The Thanos Imperative: Devastation #1

** (two of five stars)

Summary

Blastaar takes advantage of the disarray that follows in the wake of the war with the Cancerverse and invades the Kree Empire's throneworld of Attilan.  In flashbacks, Cosmo the dog has conversations with Ronan the Accuser, Quasar, Beta-Ray Bill, Gladiator, and Silver Surfer, telling each of the heroes that they could be better prepared for galactic threats (like Blastaar's attack).  In the present, the Inhumans attempt to repel Blastaar, leading to a confrontation between Blastaar and Medusa.  Before Blastaar can win, the aforementioned heroes arrive, taking down Blastaar and his forces.  As the group does so, Costmo reveals that Star-Lord had always planned this sort of super-powered team to truly guard the galaxy, but had to settle for "misfits and outcasts and psychopaths."  In a flashback, moments before Peter sends the Guardians from the Cancerverse, he tells Cosmo to assemle a team of "heavy hitters as scary as the menaces they have to face!" He calls them "Annihilators" and laments they had been so far above his league that they had never listened to him.  In the aftermath of the battle with Blastaar in the present, Cosmo takes the Annihilators on a tour of Knowhere, where we see them squabbling over their name and how often they are going to assemble.  They agree they will be, in the words of Silver Surfer, "the ultimate sanction."  Cosmo mentions that Pete left behind a to-do list of pending concerns and suggests the Annihilators start there.  However, before they can agree, Ikon, of the Space-Knights, arrives on Knowhere, threatening that "a failure to act may doom us all."

The Review

This issue is fine.  I gave it two stars because it doesn't really do all that much more than introduce the Annihilators.  The battle with Blastaar, which probably could've merited its own mini-series, is pretty much limited to a sideshow, which I feel like is a bit of a squandered opportunity.  But, the Annihilators are a pretty great concept, so I'm excited to read their mini-series.

The Good

Again, I dig the Annihilators' concept.  I wonder if DnA always intended to end "The Thanos Imperative" with their formation, or if they saw that great two-page splash spread in issue #3 and thought, "OMG, that would be bad-ass!"  At any rate, I liked the idea that Peter Quill had to make do with his motley crew because no one listened to him but, because he was clearly right about the Cancerverse, they're listening now.  I also liked Cosmo as his messenger.

The Bad

As I said above, I'm surprised DnA give us only a few pages dedicated to Blastaar invading the Kree Empire.  It leaves all sorts of questions, in my mind.  For example, how did Blastaar manage to get all the way through the Empire to Attilan without being stopped?  Are the Kree that de-powered that they weren't able to stop him before he got to Attilan?