Drunken Comics Rage

As Ghost mentioned here, we were on a bit of a hunt for the Annihilation collections at the con.  I only vaguely knew about them, but they had me at Nova, Super-Skrull, and the cover art.  Plus, hey, we all know by now that I'm a collection whore.  I can't help myself.

And…we struck out.  The first hardback collection was no where to be seen, and #2 and #3 weren't at can't-pass-it-up prices relative to getting them for $20 each with free shipping on Amazon.com.

Late in September I got a wild hair and hit Amazon.com to check on the first one.  I told myself "Self, if its $20, just do it."  Turns out…Amazon.com was freaking sold out.  Not only were they sold out, but the other sellers you could browse had #1 on sale for…wait on it…$120 or more.  I kid you not.  No thanks.

After talking it over with the rest of the Drunken Comics Rage crew, I found out that our favorite local comic shop might have the first one at list ($29.99) price.  Being too impatient to wait on the thing to be back in stock at Amazon.com I took a little trip to the shop, and…lo and behold, there it was, so I snagged it.

So far, I'm very happy with it.  But before I continue…a little warning.

SPOILERS MIGHT BE BELOW, SO IF YOU ARE SPOILER-AVERSE, STOP FUCKING READING. 

I MEAN IT.  I DON'T THINK ANYTHING MAJOR IS GONNA BE GIVEN AWAY, BUT STILL.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

I am roughly seven issues into the story. 

The collection begins with a four part Drax the Destroyer mini.  I only have a vague memory of Drax from some ancient Avengers issue where Drax, as brutal and slightly unhinged powerhouse, teams with the Avengers to wrest Thor from the clutches of…Moondragon, maybe.  Unbeknownst to me, Moondragon is in fact Drax's daughter!  Who knew.  It turns out that Drax's story is actually a pretty damned interesting one.  (Picture at left used to show Drax's original costume)

Drax, in his original life as one unassuming Arthur Douglas, is killed, along with his family, by Thanos, of all cosmic people, during one attempt or another at destroying everything in the universe (as is Thanos' wont).  Thanos' father, Mentor, decides he's had enough of boyo, and enlists HIS dad, Chronos, for help.  They snag Arthur's spiritual essence, give him a kick ass new body and powers, and set him loose with one directive: kill Thanos.

Turns out that proves to be pretty damned hard to do.  Which I'm happy with, because I dig Thanos.  But I digress.

The Drax four parter opens with him, along with three others, on a megaprison transport ship in space.  The three others…a skrull named Paibok, a mysterious evil scary guy named Lunatik (how clever) and two other kinda goofy evil guys named the Blood Brothers…are having a conversation about how tough they all are, and that they are headed off to their collective executions.  Along the way, they pick on Drax for being quiet and dull-witted.

Then the ship explodes, and crashes on Earth, in Alaska (if I recall).  Hello.  Two children of 10-12 years of age, a chickenshit boy and strong-willed smart ass (not in a bad way, mind you) girl, Cammi, witness the crash and investigate.

It appears that only Paibok, Lunatik (what a dumb name), the Blood Brothers, and Drax survive.  Paibok immediately takes charge, setting Lunatik and the Blood Brothers to various tasks aimed towards getting them off Earth…since Earth is generally unhealthy for bad superpower guys. 

Drax ends up in a scrap with the Blood Brothers that essentially lasts two issues…during which Paibok and Lunatik are enslaving Cammi's nearby town to help them build a getaway ship under their direction.  Along the way, the more the Blood Brothers pound on him, the smarter Drax gets.  Eventually, Paibok steps in and through a bit of hook and a bit of crook kills Drax dead-right-now.  Cammi promptly claims the body, which amuses Paibok, then bullies one of the Blood Brothers to help carry it off.

Drax's body eventually sinks into the ground, and begins smoking.  After some hours, he erupts once more from the ground…this time smaller, smarter, and with red swirlies various places on his body.  Cammi latches onto him ("The green guy said I own you.") and helps Drax find suitable clothing and…two nasty knives from the local hunting store.

(That really is better than I'm making it sound.  Hmm.)

Drax wreaks vengeance upon Lunatik and the Blood Brothers…although I was disappointed in those fights.  I get the point that now Drax is even a badder muthafucka than before, but that doesn't mean I don't want to see a longer fight to prove it.  In particular, he made Lunatik look like a punk, which told me nothing because Lunatik had done nothing to this point but be shadowy-scary and growl at things.

With his muscle gone and convinced now that the wreckage and the townsfolks aren't enough to get him off the planet, Paibok gives up.  He and Drax are recaptured, and taken to a new megaprison transport ship.

So ends the Drax mini.  I very much enjoyed it, although I'm sure my description lacks significantly.

Since finishing that, I have tried to slowly pick at the next issues in the interest of making the collection last.  The following issue was the Annihilation Prologue, with the Nova mini opening after that.  I'll save those for next time…but I will say that all holy hell breaks loose in pretty damned convincing fashion.  Any time a story opens with Thanos staring off into space while having a conversation with Lady Death…you know shit is about to go bad.

Filed under: General Comics Rage, Marvel Comics, Monkey Rage