NOVA & DRAX versus ANNIHILATION WAVE

Blood And Thunder (Marvel)
Where: Annihilation #1 When: October 2006
Why: Keith Giffen How: Andrea Divito

The Story So Far...
They came from beyond the edge of the universe: The Annihilation Wave! An invasion force so devastating it eradicated the Nova Corps within its first week of attack!

Lord Annihilus advances his plague of insectoid denizens against the universe, retaliating against expansion into the anti-matter domain of The Negative Zone. By their own savage logic, their assault across galaxies is taking back what's theirs!

Within months: the Skrull Empire is decimated -- sending a bold message to the rest of a besieged universe! Old enemies are irrelevant! In the ruins of old civilizations, new alliances are forged, appointing Nova Prime as Commander-in-Chief of a surviving United Front!

Tartus Minor fell as they came to grips with the nature of their enemy, but on the Kree-System Periphery of Daedalus 5, the Annihilation Wave has been held! It is a fleeting relief against an enemy of overwhelming number, whose forces are unrelenting! With Command Center soon to be lost, Nova enters the fray!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Drax 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Nova 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Nova 7 (Lightspeed)
Stamina: Drax 6 (Generator)
Agility: Nova 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting: Drax 7 (Living Weapon)
Energy: Nova 5 (Lasers)
Total: Nova 33 (Super)

The universe is under threat from an incursion of Arthrosian insectoid aliens known collectively as the Annihilation Wave! They are a living plague that threatens all existence, invading from the Negative Zone under the command of its most notorious denizen: Annihilus!

Fortunately, some of the universe's most powerful beings have come together to form a single United Front led by Richard Rider: the last surviving Nova! The United Front includes such luminaries as: Star-Lord, Ronan The Accuser, Firelord, Gamora, and Drax The Destroyer.

Drax serves as a powerful soldier in the fight against the Annihilation Wave, but has also been a trusted voice to Nova, who credits him with 'destroying Richard Rider, the boy, to make room for Nova, the man'. His blunt mentorship helps Nova direct his forces in the face of devastating losses, and overwhelming odds.

This incarnation of Drax hadn't been around a long time at this point. He differs when compared to the prior form we saw battling Thor [in Warlock and The Infinity Watch #21] in reduced mass, and increased tactical intelligence. He's a more ferocious combatant, relying on mobility and twin daggers, rather than brute strength. This reduction in pure power has its drawbacks, as seen in Guardians of the Galaxy #25, when he struggled with a rampaging Thanos.

Thanos serves as an ally to Annihilus during the Annihilation event, as well as having outstanding personal grievances with Drax. From past entries we know this comes to a head in Annihilation #4 -- another showcase for the destructive hand-to-hand potential of Drax!

Our Nova file also comes exclusively from the time after Annihilation. When he returns to Earth with the full power of the Nova Force and Xandarian Worldmind, he effortlessly defeats former nemesis Diamondhead [Nova #2], and fights the Thunderbolts to a standstill [Nova #3]!

There's a lot of evidence here to argue Drax and Nova should make a serious dent in the nameless hordes of the Annihilation Wave. The catch is the simple overwhelming numbers of the Wave.

The Tape: Drax & Nova Ranking: Drax (#127)

What Went Down...

With perimeter force-fields breached, the Annihilation Wave advances on United Front HQ. Commander-in-Chief Richard Rider orders second-in-command Peter Quill to get their people clear. The former Starlord complies, while Rider dons his Nova Corps helmet and prepares to lead from the front.

In the field; a Kree soldier collects Earth girl Cammi Benally while her charge continues to fight. Drax sprays Arthrosian innards as he fights them one at a time with nothing but a sturdy pair of daggers!

As the Wave pushes forward, the ground gives way beneath Drax's feet. He falls to the lower levels, where Kree soldiers do their best to fire before they're inevitably consumed. Drax joins them in their hopeless fight.

Drax never stops fighting as the insect horde begins to overwhelm him. All that can be seen is a blood-soaked blade -- still stabbing and slashing at alien hide!

A reprieve comes in streaking golden light. Nova descends into the pit at speed -- a living missile targeting the amassing threat! The collision crushes one of the insects and scatters the rest! Drax is knocked clear with the rest of them.

The last Nova briefly joins Drax in fighting the aliens hand-to-hand while they assess the dire situation. He soon clutches The Destroyer by the wrist and takes them both airborne as they consider a response to their defensive breach.

Human Richard Rider struggles with the consequences of his next decision. Drax is coldly pragmatic with his assessment of the situation. The Annihilation Wave is catching up to the wounded. Nova can lose hundreds - or risk thousands.

Nova tosses Drax to the safety of a Kree fortress, then returns to the battlefield to carry out his solemn duty. Hovering above the war zone, he makes contact with Barrage Command. His order: full-scope heavy ordnance barrage.

The assault from above rains death and destruction upon Daedalus 5!

The zone is cleared at the cost of The United Front's own forces. A necessary toll to defend thousands more. The creed of the Kree warriors would likely have it no other way, but the burden of victory will weigh heavily on Richard Rider.

The Hammer...
His order cost The United Front untold casualties, but Nova's tactical decision ensured they won the battle -- and remain in the war. A result more bitter than sweet.

Nova's intervention also meant Drax safely shared in the win from behind their second perimeter. Things looked a little hairy, but Drax did plenty of damage against the seemingly endless hordes of the Annihilation Wave. The cold, warrior's rationale of his council also proved valuable to reaching the difficult decision to end it.

Something that really strikes me about the 2006 cosmic reboot is just how effectively it evokes the feeling of a super-hero space war. A lot of comics profess to be set in war time, but the sense of scale, chaos, and grim reality is particularly effective in Annihilation!

It worked to the event's favour that Marvel's cosmic line had gradually fallen out of grace in the new millennium. It meant even the most popular heroes (or villains) involved had been easy to lose sight of. Whether you were reading the tie-in mini-series, or not, Annihilation #1 provided a jarring jump-start to the chaos.

Those tie-ins were an attractive lure to lapsed, or longing fans. Even casual readers coming of age in the mid-2000s could recognize Silver Surfer, Super-Skrull, Ronan The Accuser, and Nova. Each gave a little extra mystique and star-power to the seemingly risky proposition of an all-out cosmic relaunch.

Cue the obligatory reference to a 2005 Drax mini-series that served as a precursor to Annihilation, while also revamping Drax as the streamlined fighter we saw today. Oft referenced material we'll take a look at one of these days!

The elevation of Nova from staple of the teen New Warriors, to battle-hardened space commander, made him an obvious break-out of Annihilation itself. The on-going series that followed was a no brainer, capitalizing on a fresh new look and feel that made Nova one of the most exciting heroes of the year.

Aspects of the revamp leaned heavily into what DC tried in the nineties with Kyle Rayner, but what it unraveled was far less beloved. It's tough to imagine anyone demanding a H.E.A.T. style rebirth for the spandex and bucket-head days. The new-look Nova paid homage to what came before, but embellished it in ways that made the character a bona fide star character.

It was a lot less obvious that Nova's grizzled right-hand man, the dusted off Starlord, would surpass him as Marvel's premiere cosmic hero! Of course, in Annihilation, it's a very different Peter Quill than the space-bum slacker of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, comics, and animated series!

Speaking of movies: it looks as if Annihilation might be a small influence on next month's Avengers: Infinity War film! Still no signs of Richard Rider in the cinematic Nova Corps, but it looks like Thanos might be bringing something resembling the Annihilation Wave to Earth! Exactly what Nova fought to avoid!

It wouldn't be too surprising if Annihilation has something to do with the closely guarded Avengers 4, but who knows? The influence of The Infinity Gauntlet is still on the ambiguous side, despite presumptions it would factor heavily into the long awaited arrival of Thanos.

Want to get ahead of the game by reading today's featured fight for yourself? You can check it out in collected edition via the Amazon link provided right! Not only will you get a cosmic deal, but also help support the site at no extra cost!

You can ride the wave to more featured fights like this one by checking out the Secret Archive Index! Every past battle is indexed by publisher, series, and issue number.

For even more recommendations, follow and subscribe via Twitter and Facebook for daily fight links inspired by the topics of the day! A like, share, or retweet is a great way to help support the Secret Wars on Infinite Earths! Or just tell a friend!

Winners: Nova & Drax
#76 (+51) Drax [+2 confirmed kills]
#77 (+51) Nova (Richard Rider) [+2 confirmed kills]

DRAX versus THANOS
"Revelation" (Marvel)
Where: Annihilation #4 When: January 2007
Why: Keith Giffen How: Andrea Divito

The story so far...
When the expansion of our universe comes to impede on the dimensional space of the anti-matter universe called The Negative Zone; Annihilus, it's mighty ruler, marches an army of insectoid creatures in an act of war, thus beginning the path of the Annihilation Wave.

The Wave moves through the universe punishing both the ill-prepared, and those unwilling to pool their forces. Skrull, Kree, Nova Corps, and many other groups, are left decimated, leaving certain key figures from all to rally their forces in an unlikely alliance for the greater good of the entire universe.

Thanos, having allied himself with the destructive Annihilation Wave, sets about facilitating the creation of a weapon designed to imprison and harness the energies of the cosmic world devourer, Galactus. Fortunately, Drax is among the warriors pledged to the resistance, all too ready to fullfil his destiny of destroying Thanos. Great news for the good guys, until Thanos has a change of heart, and quickly goes from harbinger to saviour... Uh oh!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Draw 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Thanos 5 (Professor)
Speed: Drax 4 (Olympian)
Stamina: Thanos 7 (Unstoppable)
Agility: Drax 2 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Drax 7 (Born Fighter)
Energy Powers: Thanos 6 (Mass Destruction)


- During secret observation of Earth, Thanos murders a family who have the misfortune of witnessing his ship's presence over the desert. Unable to tolerate the threat Thanos poses to life in the universe, his father, Mentor, summons the astral essence of the murdered man, Arthur Douglas, and has it grafted to the artificial humanoid that would come to be known as, Drax the Destroyer.

Drax lacks the memories of his human spirit, but carries the passion in his designated mission to destroy Thanos at all cost. This pledge brings him into conflict with the mad Titan many times, and even results in temporary death.

These resurrections result in physiological changes in Drax, who typically possesses superhuman strength and durability, flight, energy blasts, and extreme survival capabilities. In the past Drax' physical powers have been balanced by a severely diminished intellect, but more recently he possesses a warrior's instinct, and a penchant for knife fighting.

- His birth on Saturn's moon would come to earn him the monicker of The Mad Titan, but the universe at large Thanos would have no anonymity.
Born with a genetic anomaly that altered his appearance considerably from his fellow Eternals, Thanos grows distant and eventually comes to obssess over death, both figuratively, and as an abstract entity living in the universe.

Thanos embarks on a lifelong quest to prove his love to Lady Death, and is distracted from his pursuits only by attempts to amass further power.
His abilities, inherent and asumed, include; superhuman strength, invulnerability, cosmic energy projection, knowledge of advanced alien sciences, and other.
As a result of his relationship with Death, Thanos is denied passage to the after-life, ultimately making him unstoppable.

The Math: Thanos Ranking: Thanos (#72)

What Went Down...
Having battled his way through the insectoid hordes of the Annihilation Wave, Drax becomes possessed by his mission to destroy Thanos. All to aware of the situation, the Mad Titan compells Drax' 'daughter', Moondragon, to defend him while he dismantles the machine designed to harness Galactus.

Moondragon uses both her psionic powers and an empassioned plea to break through the rage that grips Drax. Both prove ineffective, the green skinned powerhouse tossing one of his newly adopted daggers to incapacitate his daughter with a non-lethal strike of the handle.

Thanos, far from intimidated, asks only for moment long enough to work his way through the processes to dismantle the Galactus bomb. Alas, much like the pleas made by Moondragon, word of the greater good falls on deaf ears.

Drax eminates a green energy as he feverishly stabs and claws at the purple energy shield erected by Thanos. The Titan does his best to continue with the task at hand, despite the imminence of Drax' tearing attacks, but a distant glimpse of a familiar figure is all too informative.

Before it even happens, Thanos calmly recognises his fate, and makes peace with it. After a lifetime at arms length, Death has finally arrived to welcome Thanos in his moment of noble sacrifice. Drax completes his mission, and in doing so, condemns the universe to destruction. Thanos is dead.

The Hammer...
Well, well! In his timely debut appearance on the Infinite Wars, Drax picks himself up a tidy victory over Thanos, and Moondragon!
You'll note the chaos mite, Skreet, is present on Thanos' shoulder throughout the entire confrontation, but at no point enters into the conflict. So, if you spot that tag but can't figure out why, you need to come back and read this, thus negating this order.

In the last shipping list [January 23] the Annihilation Conquest and a brand new Guardians of the Galaxy series were raised, which made this the perfect opportunity to go back and take a look at one of the overlooked crossovers of 2007! Like so many others, it seems we spent so much time on Civil War and Infinite Crisis, Annihilation got completely skimmed over! So, here we are!

It seems there's been something of a cosmic revival on both sides of the 'big two' fence. We closed the year catching up with the events of the Sinestro Corps War, which was the Annihilation-esque extension of the return of Hal Jordan, and the development of a whole new era for the Green Lantern franchise.

I suppose you could say there was a time when cosmic adventures held the same kind of weight as today's urban military fare. The various Infinity sagas famously pit characters as street level as Captain America against the likes of Thanos in what might have been the cosmic crossover taken to it's most absurd level, but thankfully, the Annihilation-revival hasn't been nearly as milque toast [as great as the Infinity Gauntlet and it's related stories were, at the time].

It's somewhat fitting that we acquaint ourselves with the latest of Marvel's cosmic offerings through Drax, because it's with that character that we got the first glimpses of the revival. Though not contrived to be so, a four-issue Drax mini-series pitched and penned by Keith Giffen, proved to be the progenitor of this expansion of the cosmic properties. It's here that you'll find the back story that explains Drax as he is at this point; a far cry from the more familiar purple caped Hulk-like oaf of the 1990's.

Prior to the core mini-series, [of which we are reviewing an issue], a collection of four issue precursors introduced some of the familiar B-list majors of the cosmic roster, and set-up events like the eventual capture of Galactus, and his story throughout the earliest days of the Annihilation Wave. This was told in perhaps the most prominent of the series, Annihilation: Silver Surfer, which also brought the chrome crime-fighter back into servitude of his former master.

Other series featured Super-Skrull, struggling with the Wave in the field, as well as uncooperative Skrulls, and his own struggles with his fleeting status in the Skrull empire. Ronan and Nova filled out the remaining spotlights, which eventually led to a new on-going series for the Centurion survivor.

Being a fan of a lot of these characters, I joined the many other eager fans in lapping this stuff up. In a vaguely ironic way, the thing that probably made this cosmic reneissance so palatable was it's attention to so many characters. The story arcs in a manner familiar to traditional crossovers, but manages to do so mostly isolated from unnecessary tangents and tie-ins.

I'm not exactly a big sci-fi guy.
As much as it is a powerful tool in fiction, if you start to reach Star Trek levels of attention to reality, I'm going to start to get my hackles up. Maybe it's all that sport I've played, but something about that in a science fiction context just has a way of getting out of hand, and I don't like it one bit. Fortunatelly, for the time being at least, the cosmic characters have managed to exist in a reality that has allowed traditional superhero segregation, with versimilitude implied more than it is overtly enacted.

If I had one complaint, it would be a common and trivial one.
Actually, I think it's potentially a great solution to the problem, which if I get around to just saying it, is frivilous death and resurrection.

Somehow Annihilation manages to hold on to a very grim wartorn atmosphere, even though many of it's key players not only have a history of coming back from the dead, but even do so in these very pages! In the cosmic arena, it's almost reasonable to see this as a bold acceptance of this ebbing flow of life and death at this level, but on the other hand, like any other comic, it just cheapens the threat and leaves a bitter taste.

Despite this, there's almost a sense of finality to the unlikely death of Thanos, and I think I'd almost like to see him remain as he's seen in a later issue of Annihilation, standing in accompaniment to "Mistress Death". If pushing the character to rare cameos can be accepted, I'd love to see Thanos be part of that infamous pantheon of cosmic deities and forces that made a lot of this stuff so memorable, for good and bad reasons.

With Conquest I've fallen behind, and honestly, I think we're seeing the perilous pitfalls of the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe. After the construction of the Annihilation Wave, the return of the Phalanx while brilliant, feels almost too contrived. As wrong as it seems to say it, I almost want to see a couple of on-going series (like Nova) indulge more in the cosmic superheroing of it all, before delving back into the depths of a gritty minute-by-minute battle. Then again, that's more of a personal preference, and I'm not sure I could fault them for it.
At the very least, I think I'd have to be reading Conquest to pick at it and it's more obscure (but pushed) heroes. [Marvel: Review comps welcome!]

Guardians may just serve up what I'm looking for, but for now, the conceptual rebuilding process continues!

And hey, speaking of cosmic fisticuffs, once you've been through the [updated] Infinite Wars Issue Index, you can find yourself a whole other universe of punching, kicking, and screaming thanks to the cosmic force of nature that is: Bahlactus' Friday Night Fights! Are you ready for the Prize-Fight Knockout?!

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 4.5

Things get a little heavy at times, but I imagine Annihilaton reads great in a single sitting! The Annihilation mini is collected in the third Annihilation Trade Collection, with the many other related pieces of reading included in books one, and two.

You can pick all of the trades up thanks to Amazon!
By using links found on Secret Wars on Infinite Earths, you not only find a great price, but help fund future entries of your favourite form of fist flying fight clubbery! Mmm, kick-backs!