My Week In Comics: War of Kings #6

Its funny how despite War of Kings being nothing but an infinitesimal blip in Marvel’s radar, ended with quite a messy, deafening bang. A bang made by a bomb designed to detonate when Black Bolt shouts into it, and and therefore exploding with such force that it exploded in an entirely different dimension, leaving a hole through space and time that’s parsecs across.

Comics are fun!

But I digress. War of Kings #6 is out, and I don't know if I should be sad that it's over, or be happy that it is. Sure the book had its awesome moments…I mean, I bet everyone and their chihuahua were jonesing for a one-on-one between Black Bolt and Vulcan (come on, this whiny sadistic bastard's been begging for a fist to the face), and this issue didn’t disappoint in that aspect. Seeing BB and Vulcan go balls-out at each other with energy blasts, naked fists, and at one point the full blast of Black Bolt's finishing move, "The Scream", had me geeking out in the worst way.

But as an ending to the War of Kings miniseries, it just leaves so much to be desired. For a comic that’s all about all-out war between two of the most powerful alien species known in the Marvel U, it all felt so contained, so restrained, like it should have been a really big deal but it’s not, and all it’s got to show for it are three dead B-listers, and a hole in time/space parsecs across. And I don't even know how big or long or hard a parsec is, and at this point I'm unlikely to care.

If there's anything good about War of Kings, it's the characterization. Everyone had their moment, their character spotlight...hell, even "Revolving Door" Smasher leaped off the page (only to be scragged an issue later...poor guy!). Nobody was a caricature or a 2d image. They all had unique, realistic 'voices' that it was hard not to relate to every single one of them. I mean, when was Ronan-the freaking-Accuser ever this introspective? Pretty mean feat for a standard-issue comic book!

It's a downright a shame, since all this build-up on Black Bolt had me as moist as a cupcake, and Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have been good to me during Annihilation and Nova. But I guess DnA absolutely had to tell a story about the Inhumans, and about these two kings, and they did, and that's the one thing I can't take away from them.

So was War of Kings worth the $23.94 (1,100 in Philippine Pesos for my homies out there) you and I paid for the lot of them? All I can say is...

...I paid for it, might as well enjoy it.