| "Chaos War" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Chaos War #1 (Dec. 2010). Cover art byEd McGuinness (penciler-inker) and Morry Hollowell (colorist) | |||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||
| Publication date | December 2010 – March 2011 | ||
| Genre | |||
| |||
| Main character(s) | Hercules Thor Hulk Avengers X-Men Alpha Flight Amatsu-Mikaboshi God Squad | ||
| Creative team | |||
| Writer(s) | Greg Pak Fred Van Lente | ||
"Chaos War" is aMarvel Comics storyline that began publication in October 2010 across ninecomic book series: the five-issueminiseriesChaos War, written byGreg Pak andFred Van Lente, supplemented by seven branded miniseries orone-shot publications, and by three issues ofIncredible Hulks, a temporary iteration of the long-running seriesThe Incredible Hulk. It follows the "Incredible Hercules" storyline written by Pak and Van Lente.[1]
The plot concerns a group ofmythological gods and others assembled by theGreek godsuperheroHercules to battle theChaos King, the embodiment of the chaos and nothingness that preceded creation, who wants to wipe out all existence.
Marvel Comics announced the storyline in June 2010, with editor Jordan White saying that the Chaos King, "the living embodiment of the void before time and space began, has decided he liked things better before everything was" and is "on a mission to wipe out all of existence [by using] an army of alien space gods...."[2] The primary opposition is theGreek godsuperheroHercules leading the God Squad, an informal alliance of heroic characters. The Chaos King is in actualityAmatsu-Mikaboshi, a demonic god of evil.[2]
The storyline began inChaos War #1, the first issue of a coreminiseries scheduled to run five issues (cover dates early Dec. 2010 - March 2011). It is written byGreg Pak andFred Van Lente, with art bypenciler Khoi Pham and inkerTom Palmer.[3]
In addition, the story continues through theone-shotChaos War:Alpha Flight #1 (Jan. 2011), by writerJim McCann and pencilerReilly Brown, starring the titularCanadian superhero team;Chaos War: Chaos King #1 (Jan. 2011), by writer Brandon Montclare and artistMike Kaluta;Chaos War: Dead Avengers #1-3 (Jan.-March 2011), by Van Lente and pencilerTom Grummett, featuring deceased and resurrected members of thesuperhero team theAvengers;Chaos War:Thor #1-2 (Jan.-Feb. 2011), by writerJ. M. DeMatteis and pencilerBrian Ching, starring theNorse god superhero;Chaos War:Ares, by writerMichael Avon Oeming and co-pencilers Stephen Segovia, starring the Greek godantihero Ares;Chaos War: God Squad #1 (Feb. 2011), by writerMarc Sumerak and penciler Daniel Panosian;Chaos War:X-Men #1-2 (Feb.-March 2011), by writersChris Claremont andLouise Simonson and artistDoug Braithwaite, featuring the titular mutant superheroes;[3] and the biweeklyIncredible Hulks #618-620 (early and mid Feb. 2011), by Pak andPaul Pelletier.[4]
After the demonic dream-beingNightmare is killed by the Chaos King, an identity of the evil godAmatsu-Mikaboshi, humanity is rendered unconscious.[note 1] WriterFred Van Lente said Mikaboshi is based on theShinto concept of thesame name, "who[m] some see as theJapanese god of evil, but he really is a being that represents the polar opposite of the core values in the Shinto religion."[5]
Mikaboshi's army of enslaved alien deities then invades the underworld realms of the godsHades andHela, resulting in the Greek and Norse dead having to fight for their existence. The demon-lordDaimon Hellstrom finds that the personification ofDeath has fled, unleashing the souls of the deceased on Earth.[note 2]
TheGreek godsuperheroHercules, who had died but been resurrected with enhanced powers, assembles a group of heroes includingThor, theSilver Surfer,Venus,Galactus, andSersi. This informal alliance is dubbed the "God Squad".[note 3]
While Mikaboshi destroys the various pantheons of themythological gods, Thor engages in battle with Mikaboshi's servant Glory. Thor barely survives, reverting to anamnesiac form of his human identity Donald Blake, and is cared for by a new character, Rebecca Steinhardt.[note 4]
TheImpossible Man and the demon lordMarduk Kurios individually confront Mikaboshi and are consumed.[note 5] Several dead heroes, includingVision,Doctor Druid,Deathcry,Swordsman,Yellowjacket, andCaptain Marvel, return to Earth and defeat Mikaboshi's supervillain accomplices,Grim Reaper andNekra, with most of the group being killed in the battle.[note 6] Deceased members of theCanadian superhero teamAlpha Flight similarly return to Earth, and, with living members, fight Amatsu-Mikaboshi and theGreat Beasts.[note 7]
The mysticDoctor Strange, formerly Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, tasks theHulk and others to find the deadMarlo Chandler, who contains part of the essence of the personification of Death. Meanwhile,Brian Banner, the dead father of the Hulk, is resurrected as a Hulk-like creature and fights his son.[note 8] A number of dead members of theX-Men also return, seeking a prophetic diary that holds information for defeating Mikaboshi. The dead X-Men manage to prevent Carrion Crow from claiming the diary at the cost of some of their lives.[note 9]
Hercules' sister, the Greek goddessAthena, believing the current reality is irreparably metaphysically corrupt, and wishing to start fresh with a newBig Bang, is revealed as Mikaboshi's accomplice. The primeval Earth goddess Gaea and her daughterPele, the goddess of fire, summon the surviving gods toHawaii. The young geniusAmadeus Cho calculates that Mikaboshi by now has consumed most of themultiverse, and urges humanity to escape to an unpopulated and sealed-off continuum which he knows of. Hercules argues to go down fighting, and is confronted by Athena. But Gaea and Pele destroy and recreate Hercules as a maintainer of the cycle of life, and Hercules annihilates his sibling.[note 10]
While the Hulk and his allies, the God Squad, Alpha Flight, and the surviving Dead Avengers fight Amatsu-Mikaboshi's forces, Cho and Galactus work on a machine that will transfer Earth to the sealed-off continuum. Not wanting to allow them to seal off the Earth forever, Hercules throws Mikaboshi inside it, sealing him off from all of reality instead. He then restores all that Mikaboshi had destroyed by expending his entire power, returning to being a "regular" mortal in the process.[note 11]
Critical reviews forChaos War #1 were mostly positive. Doug Zawisza ofComic Book Resources gave it four stars out of five, saying it "could only be made better if it were extra-sized".[6]IGN rated it 7.0 out of 10, calling it "a fine read that has its problems. If you're a fan of [Hercules] then you'll love this escalated continuation of Hercules' story. And for those new to it all, I still recommend giving it a chance [since] the epic nature of the story may sway you to read Herc's quality back catalog".[7]
Zawisza was equally impressed with issue #2,[8] and IGN, though critical of the artwork, rated it 8.0, remarking, "While I am still not a fan of Khoi Pham's artwork in this series, the story is being told well enough in every aspect that it is hard not to recommend the book".[9]
The third issue met with mixed reactions. Greg McElhatton ofComic Book Resources gave it two out of five stars, saying, "A book involving Hercules and the other pantheons of gods fighting off the Chaos King should have been a lot of fun, but this is just a mish-mash", and that, "It doesn't help that Khoi Pham and Thomas Palmer's art is looking equally uninspired here".[10] IGN, conversely, gave it another 8.0 and bringing up a heretofore unmentioned "pacing problem" with the previous issues, and calling it artist Pham's "strongest issue so far".[11]
Reception for the fourth issue was somewhat better with Doug Zawisza ofComic Book Resources giving it three and half out of five stars, stating "Chaos War story started off with a really loud crash, a deafening noise that threatened all who heard it, but the story since has slowed considerably".[12] Jesse Schedeen ofIGN was less impressed giving the issue a 6.5 out of 10, commenting that "Chaos War has had its ups and downs so far. Sadly, it doesn't appear to be shaping up to be the fitting conclusion to the Incredible Hercules saga it should have been".[13]
The fifth and final issue was also met with mixed reactions. Zawisza ofComic Book Resources gave it another four out of five stars stating, "This book was big, loud, comic book fun. Sure, it may not have warranted all of the tie-ins, crossovers, and pop-outs it got, but at its core, it provided a wild adventure that changed the landscape of the Marvel Universe".[14] However, Dan Iverson ofIGN gave the issue its lowest rating, a 5.5 out of 10 remarking, "If anything can be said forChaos War #5 it is that it truly felt like the end of the Herc and Cho story, with both fulfilling their destinies. Fans ofThe Incredible Hercules will at least be able to glean some sort of nostalgia from the ending... but it isn't enough to justify picking the book up at the $3.99 price point".[15]
| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chaos War | Chaos War #1-5 | April 2011 | 978-0785151319 |
| Chaos War: Avengers | Chaos War: Dead Avengers #1-3,Chaos War: Thor #1-2,Chaos War: Ares #1 | May 2011 | 978-0785155584 |
| Chaos War: Incredible Hulks | Incredible Hulks #618-622 and material fromIncredible Hulks #614-617 | June 2011 | 978-0785151579 |
| Chaos War: X-Men | Chaos War: X-Men #1-2,Chaos War: Alpha Flight #1,Chaos War: Chaos King #1,Chaos War: The God Squad #1 | June 2011 | 978-0785153153 |