War of Kings #2 Review

Creative Team
Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Paul Pelletier
Inker: Rick Magyar
Colorist: Wil Quintana

Story - Every Last One of Them

Review
Two issues in and DnA are quickly showing with War of Kings how to tell a big event. While Sinestro Corp Wars did an excellent job showing how a crossover event is done War of Kings is showing how big events in a single mini-series is done.

War of Kings #2 shows that you don't have to choose a slow burn approach (ala Final Crisis) or a brawl fest (ala Secret Invasion) over the other but that each issue should have a nice mix of both. Just like the first issue the first half of this issue deals with the aftermath of what happened in previous events, this time around the Shi'ar's attack on the Kree world. It is very cool to see the political side of a world and how even though Ronan has accepted Black Bolt and the Inhumans as the savers of the Kree the people that inhabit the Kree world have yet to accept them. It is a nice contrast to what is going on in Earth with the public and government officials quickly accepted Norman Osborn as the leader of H.A.M.M.E.R without question. While it is hard to believe how Marvel transitioned to Norman being in power DnA have done an excellent job making the Inhumans rise to power feel realistic, well as realistic as a comic book can get.

I have to Karnak as he suggest war is the only thing that will get the Kree people on the Inhumans side. It was interesting see how quickly all the members of the Royal Council came to agree on a declaration of war being their only solution. And I am still interested to learn if Medusa is really speaking for Black Bolt or for herself as it seems at times she is the one influencing her husbands decisions. It is feeling like DnA are setting up the moment when Black Bolt is ready to talk and let his voice be heard (literally) at the end of this event.

Also I really dug the megazord looking Black Bolt robots Maximus built as they give the Inhumans some serious power needed to against the Shi'ar armada. Pellitier's artwork was just great in that scene, and the whole issue, as he shows just how powerful the new machines built that are powered by Black Bolt. All of this new technology that being powered by Black Bolt does a nice job setting up Black Bolt as a very powerful person that has me eagerly awaiting the moment he uses his full power on Vulcan, Gladiator, and all of the Shi'ar that get in his way.

I also liked how DnA are using the Starjammers and Inhumans working together to defeat the Shi'ar armada. It was cool to see that even though they have never work together before that they were able to work like a well oiled machine as they kicked some serious Shi'ar ass. I also like that now that the Inhumans are battling in space that they have picked up an aquatic form of fighting as fighting in space would be similar to fighting in water.

My favorite part of this whole issue was "The People's Princess" role DnA have given to Crystal. On a side note did anyone hear The Rock's voice when Maximus said the Kree were calling Crystal "The People's Princess." Anyways this is a very cool role that they have given Crystal and befitting her character. Before this issue it seemed that she would only provide the "voice of reason" to her sister Medusa harsh attitude. But with this new role Crystal has quickly become much more important to Black Bolt and the Inhumans new rule of the Kree and it should be interesting to see if this will make Medusa jealous over her sister's rise to power as we got a little hint of jealousy after Maximus called Crystal "The People's Princess."

The only complaint I have about this issue is that it was to Inhuman centric and we got very few pages dedicated to Vulcan and the Shi'ar empire other than them getting their assess kicked by the Inhumans, Kree, and the Starjammers. Though this is only a minor complaint as it looks like the next issue will be more Shi'ar centric with Vulcan is out for blood and looks to start with Lilandra.

Issue Rating
Story: 9.4/10 - DnA continue to do a fantastic job with nailing the huge cast of characters they are handling and also making each moment feel bigger than the last as this war only looks to get bigger than it already is.
Art: 9/10 - Pelletier continues to give this series a great look with his artwork as all the space battles feel like you are watching something epic.
Overall: 9.2/10 - War of Kings #2 was another great issue to this event and if you have yet to jump on the Marvel cosmic bandwagon War of Kings is the best way to get into this corner of the Marvel Universe.