Annihilation: Ronan #1-#4

*** (three of five stars) 

Summary
Ronan the Accuser, as we began to see in "Annihilation:  Prologue," is stripped of his title as the Accuser and exiled from the Kree Empire.  In his search for Tana Nile, the witness on whose testimony he was convicted of sedition, he finds himself drawn to Godthab Omega, a backwater world in the disputed zone between the Skrull and Kree Empires.  There, he encounters Gamora, a powerful being also drawn to Godthab Omega, who has assembled a group of super-powered women named the Graces, of which Tana Nile is a member.  It is revealed that they have all been drawn to Godthab Omega by the Apprentice, a former apprentice of the Shaper of Worlds who is attempting to use the excess power from the fights between these powerful figures to re-create the world in his image so the Shaper -- who disowned him -- will be impressed.  However, during Ronan and Gamora's fight, the Annihilation Wave hits Godthab Omega.  Tana Nile is killed, but she manages to tell Ronan that the new royal Kree house manipulated her into bearing false witness against him in its attempt to purge the old guard from the Empire.  The Apprentice is driven mad after using his power to repel the Wave, and Ronan heads to Hala to inform the Kree of the coming doom. 

The Review
Furman gives us a really solid story here.  It's a little odd in the sense that we're actually in the middle of one plot (actually two:  Ronan searching for Tana Nile and the Apprentice re-shaping the world) when the Annihilation Wave attacks and essentially hijacks the story.  But, Furman manages to make it work and, in fact, conveys the point I think he was trying to make, which is that the Annihilation Wave was a totally unexpected event that completely swarmed the Universe without warning. 

The Good
Honestly, I knew next to nothing about Ronan the Accuser.  But, Furman does an excellent job of focusing on Ronan's current predicament without getting himself too bogged down by the weight of the character's history.  He gives us enough to understand what's happening but not too much that it hinders the plot. 

The Meh
Godthab Omega has a sort of Mos Eisley feel to it, and I feel like Furman could've done a little more to develop that, particularly because it might've lightened up an otherwise pretty dark series. 

The Bad
1) As I mentioned in my review of "Annihilation:  Prologue" and "Annihilation:  Nova," it's occasionally hard to keep all the worlds, histories, and stories straight when it comes to these sort of galaxy-wide stories.  In this series, I struggled with trying to remember my Kree history, particularly since I was in high school when "Operation:  Galactic Storm" had the Nega-Bomb eliminate most of the Kree Empire.  The last I knew of the Kree, they were attacking the Avengers as part of "Avengers Disassembled."  Furman does a pretty good job of keeping the new royal family running the Kree Empire as an intriguing mystery and not an annoying distraction.  But, an excerpt on the Kree Empire (similar to what we saw in "Annihilation:  Prologue") in the back of the book might've been useful.

2) OMG, pet peeve #2 is off the hook here.  The introduction pages frequently refer to the mercenary having given Ronan Tana Nile's location, when, in fact, he just gave him her name and the general sector where she went, if I'm not mistaken.  Ronan was drawn to Godthab Omega by the Apprentice, not because he knew Tana Nile was there.