Comic Book Review: War of Kings #1

The Revolution has been looking forward to War of Kings. I have very high hopes for this big event. DnA have been pure money over on Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel’s cosmic characters have absolutely blossomed under the loving care of DnA and have quickly become what I find to be the most compelling aspect of the 616 Universe. Hopefully, War of Kings #1 lives up to my high expectations. Let’s go ahead and hit this review.

Creative Team
Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Pencils: Paul Pelletier
Inks: Rick Magyar

Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10

Synopsis: We begin with the Starjammers blasting through space and being chased by a Shi’ar warship. The Shi’ar warship is gaining and is almost within range to shoot the Starjammers’ ship. Havok radios the Kree on Hala to tell them to lower the Barrier so that the Starjammers can enter Hala’s air space. They receive no response from the Kree. Polaris grabs the radio and informs the Kree that she is the sister-in-law of Crystal and is here for the wedding between Crystal and Ronan and for the Kree to lower the Barrier now.

The Starjammers rocket at full speed toward the Barrier. Just before they hit it, a hole big enough for the Starjammers’ ship opens up and lets them into Hala’s airspace. The Barrier immediately closes and the Shi’ar warship that was right on the Starjammers’ tail slams into the Barrier and explodes.

We shift to Polaris talking with Crystal and Crystal puts on her wedding dress. Polaris questions why Crystal would marry Ronan the Accuser. Crystal proceeds to explain that the Inhumans are no longer passive beings and are finally taking control of their lives. That the Kree made the Inhumans to be their elite fighting force and now the Inhumans are going to do just that and make sure the Kree Empire survives.

Polaris retorts that Crystal sounds like she has been coached to say those lines. Polaris wonders if Black Bolt is going to lead the Kree to war with the other galactic empires. Crystal answers that Black Bolt has not told them of his long range plans yet.

Polaris then asks why Crystal would marry Ronan. Crystal answers that she was promised to Ronan. Crystal says that this is not about love and that Ronan knows that. That the marriage is a symbol of unification between the Inhumans and the Kree. Polaris states that women are free to choose who they want to marry. Crystal dismisses Polaris by saying that Polaris doesn’t understand how royalty works. That royal marriages are about consolidating power and influence and not about love.

Crystal continues that she is not marrying Ronan out of love, but out of a sense of duty. That neither Ronan nor she are foolish enough to think that this marriage represents any kind of personal relationship. During this entire speech from Crystal we see that Ronan has been just outside of her balcony listening to everything. Ronan is holding a bunch of flowers. Ronan has a hurt look on his face and throws the flowers to the ground and walks off.

Crystal then mentions how the fact that Lilandra is with the Starjammers is going to cause quite a stir with the Kree. We cut to Lilandra bowing before Black Bolt. Lilandra respectfully asks the Kree for political asylum. Lilandra says that the Black Bolt is a benevolent leader and that she would like sanctuary with the Kree. Lilandra adds that hopefully in time that the Black Bolt would help Lilandra end Vulcan’s brutal regime.

Medusa answers that they are not seeking conflict with the Shi’ar. Lilandra retorts that the Kree may not have a choice because Vulcan is always looking to expand his empire. Lilandra says that Vulcan will send his Imperial Guard for the Inhumans. Medusa retorts that the Imperial Guard have never seen anything like the New Inhuman Elite.

We shift to the Shi’ar flagship vessel. Gladiator is introducing Vulcan to the various members of the Imperial Guard. Gladiator thinks how he has always been loyal to the Shi’ar Empire regardless of who is the Emperor or Empress. That Gladiator is the one constant. Gladiator thinks that it does not matter if he agrees with or likes the Emperor. That Gladiator is loyal to the office and not the person. That it does not matter if the Emperor is great and worthy or weak and tyrannical. Gladiator says that loyalty is what defines him.

Gladiator informs Vulcan that the Kree are holding a wedding ceremony for Ronan and Crystal in the Gon-Ket glacier where they have built a ritual palace out of the glacier. Gladiator narrates that the Shi’ar forces will launch a purification campaign in the Kree outworlds as soon as the Barrier comes down. That the Imperial Guard shall attack the wedding ceremony.

We cut to the Babel Spire where the controls for the Barrier are located. We see one of the diplomats who has been invited to the wedding looking at the Babel Spire in admiration. Two Kree guards tell the diplomat that he should be at the wedding ceremony. The diplomat then transforms into the member of the Imperial Guard who looks like Chameleon Boy. The Imperial Guard member then activates a bomb that is strapped to his body and says “I serve at the pleasure of Emperor Vulcan.” The Babel Spire then blows up and the Barrier dissipates.

We shift to the wedding ceremony as padre is about to finish pronouncing Ronan and Crystal man and wife. Suddenly, there is a bright burst of light. Rachel then grabs her head and says that there has just been a huge teleportation burst. 

We slide back to Vulcan’s flagship vessel. Vulcan is informed that the Kree Barrier has fallen. Admiral Ka’Ardum states that the Shi’ar forces have begun bombing the outworlds of the Kree Empire. That Shi’ar ground forces have overrun several Kree colonies. Admiral Ka’Ardum says that the commanders of the ground forces have asked Vulcan to permit them to use Nega-bombs. Admiral Ka’Ardum finds Nega-bombs to be the most abominable devices that the Shi’ar have ever created and counsels against their use. Vulcan smiles and says that they shall use lots of Nega-bombs.

Vulcan then asks about the part that he really wants to know about: the Imperial Guard’s attack on the wedding ceremony. We cut to the Imperial Guard streaking toward the marriage ceremony.The Imperial Guard quickly destroy the Kree’s Sentinels stationed outside the glacial palace. We then see the Imperial Guard inside the palace and engaging the Kree soldiers using echo weapons powered by the Black Bolt. The Inhumans and Starjammers start brawling with the Imperial Guard.

During the battle, Imperial Guard members Nightside and Smasher are killed. Black Bolt engages Gladiator in combat. Gladiator has one of the Imperial Guard members use her white noise powers to cancel the sound around Black Bolt in order to limit his powers. Gorgon comes to Black Bolt’s aid. Gorgon gets attacked from behind by the Cyclops-esque Imperial Guardsman. Gorgon’s gets half of his leg blasted off.

We see one of the Imperial Guardsmen grab Lilandra and teleport away with her. Ch’od tries to pull Lilandra free from the Guardsmen, but gets his hand cut off by the teleportation. We see Ronan kicking ass on a member of the Imperial Guard that attacked Crystal. Ronan is then attacked from the front and behind by two Guardsmen. Then the Colossal Boy styled Guardsman squashes Ronan. Gladiator says that they have made their point and the Imperial Guard teleport away from the scene.

Our heroes are in shambles. Crystal is by Ronan’s fallen body and is crying. Medusa stands next to the Black Bolt and screams out “Today you have made a mortal error, Shi’ar…AND YOU SHALL PAY IN BLOOD!” End of issue.

Commentary

The Good: War of Kings #1 was a great read. DnA kicked off this big event in style. War of Kings #1 is the blueprint of how to successfully launch a big event and immediately hook the attention of the readers and get them anxious for more. I had high hopes for this issue and DnA certainly lived up to them. DnA impressed me with an issue that was technically well crafted. The pacing, plotting, framing of the story, character work, dialogue and action scenes were all pulled off in fine fashion.

War of Kings #1 was a well paced issue. This issue moves at a fairly quick pace, but it is never rushed. DnA ease off the gas pedal at just the right moments to build the proper amount of drama and tension. The dialogue heavy scenes are delivered in an enjoyable steady pace and the action scenes hit the reader at a furious pace. This issue has a pleasant flow as the scenes transition smoothly into each other.

DnA also made sure that War of Kings #1 was a well plotted issue. DnA move the story along with a clear purpose in mind. There are is no extraneous dialogue. There are no fluff scenes designed to stretch out the story. DnA make every panel count. It is quite impressive how DnA are taking so many storylines from across the Marvel Universe and pulling them together in this title. DnA builds off of Brubaker’s storyline from Uncanny X-Men about Vulcan taking over the Shi’ar Empire that ended in Uncanny X-Men #486, the Annihilation Conquest story and the Inhumans stories in Silent War and Secret Invasion.

It is one thing to attempt such an ambitious task as to build off of three separate stories, but it is entirely something else to do it in a seamless and logical fashion. And that is exactly what DnA achieve with War of Kings #1. DnA also make sure that we have several plotlines running at the same time on this title. And each one is as interesting as the other. There is no shortage of intriguing sub-plots for War of Kings.

Of course, DnA fully understand that if you are going to deliver a big event war story that it better have tons of fighting. And the action had better be on a large scale. Well, DnA certainly delivers the goods when it comes to fantastic action in War of Kings #1. This issue will certainly make action fans quite happy. The fighting is well choreographed and exciting.

Of course, what makes War of Kings #1 so special is that it is well balanced. DnA manage to deliver as much drama and intrigue as they do action. This is definitely not a shallow and one-dimensional story. There is plenty of depth and substance to War of Kings #1. There are many layers to this story with the various plotlines.

What makes War of Kings so enjoyable is that it possess all the basic elements and themes of a classic war story. DnA gives us political intrigue, the drama of royal families, a saber rattling villainous King, a strong and honorable King, loyal and duty bound soldiers, rogues with hearts of gold and fanatics willing to sacrifice themselves for their cause. But, the best part is that this story feels like a big event. The setting for War of Kings feels truly epic and grand in scope.

DnA have also done their best to make War of Kings a tale where the reader can sympathize with both sides in this war. Even though Vulcan is clearly evil and we are to be rooting for the Kree over the Shi’ar, DnA do their best to make the reader understand and even sympathize with both sides of this conflict. Now, to be sure, Vulcan is going to play the role of the requisite one-dimensional monster villain. And every good story needs one character that the reader simply loves to hate. That one character that has no redeeming qualities and that the reader cannot wait to see get beaten up by the heroes.

However, outside of Vulcan, the rest of the Shi’ar main characters are shown in a much more sympathetic light. This is not a conflict between an “evil” empire and a “good” empire. DnA do their best to make the reader understand and empathize with some of the Shi’ar. Admiral Ka’Ardum is shown to be an honorable man who loathes and detests the Nega-bomb. Of course, Ka’Ardum is going to fight for the Shi’ar Empire with the utmost sense of duty, but he is not going to take pleasure in his task. And the short scene with Admiral Ka’Ardum and Vulcan shows the reader that Ka’Ardum is not an evil man like Vulcan.

And then we have Gladiator, the leader of the Imperial Guard. DnA clearly emphasizes that Gladiator is a man of honor, loyalty and duty. That no matter how unlikeable and awful the Emperor might be that Gladiator is loyal and respectful to the office and not the man. DnA makes it easy for the reader to appreciate why Gladiator would follow the orders of such an evil character like Vulcan. And the reader cannot help but to respect Gladiator.

The fact that DnA do their best to make the reader respect and understand the Shi’ar characters who fight for Vulcan makes this war that much more complex and intriguing. This is not the case where one side is clearly evil with no redeeming qualities. While the reader is clearly meant to view the Kree/Inhuman/Starjammer contingent as the “good” guys, there are still enough honorable men on the Shi’ar side that makes it hard for the reader to simply dismiss the Shi’ar as purely evil villains.

And this leads me to my next point. DnA deliver some excellent character work in this issue. And a large reason for that is the quality dialogue that DnA crank out in this issue. The reader gets a good sense of the personalities of the various characters. And the quality of character work that we get in this issue is even more amazing given the rather large roster of characters that DnA are dealing with. Many writers struggle with good character work when limited to just a traditional team roster of six characters let alone the number of characters that DnA have in War of Kings. DnA show of their writing chops in their ability to effortlessly juggle a large roster of characters.

Not only do DnA do a nice job with Gladiator and Admiral Ka’Ardum, but they also do a fine job with Crystal and Ronan as well. It was interesting to see how despite her initial reservations about the Black Bolt taking over the Kree Empire, that Crystal has now come around to supporting Black Bolt and his decisions. In the end, Crystal is an Inhuman and her first loyalty is and should reside with her people. Polaris’ questioning Crystal of her decision to marry Ronan merely re-enforces to the reader the sense of duty that Crystal has as being part of the Inhuman royal family.

I loved how DnA handled Ronan’s character. The scene where Ronan is holding a bouquet of flowers for Crystal and overhears her talking about how she does not love Ronan and that their marriage has nothing to do with a personal relationship between them was perfect. DnA manages to make the reader sympathize with the heartbroken Ronan. And Ronan the Accuser is one character that I never thought my heart would break for. But, it did as I saw the hurt look on Ronan’s face as he threw the flowers away.

Ronan is definitely a cool character and he is another character that is driven by honor and duty. I dig that in the final scene where Ronan fights like a lion. It takes three Guardsmen to bring him down. I hope that Ronan is not dead, because he is an intriguing character. And I am curious to see where DnA could take the Ronan/Crystal relationship.

DnA end War of Kings #1 with a great hook ending. We have our heroes badly beaten and bruised and vowing to get revenge on the Shi’ar. The Inhumans were not interested in getting into an armed conflict with the Shi’ar. But, now that the Shi’ar drew first blood, the Inhumans are more than ready to rumble. This ending succeeds in getting the reader all pumped up and eager to see the Inhumans/Kree inflict some payback on the Shi’ar.

Paul Pelletier and Rick Magyar combine to deliver plenty of nice artwork. Pelletier certainly treats the reader to some dynamic fight scenes. Pelletier also is able to convey the grand scale of this conflict. I also appreciate and enjoy the amount of emotion that Pelletier puts into the facial expressions of the various characters. It helps to augment DnA’s already entertaining story.

The Bad: I have no complaints with this issue.

Overall: War of Kings #1 was an incredibly entertaining issue. Do not be scared to give this issue a try just because you missed out on Annihilation Conquest, Secret Invasion: Inhumans or Brubaker’s Uncanny X-Men story arc dealing with Vulcan. It is not necessary to have read those comics in order to enjoy War of Kings #1. DnA do their best to make sure to give the reader enough all the information in this issue that they need to know in order to properly enjoy War of Kings. War of Kings is definitely new reader friendly.

I highly recommend getting War of Kings #1. This title is a balanced read that should appeal to a wide range of comic book readers. War of Kings is everything that Secret Invasion was not. If you were disappointed with Secret Invasion then you should be happy with what Marvel is giving us with War of Kings. I think that we are in store for a wildly entertaining big event with War of Kings.