Friday, June 17, 2011

Dire Wraith reference found in Thanos Imperative #5. Thank the Gods of Galador for those 3 for $1.00 comic boxes!

So a couple of days ago I swung by one of the few places that still has those hard to find 3 for $100 comic book boxes. Among the three titles I picked was #5 of the Thanos Imperative. While reading it I noticed the panel below involving a plot line in which the war with the Cancerverse was not going so well for the cosmic heroes of the mainstream universe.
Although no one probably knew it at the time I bet this was a little bit of foreshadowing that Abnett & Lanning were doing knowing that The Annihilators mini-series was coming up soon. What's odd about this reference is the context that it's in. It implies that the Dire Wraiths are in a position to be of any help in the event they wanted to. And although they've popped up here and there over the last 25 years they haven't been any sort of major interstellar power since the conclusion of the Wraith War in ROM #65. Since that issue the Dire Wraiths have really just been pretty much scattered through out the galaxy in these disjointed "sleeper cells" causing some problems here and there like in the Darkstar: Winter Guard series or Volx in New Warriors. That is to say it's not as if they could have taken Gladiator's suggestion and mobilized an attack force like they did when they first invaded the Golden Galaxy as told in ROM #1. I dunno maybe I'm just taking this reference too seriously and over analyzing it.

I just found this review of Annihilators #4 that had me cracking up! This guy reviews several other books so it isn't until 6:30 minutes into the video does he start with A#4. But when he does the first thing he goes off on is how he got stuck with Rocket Racoon variant cover even though he got to the comic shop at noon on new comic book day. Can't say as I blame him I'd be pissed too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKMc-gW_u8I

9 comments:

  1. It does seem kind of like a throwaway comment, without much thought put into it. The writer was probably going for a two-fer...let's tie-in the new series AND stress how erm...dire the situation is now by calling on these scuzzbuckets even for help. Because really. Have the wraiths ever shown any inclination to help anyone else? It really isn't a well thought out line.

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  2. "throw away" comment i like that! that's a good way of putting it. your so insightful and clever Randomnerd this is why i still defy reality and continue to make it my life's work to make you mine someday. by Crom i swear it!

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  3. My question is whether or not Ikon is actually a member of the Annihilators. It seems to be rather a tenuous affiliation at best. She DOES travel back to Knowhere at the end of the first mini but is NOT shown leaving with the team for the next crisis at the end. There has also been little definement of what her abilities actually are. She doesn't have rocket pods like the Gen1 & Gen2 Spaceknights and the only weapon she is shown wielding is the poleaxe (possibly a version of the Angel Elite's "Judgement Staves"?). On her initial appearance, it appeared to glow and seemed to be used as a part of the teleportation sequence. I don't even think she was ever shown flying. So what are her abilities other than martial arts? I REALLY want to see some development here.

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  4. well put Unknown! i feel the same way about IKON there's a lot of questions about her that need answering. i can understand them not giving it all away in this mini but i think they could have given us a bit more then they did. let's hope Marvel delivers something worth buying come September. otherwise ill be getting what i want to know about IKON and Galador off the net exclusively. a book that consists of much less RR pages and more Annihilators would be a good start. by the way i hope you were bale to catch my Youtube reviews.

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  5. D, I also wonder if maybe I've found a rather large discrepancy in the whole premise of The Annihilators mini. Klobok is shown using Dire Wraith sorcery BEFORE he ever freed the Black Sun from the cloak in the Dark Nebula. It also annoyed me that at the end he mystically summoned Deathwings, Hellhounds, & Watchwraiths for the final battle. The Deathwings are understandable because they were integral with the Black Sun itself. However, the Hellhounds were animals that the Wraiths had twisted with their sorcery and the Watchwraiths were a mechanical product of the male Science Wraiths. SOOOooooo is there a STOCKPILE of Wraith War-Tech sitting out there that he could access or did he somehow bring them from some different time? Yes, I know its a COMIC! But, I kind of feel cheated when a juicy tidbit from the past is seemingly just thrown in for the FANBOY to drool over. It really leaves an open door for the possibility of their actually being another Wraith stronghold (perhaps male Sci-Wraiths) left somewhere in the Universe.

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  6. well look who's back and feeling quite chatty. good, this blog would be so boring if i did all the talking. i brought up before the Watch Wraith be summoned by mystical means which didn't seem quite right to me but you made a good point with the Hell Hounds too. truly there we're some things not thought out too well by Abnett & Lanning. i didn't cover everything but much of that i talked about in my Annihilators wrap up Youtube video.
    the best thing about the Annihilators mini-series is that it brought back the Dire-Wraiths & Galador to some relevance in the Marvel Universe again. and it left the door open to ROM's return. all i can say is just cross your fingers for what Sept. brings.
    they just need to bring ROM back already. they can make him human and Brandy can call him "my love" or something like that and everyone else can call him Prime Director or "our lord" who was the greatest spaceknight of all. the fan boys out there will be satisfied with that and Hasblow/Butthead Bros. and all their licensing read tape can go get fucked.
    i know that even if i went to Hasbro/Parker Bros. with like millions of dollars and said ok just tell me how much you want for the ROM name i'd still get dicked around forever while they sit on it as it doesn't make a penny for anyone. it's a really annoying situation!

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  7. DH, I actually broke down and finally sent a rant-mail to Hasbro stating that very fact about the insanity of holding a property making you NOTHING instead of working with others to make it PROFITABLE. Of course I got the standard "We kicked this upstairs waa waa waa waa". As far as the Earthfall lineup, the Silver Surfer is conspicuously missing in that list.

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  8. email me your letter and the response you got if you don't mind: daywalkr@aol.com

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  9. It was a little insulting to readers with Gladiator's "throw-away" comment. Anyone who is familiar with the race of Dire Wraiths knows that they have been trapped in Limbo. With the events of Annihilators #4, however, I am very glad to see they will be a part of the MU and what stories come out of their return. I was also miffed at the scenes of Galador in Annihilators, as it was presented as though all the planet's residents are Spaceknights. Did anyone on this team of creators actually READ Rom? The team of David Gallaher and Steve Ellis did a much truer portrayal of the Dire Wraiths in Darkstar and the Winter Guard. The writing and art were much better than Annihilators, so I would recommend picking up the trade paperback, which contains a bonus back issue of Hulk by Peter David and Dale Keown!

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