Annihilation: Book Two by Keith Giffen, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, and Simon Furman

After the events depicted in “Annihilation Prologue” (which is found in Annihilation: Book One), the story of Annihilation broke into four major plot threads, each dealt with in a separate story. The first, Annihilation: Nova, was contained in Annihilation: Book One, while Annihilation: Book Two contains the other three, all leading up to the major storyline in Annihilation: Book Three.

Annihilation: Silver Surfer by Keith Giffen: As seen in “Annihilation Prologue,” the Silver Surfer felt an “infestation” in the universe, and went out searching to find its cause. However, he finds far more than that, bumping into Gabriel Air Walker, an Android friend of his, being murdered by men going by the name of Seekers. The Surfer uncovers a plot to hunt down all of the former heralds of the being known as Galactus, a hold-over from the universe that existed prior to the Big Bang that started ours. Giffen, the mastermind behind much of the Annihilation event, brings a compelling tale that ends on a number of mysterious, and brings a large cast of characters into the fold of the war that is to come. An interesting addition, if at times a little slow.

Annihilation: Super-Skrull by Javier Grillo-Marxuach: While undercover in “Annihilation Prologue,” Kl’rt, the Super-Skrull, heard of a device known as the Harvester of Sorrows, that was moving through the Skrull Empire, destroying planets and killing billions of Skrulls. However, Kl’rt is only moved to action due to the devices upcoming appearance at the world on which his son lives. After an escape from an evil warlord, Kl’rt sets out the save his son’s life. A well-told tale that had plenty of excitement and was full of twists.

Annihilation: Ronan by Simon Furman: Last seen being arrested by Kree forces in “Annihilation Prologue,” Ronan the Accuser was put on trial for treason, accused of using his duties as an Accuser (who acts as the complete judicial system, determining guilt, sentence, and execution of said sentence) to undermine the ruling house of the Kree, and is exiled. Ronan sets out to capture all who acted as witnesses against him, to find out the truth behind his false conviction. Yet, when arriving at a backwater planet, he finds that there is far more going on than just his revenge trip, and that the entire Kree Empire is in peril. Another well-done story, with an obviously lead-in to Annihilation.

Annihilation: Book Two does a solid job of taking the disparate tales first introduced in “Annihilation Prologue” and building upon them all until they are ready for the main event, building links that are just starting to show how they will draw all of these stories together. Both of the first two books build high levels of suspense and expectation for the final volume of this epic tale of war in space.

8/10