Marvel Comics Review: Annihilation 2099 #2

Author: Steve Orlando
Artist: Jose Luis
Ink: Iren Junior
Colorist: Arif Prianto
Cover artists: Nick Bradshaw and Rachelle Rosenberg

Editor’s Note: Timelord has written regular reviews of the Nova (2007) and Guardians of the Galaxy (2008) series and sent them directly to the publishers and authors of the books. Marvel has quoted Timelord’s reviews in blurbs, press releases, and advertisements.

Warning: Contains some spoilers.

Issue No. 2 of Extinction 2099 (Read the Nova review here) begs the question: “Wouldn’t it be great if we appropriated the names of two cosmic heroes used in Giffen’s original? destruction miniseries, swap the gender/race of one of them and turn the other into a villain who bears no real resemblance to his namesake?” It turns out that the answer to the question is, unsurprisingly, “HELL NO!”

The best part of this issue was Luis’ art and Prianto’s colors. Luis has a penchant for cosmic art. My penchant for cosmic art runs more toward photorealism, and Luis delivers. Starlord 2099 is tough, smart, sexy, commanding, beautiful – and each of his depictions of her captures those qualities perfectly. The action sequences are vibrant – they jump off the page with the energy of Prianto’s perfect color choices. Her costume is a showstopper and will be remembered long after this otherwise forgotten character is forgotten. My only criticism is that her hair hangs over her helmet. While this detail absolutely works in terms of sex appeal, I was surprised that it didn’t freeze or burn during the fight sequences where it is exposed to the harsh conditions of space. Bradshaw and Rosenberg delivered a fantastic cover that is bursting with enough energy to make the issue a tempting purchase for a cosmic fan.

While it may not be politically correct by today’s standards, I used to be (and still am) a fan of the “bad girl” characters. Starlord 2099 had just enough of those traits to keep me interested, but in the end it wasn’t enough. Orlando wrote them as too heroic and with unclear motivations for the heroism – which were explained in passing as the result of childhood trauma.

If you’re going to embrace the title of Star-Lord, you have to embrace the attitude. Englehart’s classic Star-Lord was so anti-heroic that he was almost unlikable. Englehart, Giffen, and eventually Abnett & Lanning naturally developed him through their life experiences into a likable Han Solo-like character – while retaining enough anti-heroic qualities to make him interesting and unpredictable.

Orlando’s Starlord 2099 is a typical female superhero and could easily be swapped out for almost any other classic female superhero. That’s why she’s forgettable. I really wanted to like her – and I almost did, but appropriating the title without the qualities that make Star-Lord Starlord disappointed me. It would have been better if Orlando had used an aged Peter Quill for the character Star-Lord, or just used this female character with a different name than Starlord. As it is, it seems like another attempt to flatter (the few fans who demand it) by swapping the race and gender of a popular cosmic character.

The use of the title Quasar for the villain in the story is incredibly bizarre. Quasar 2099 is really a loss leader, as Quasar 2099 has NOTHING to do with the legendary Wendell Vaughn Quasar or the Quasar mythos. I just don’t understand why the Quasar logo and title were used in the first place. Quasar fans have been treated even more brutally than Nova fans by Marvel editors’ merciless swapping of demographics. Marvel editors have made one misguided, insensitive, and downright stupid attempt after another to race and gender-swap Wendell Vaughn’s legendary Quasar character – first with a half-Kree female character and later with a human female character. Nobody wanted that. And no one wants to be teased that the REAL Wendell Vaughn Quasar might show up in 2099, as the logo suggests, only to find out that it’s just an appropriation of the name/logo and nothing more.

Marvel editors – let me simplify it with a Star Wars example. What fans really wanted for the sequels was a reunion of Luke, Leia, Han, and Vader – not Rey, Finn, Poe, and Kylo as weak stand-ins for the originals. The same goes for Marvel Cosmic characters. Fans want to read stories that use the classic characters that made the characters legendary – not gender/race/etc-swapped characters usurping the titles/powers of the classic characters. The swap is an insult to us. It tells us that our classic heroes weren’t good enough. Because their demographics. The point and truth is that our classic heroes were great and legendary independent their demographics. So, Marvel editors, for heaven’s sake, stop swapping. Create entirely new characters with the demographics you want to represent if you truly believe there is a willing audience out there hungry for them. Leave the classic characters with their original demographics intact.

The second short story (literally one page) in this issue involves Dracula crash-landing on a planet apparently under the protection of Starlord 2099.

Since Nova 2099 and Starlord 2099 are now both heading toward confrontations with Dracula, I assume Dracula will be the big villain in this game. destruction series. This seems like a strange choice to me. I think the Exo-parasites would have been a better choice.