Writer: Matthew Rosenberg
Art: Juanan Ramīrez, Cian Tormey, Federico Blee, VC’s Cory Petit, and Josemaria Casanovas
Price: $4.99
Release Date: November 20th, 2019
Something is stirring in the Negative Zone…something that the Marvel Universe isn’t ready for in this week’s all-new ANNIHILATION SCOURGE ALPHA #1 by Matthew Rosenberg! Will Nova be able to assemble a team powerful enough to tackle this burgeoning threat, or is it already too late to stop its descent upon the galaxy? Let’s jump into this issue and find out!
Matthew Rosenberg kicks off this event with a relentless display of action that will certainly grab any reader’s attention. Immediately from the page four reveal of Annihilus to the villainous reveal as the issue concludes, Rosenberg crushes a fast-moving, hair-raising tale that’s straightforward, exciting, and boldly aggressive. Furthermore, Rosenberg drops a few unexpected twists that will keep readers on their toes, which this reviewer loved and simply left the issue wanting more.
Now, as someone only familiar with Annihilus from ANNIHILATION, Rosenberg appears to grasp the tone of the character well. However, this reviewer is not overly familiar with Richard Rider either (again other than ANNIHILATION). My point is; this appears to be a very different Nova than from that series, granted it’s been 13 years since that series began AND Nova is probably changed drastically since that event. That said, this reader is curious to see if Rosenberg uses this current event as a turning point for Nova’s character to grow and develop back into the leader he once was.
As much fun as comic fans will have with this issue, the biggest negative of this story was Juanan Ramīrez and Cian Tormey’s illustrations and artistic style throughout the narrative. It’s not that their art was bad however, their style led to many confusing panels making the story difficult to follow. Federico Blee also contributed to the confusion with dark, messy, and similar colors perpetuating throughout each page. Together, this art team was attempting to portray a tone of darkness and death. However, their artistic license lent more towards a lack of clarity among the facial depictions of characters, muddy design, and bugs that blended into the background of panels. On a positive note, any panel involving Annihilus popped off the page due to the drastic color changes by Blee. However, the remaining elements of the issue in the Negative Zone were overly disorganized and overwhelming causing even more complications to the narrative for this reader.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Rosenberg’s story definitely left this reviewer excited for December’s launch of titles related to the ANNIHILATION SCOURGE event. There were many moments throughout Rosenberg’s narrative that this reader felt like he was apart of the story. However, as many times as this reviewer felt transported into the narrative, the art team’s hectic tone and style pulled me right back out. My hope is that later issues will contain more clear, crisp, and precise art making the story easier to follow. That said, there is so much promise within the plot Rosenberg has laid out piquing this reader’s interest in the titles coming December. Give ANNIHILATION SCOURGE ALPHA #1 a try and let me know what you think.