Here There Be Spoiler Warnings

Today I returned to Clockwork Comics, of Orange, CT, (get it, "Clockwork" in "Orange", hahaha) to further my library of titles. There is something irresistable about 40 to 50 pages of sequencial art presented in a slightly-smaller-than-magazine size that I must own. In the mid- to late-eighties Manga was introduced by various companies (Viz, Epic, Dark Horse) that decided to stick with the American traditional format of comics. They flipped the images, translated them, then resized them to our size if need be. Something you have to understand about Manga is it is sold in Anthology form, roughly our comicbook size, that is intended to be chucked at the end of the day, like we would a newspaper. If a title becomes popular the publishers reprint them in a smaller book size. This size is now the prefered size of Manga in America, and strangely I'm not enjoying it. I love my Japanese collection, in Japanese, in small book form, but now in English it looses something. They even leave it "backwards" to preserve Japanese integrity. The smaller size also shrinks the beautiful art that shines in its proper dimension. I think, as an American, I'm just wired for my stories to be released 40 pages at a time once or twice a month. I used to consume Manga like breakfast cereal in its monthly form but now I can't even find a single title I truly enjoy. Nothing like Akira, Appleseed, Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, Urusei Yatsura, Inu-Yasha, Guyver, Fist Of The North Star, Silent Mobius, Area 88, Mai: The Psychic Girl, Xenon, Dagger Of Kamui, Lone Wolf And Cub, 3x3 Eyes, Gunsmith Cats, Venus Wars, and others on the tip of my tongue. This must mean I'm "old school," or just old.

However, the Hulk has a fascinating story to tell. The "Planet Hulk" story arc shows SHIELD asking the Hulk for a special mission in space. A weapons satellite near the moon had gone rogue and the Hulk was needed to wrangle it in. The Hulk did just that and boarded a shuttle from the Moon to the Earth. Suddenly a viewscreen comes to life telling the Hulk he's a danger to Earth and he'll be sent to a planet with no intelligent life but plenty of indiginous plants and animals (kind of like Kahn). He never arrived. His ship diverted through a wormhole and he ended up on Sakaar, a planet ruled by a Tyrannical Emperor who enjoyed gladiator games. the weakened Hulk was made a slave and forced to join the gladiator games. The Hulk fought and won, even helping to liberate Silver Surfer who was also stuck there, and created a loyal army, The Warbound, against the Emperor. He eventually won and proceeded to rule the planet. He took a wife and had the top scientists fix his ship. The ship, designed by Reed Richards with a booby trap, exploded when they tried to fix the engines, destroying half the capitol city and killed his wife and unborn child. He vowed revenge on Iron Man, Reed Richards, Wolverine (for some reason), and many others he blamed for this. He aquired another ship, a derilict that had been on Sakaar, and left the planet for Earth, completely unaware of the "Civil War" that had erupted in the mutant/superhero community. And he doesn't care. This leads to World War Hulk.

Also in deep space some little used Marvel characters were about to get theirs. Drax, now an intergalactic criminal, crashes his prison ship on Earth, is killed by escaping prisoners, gets reborn as something else, mistakes a girl, Cammi, as his daughter from his human life, kills the prisoners to protect Cammi, and the two (2) head off into space. Thus starts "Annihilation," a deep space epic involving the Drax/Cammi duo, Silver Surfer, Kl'rt (aka Super-Skrull), Nova, and Ronan.

Out at the edge of the known universe the Negative Zone opens and lets out an alien insect race, on "Annihilation Day", that spreads across the galaxy, and dubbed the "Annihilation Wave." It is eventually learned that the mastermind behind Annihilation Day is an old enemy of the Fantastic Four, Annihilus. Nova leaves Earth to rejoin the Nova Corps (an intergalactic police force) but is nearly killed on Xandar when the Wave destroyes the NC. He eventually forms a resistance group with Drax, Cammi, Quasar, and others, finally defeating Annihilus. The Silver Surfer, having escaped Sakaar, gets caught up in events and becomes a Herold of Galactus again after the Wave kills all the other Herolds. Super-Skrull decides to defend the planet, Zaragz'Na, by entering the Negative Zone and destroying the Harvester Of Sorrow (think Death Star). He succeeds, but sacrificies himself in the process. Finally, The Kree known as Ronan, trying to take over his people due to corrupt leadership, is exiled to a planet thats in the way of the Annihilation Wave. Upon returning to his planet, he becomes ruler but the Kree are so weakened from the battle with the Wave they are easily defeated by the Phalanx. Suffice it to say, all these people do their part and defeat the Wave and Annihilus before Earth is affected, setting things up for the sequal, Annihilation Conquest. And Nova heads back to Earth to rejoin the New Warriors, who are part of a reality TV show to promote mutants/super humans. He, like the Hulk, knows nothing of the Civil War.

On Earth, the New Warriors are being filmed for their reality show when they get word some minor B-List bad guys, who just escaped from "super-criminal" prison, are hiding out in a house near a school in Stamford, CT. Ratings being down for the show, they decide to "solve" the situation themselves instead of letting the more well known "heroes" come in. During the skirmish a mutant named Nitro decides to live up to his title and blows Stamford up. Among the deaths were a few hundred children and all the New Warriors, save for Speedball (and Nitro survived, too). Speedballs lucky ass was found in Upstate New York, in a crater, unconscious and without his powers. Once the authorites figured out what happened, Speedball became the scapegoat for the event, and is now the most hated person in America. Lucky for Nitro everyone forgot about him. This time a Superhuman and Mutant Registration Act (see the first X-Men movie) passes, and America changes forever in Marvel comics.

It looks like this recap just became a three parter (sorry). As much as it looks like I'm giving up years of Marvel Soap Opera plot I really have left out a lot of details worth reading up on. So, think of this as the roadmap to the Civil War. The whole Annihilation plot doesn't seem to directly affect Earth in the Civil War but lots of people no one's heard from in a couple decades get to duke it out on a galactic scale and that helps Earth in the long run. I do like how Marvels Superheroes have different areas or tiers of responsibilty. Daredevil, Spidey, or Punisher don't really work on the same level as X-Men or Fantastic Four. Ant-Man would never go up against Galactus and the X-Men would be overkill for dealing with the Green Goblin. However, I hope the crossover potential from the comics leaks over to the movies. I'd pay good money to see a Wolverine-Punisher crossover, I tell ya. See you next broadcast.