BB Review Group week 225 - War of Kings #1 (Spoilers)

**Ray G.** · 03-04-2009, 10:04 AM

This week we are reading: War of Kings #1 (Marvel) written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and drawn by Paul Pelletier.

This week we are doing something a bit different. Mark has generously offered a free PDF to all reviewers. Please PM me for the link.

This week the Alternative Review Group is Reading:

Strongman by Charles Soule & Allen Gladfelter (Slave Labor Graphics, 03/04)

http://www.606studios.com/bendisboar....php?p=5795231

The voting for next weeks book will begin Thursday

Our reviewers this week are:

changingshades 9
Raydawggie 8
iGotKittyPryde 4
Corpse Reign 8
AceOfSpades 7.5
Savage Gong 8.4
brad 8

Our Previous reviews:

**ATTN: There has been a change in how we are allowed to review older books. Please feel free to review any of the 24 most recent books at any time. If you would like to review a book older than that please PM me first, those threads are over 6 months old they are locked. If you'd like to review one of those books I'll create a new thread and link to the original.

Spoiler:

Our higest average grades so far were for Pride of Baghdad with 9.66 and Daredevil #82 with 9.64

Our lowest average grade so far Wildsiderz #0 with 2.9

Our Sponsor: Isotope Comics (SF Bay area)

What we do: This is a fanbased review group, open to everybody.

As people post the reviews, I will add your name and score to a list in the main post and at the end of the week average the scores for an overall grade on the book. We grade on a scale of 0-10, the meanings of which roughly translate to:

10 - Everything I want in a comic, an instant classic
9 - Excellent, a nearly perfect read
8 - Highly recommended but it has minor flaws
7 - Very good, it does have some problems
6 - Above average but has deep flaws
5 - An average comic
4 - Below average, the flaws outweigh the good
3 - A disappointing comic
2 - Forgettable, a waste of time
1 - Stay away!! One of the worst comics I've read

Anyone who participates is asked to please keep this scale in mind when giving a grade so that everyone is operating on the same system.

THERE IS NO OBLIGATION TO PARTICIPATE EVERY WEEK. Please join in as little or as much as you like week to week. If you are uncomfortable giving a grade then just join in the discussions and ask questions.

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**changingshades** · 03-05-2009, 07:05 AM

seriously, I'm first? Okay

Awesome, awesome, totally fucking awesome. I loved this book, absolutely loved it. I thought X-Men Kingbreaker was a little slow, and the fact that it isn't over yet is making this issue a kind of spoiler, but that doesn't matter because DnA absolutely know how to make epic space battles work. They killed the right characters and maimed the ones we have enough of an investment in to care if they did die. I don't know if the Imperial Guard has always been this blatant an ripoff of Legion of Superheroes and I missed it or if it's just the guys having fun with their fans, either way I really like it. I like how this is already more interesting than Operation Galactic Storm, especially since it flips the roles of the good guy and bad guy in it and takes what was the ultimate weapon in that story and uses "lots of them." The art was really good. It kept the action clear while still keeping the pacing frantic, something I really hated Final Crisis for not being able to deliver. I honestly can't think of any problem I had with this issue, except maybe a lack of Novas, but it'st not like they won't be far behind in this series. 9/10

**Ray G.** · 03-05-2009, 07:08 AM

I think I'd give this an 8/10.

I thought it started stronger than the first Annihilation, but not quite as well as the second. However, the art is fantastic, and this really feels like a huge universal crisis. It's been a while since we've had a great Inhumans story, and this is probably the best use of Vulcan yet. My favorite part of the whole thing was the stuff that took place in the Shiar empire. It really captured Vulcan's insanity and Gladiator's conflicted feelings about the whole thing.

Well done. I can't wait to see where it goes next.

**iGotKittyPryde** · 03-05-2009, 02:58 PM

I was really unimpressed by this. I generally enjoy DnA and Paul Pelletier but this felt... off.

I've been reading all the tie ins and preludes and basically this came off as one of those first issues that did exactly what all the lead-up made you presume would happen. And something about the art seemed really average. Maybe Pelletier had a different colorist on his earlier books? Because this seems really muted and without some of what I thought made him stand out in the first place.

Also, a lynchpin of the story being that Crystal and Lorna are good friends seems odd. Maybe I missed something and I know they've been retconning Lorna into the Maximoff family but I don't feel like these are two characters that are generally considered close and it seemed a bit of a retcon to make them so. Maybe I'm wrong here, though.

The plot though, seemed obvious and lacking in much surprise. And the script wasn't that sharp, in my opinion. And it focused on all the characters I'm least interested in, no Guardians or Nova that I remember. It felt like another issue of the Kingbreaker mini and considering that's, in my opinion, the worst of the recent cosmic stuff that's not a welcome thing.

I was really wanting to like this. And planning on buying most, if not all, of the tie-ins. And now? I'm not entirely sure I'll finish the core mini (I probably will, but tie-ins that aren't Nova or Guardians seem like a poor buy at this point)

4. Not awful or anything but far bellow expectations.

**RebootedCorpse** · 03-07-2009, 04:37 AM

I think the Kree have be under-utilized so I'm looking forward to this!
Well written cosmic tale that weaves a lot of Marvel threads into a seamless piece.
My score: 8.25.

**AceOfSpades** · 03-07-2009, 07:46 AM

This is my first foray into Cosmic Marvel (apart from War of Kings Saga to help me catch up) and I wasn't disappointed.
Was a decent issue with a good amount of action in it.
7.5 out of 10

**Brother Power the Gong** · 03-07-2009, 08:44 AM

Solid as all hell. Annoyingly so, as I may have to pony up and buy the tie-ins.
8.4/10

**Jef UK** · 03-07-2009, 08:54 AM

Hm. I'll have to grab this now. I really dig the creators involved, but, I dunno, one cosmic book is enough for me (GoG). But these are some good numbers from normally diverse opinions.

**bradical** · 03-07-2009, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by changingshades

I don't know if the Imperial Guard has always been this blatant an ripoff of Legion of Superheroes and I missed it or if it's just the guys having fun with their fans, either way I really like it.

the imperial guard is a direct analouge of superboy and the legion. dave cockrum actually created nightcrawler and some others when he was working on the legion and brought them with him when he moved over to marvel for the x-men revival. There's a great book of interviews with legion creators that gives the whole story, but i can't remeber the name right now. basically, if i'm remebering right, it was cockrum's way of doing a legion/x-men crossover and the hope was to get dc to do an x-men analouge and have them show up in the legion series.

as to the review, very good start. i'm a gladiator fan and hope they keep him as a point of view. i don't get vulcan or his motivations. he reminds me of superboy prime, just a petulant crybaby type. overall though, lots going on and an enjoyable read. 8

**changingshades** · 03-07-2009, 11:42 AM

Originally Posted by brad

the imperial guard is a direct analouge of superboy and the legion. dave cockrum actually created nightcrawler and some others when he was working on the legion and brought them with him when he moved over to marvel for the x-men revival. There's a great book of interviews with legion creators that gives the whole story, but i can't remeber the name right now. basically, if i'm remebering right, it was cockrum's way of doing a legion/x-men crossover and the hope was to get dc to do an x-men analouge and have them show up in the legion series.

as to the review, very good start. i'm a gladiator fan and hope they keep him as a point of view. i don't get vulcan or his motivations. he reminds me of superboy prime, just a petulant crybaby type. overall though, lots going on and an enjoyable read. 8

I remember the thing about Nightcrawler and Storm supposed to be Legion members, but I never put 2 and 2 together that the guards were supposed to be legion before. I really like that bit. I also love it when they have crossovers like that. I remember JLA and Avengers did that in the 70s (?) such a cool thing to me