ANNIHILATION #4 (SPOILERS)

[Spike]

This is pretty much all spoilers, so I shall create a large barrier












































Ok, here's what I think. It's been nearly nine hours and I'm still genuinely distraught by it. The image of Thanos dying was quite...shocking. The whole thing just felt wrong, but the fact he seemed surprised to see Death and the urgency he was showing seemed as if he felt he had something to fear. Also, the reasoning that Thanos was just curious what would happen if the power shifted in the universe doesn't seem like something well-thought out enough for him. Who knows, maybe Giffen has something big planned. I did enjoy his 6 issues on the solo book very much. If he doesn't have something up his sleeve, it would seem he just doesn't "get" Thanos. That said I'm still enjoying Annihilation, what happened just didn't seem right even if it was part of a larger plan.

I may be proven wrong, however.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

I'm waiting until Friday to pick it up. I just hope there's going to be more to it than this.

[Spike]

There actually wasn't a lot to it that we didn't already know, its just rough...actually seeing it.

[MrBlud]

Wait a sec...

What if Thanos :did that thing that happened: to bring back Mar-Vell!

Both characters have a history. It *does* make sense...at least to me.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

Thanos allowing himself to die so Mar-Vell could return? Then THAT I could accept. That would be flippin' badass.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

More info:
http://forums.comicbookresources.com/sh ... ?p=3944267

Originally Posted by Pendaran
Hey Andy,

I don't suppose you can hint at if we'll get any explination for why Drax was able to kill Thanos this time despite his previous couple of failures in direct attempts at trying? I'm not going to rant or rave about it personally, but I would hope we get something.

He was built to destroy Thanos. I thought we covered it in today's issue. We put it as simply as possible--something about him being a silver bullet. And the closer he got to Thanos, the more focused on Thanos he became and the more that "silver bullet" ability/thing powered up.

I've never been to Titan myself, so the tech-speak was a little over my head.

But yeah, pretty much no one else could do it.

Originally Posted by Pendaran
well.. ok, to clarify then, I'm more going with asking why that would work for him now, when previously being made to kill Thanos ended up with nothing more than him knocked out and on his ass during his various tries. He was made to kill Thanos from the get go, it always just looked like a case of not enough gun, as it were, every time he got a shot at doing it.

Did Drax's recent ressurection empower the whole concept up or anything?

Yes. That is what happened. Essentially (and no, I'm never going to say this in an actual comic book because it's too on the nose) part of Drax's programming is to continue to modify/improve/update his power-set until he gets the job done. He's had powers that were ineffective in the past (power blasts and flight) and so he was reconfigured in the cacoon with the right combination of elements to kill Thanos. He lost the ineffective ones, repaired his mind, and built in some new ones that are more effective on Thanos and his force field and such. All of that coupled with Thanos being distracted led to Thanos' demise.

I hope that helps clarify my answer. Does that make sense?

Thanks.

[Spike]

That is something I didn't mention directly because it was more spoilers, but since its quoted in that article...

I'm sorry, but this silver bullet thing is bullshit to me. The two characters have been around for decades and as far as I know, and correct me if I'm wrong Corvus, I very well may be and you're definitely more versed in their history than I am, this "silver bullet" element was never mentioned prior to yesterday. As I tried to explain to someone who is not a big Thanos fan, Drax was made to kill (or at least frustrate) Thanos, but that doesn't mean he could.

"I thought we covered it in today's issue. We put it as simply as possible--something about him being a silver bullet. And the closer he got to Thanos, the more focused on Thanos he became and the more that "silver bullet" ability/thing powered up."

So says the editor. I'm not fond of this explanation, however.

I'm sorry, I love Giffen as a writer, but I just can't accept that after if never being this way for decades explaining it away like that for the first time in the issue Thanos is actually killed by Drax justifies it. It would be like, though obviously a reversed situation, if Luthor was trying to kill Superman with Kryptonite but, hey, waitaminute! Earlier in this issue they said Superman isn't affected by Kryptonite anymore! He's always been vulnerable to it before, but we said in this very issue he's not anymore so that makes it ok! That's all the reasoning you need! Just buy it! We say its this way now so it is, it doesn't matter if it makes sense or not!

That said, I still hope there is more to it than he and Giffen are letting on. Also, if he did die so Mar-vell could return...badass is indeed the proper term.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

I'm pretty much with you here Spike.

You are indeed correct. No"silver bullet" was ever mentioned before this issue. Yes, Drax was created to stop Thanos, and he did indeed frustrate the Titan on several occasions. I look at Drax as a balancing element, because in that first arc, he's the one who initially warns everyone about the threat Thanos poses in the first place. In a roundabout way, Thanos was stopped (and seemingly killed when Mar-Vell shattered the cosmic cube) due to Drax's own actions.

I think Drax is much more interesting as a tragic character. One who was created for a purpose, and never being able to truly realize it. Thus, he has to go out and create a purpose for himself.

Ah well. I suppose we'll see what happens. Its not like Thanos won't come back. Its just that I dislike the way he got dispatched this time around, because it sees him acting in an uncharacteristic fashion, and it hinges on Giffen's own interperetations of Drax's abilities and purpose.

Do you wish to review the issue for the Nexus?

[Spike]

Yes, that would lovely. I shall see to it.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

Thank you

[Maxx]

I like the idea of the evoling drax personally.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

I don't mind it. What I really DO mind is the fact that Thanos behaved in a very uncharacteristic fashion in virtually this entire issue.

[Maxx]

I personally think the fight would've gone much different if Thanos didn't see Death there.

He probably would've just energy blasted Drax away, but he was surprised by the appearance of death, plus I mean, he's get to embrace the thing he loves.

It was still a crappy death though.

[^o^CORVUS^o^]

Indeed. Rather anti-climactic.

[HisMajestyAC43]

so i think i'm gunna go cry until i hear about thanos coming back...

it's not a hissy fit, i'm mourning.

ok, it's hissy-mourning.


leave me alone!

*runs away bawling*