", "Shi'ar" and "Kree" and will not be surprised that the latest instalment in that history also involves the Starjammers, Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova.

This rich cast is part of what I like about these stories as it allows multiple concurrent strands to be added to the story and turns it into a saga.

You can also do more when you have the whole of fictional space to play with. On Earth buildings may get blown up but in War of Kings we have already had one Kree planet completely torched by the Shi'ar. I think that Phoenix (a.k.a. the X-Men's Marvel Girl) still holds the record for killing 8 billion beings in one incident!

It is also good to see that the lead scribe in this epic is Dan Abnett, a British writer who earned his reputation on 2000AD and who has since moved into mainstream comics in America.

There is much to enjoy about this story and that is what I am doing.

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