If you see any review of the latest entry in Marvel’s modern cosmic corner that started with the second half of the Thanos run by Keith Giffen in 2004, then you’ll probably read mostly negative ones. Now, I won’t claim that Annihilators: Earthfall is anything but a superhero slugfest where first two groups of heroes in a time-honored tradition slug it out with each other before going after the real villain. But at the end of the day, it is a tightly scripted high-tension ride that is exactly what is so often missing these days in superhero comics, a big epic battle that manages to tell its story of good-vs-evil in four issues instead of ten or twenty.
What others have criticized about Annihilators: Earthfall, the lack of space to make it really look sprawling and extensive, is IMHO one of its strengths. Sure, it has none of the gravitas that some other big superhero epics have, but if you want to read an old-school superhero story with entirely modern sensibilities that manages a tightrope dance between ridiculousness and widescreen action with ease and doesn’t fall into the hyper-violence trap similar series in recent times often have done, then Earthfall will definitely satisfy.
Also, if you liked the Dan Abnett’s and Andy Lanning’s run on Guardians of the Galaxy but felt that the ending was lacking in conclusion regarding the Magus, then Earthfall will give you the resolution you were craving for.
Sadly this probably was the last we’ve seen of Marvel’s cosmic corner, at least for a while, as the series has been either viewed negatively or completely ignored. It’s a shame, as the cosmic Annihilators team was a great idea and I would have loved to see an on-going series with them.
