| "War of Kings" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Cover ofWar of Kings 1 (May 2009), art byBrandon Peterson | |||
| Publisher | Marvel Comics | ||
| Publication date | March – August2009 | ||
| Genre | Science fiction,space opera,superherocrossover | ||
| |||
| Main character(s) | Shi'ar Inhumans Kree Guardians of the Galaxy Starjammers Nova Darkhawk | ||
| Creative team | |||
| Writer(s) | Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy,Nova,Secret Invasion: War of Kings,War of Kings) C. B. Cebulski (War of Kings: Darkhawk) Andy Lanning (Guardians of the Galaxy,Nova,Secret Invasion: War of Kings,War of Kings) Christopher Yost (X-Men: Kingbreaker) | ||
| Penciller(s) | Wellington Alves (Nova,War of Kings: Ascension) Wesley Craig (Guardians of the Galaxy) Bong Dazo (Guardians of the Galaxy) Andrea Di Vito (Nova) Paul Pelletier[1] (Guardians of the Galaxy,Secret Invasion: War of Kings,War of Kings) Harvey Tolibao (War of Kings: Darkhawk) Brad Walker (Guardians of the Galaxy) Dustin Weaver (X-Men: Kingbreaker) | ||
| Road to War of Kings | ISBN 0-7851-3967-2 | ||
| Guardians of the Galaxy: Book 1 | ISBN 0-7851-3339-9 | ||
| Guardians of the Galaxy: Book 2 | ISBN 0-7851-4127-8 | ||
| War of Kings | ISBN 0-7851-3542-1 | ||
| Ascension | ISBN 0-7851-4170-7 | ||
| Nova | ISBN 0-7851-4066-2 | ||
"War of Kings" is acomic bookcrossover storyline written byDan Abnett andAndy Lanning, published byMarvel Comics, and set in Marvel's mainshareduniverse. The six-issue limited series was published between March[2][3] and August 2009.
The story is about a war between theVulcan-ledShi'ar empire and theInhuman-ledKree empire. TheGuardians of the Galaxy,Nova Corps,Darkhawk, and theStarjammers become involved in various ways. Its tagline is "When kings collide, the galaxy will tremble".
On July 18, 2008, Marvel.com posted a news article featuring a modified cover ofEmperor Vulcan with the phrase "Who Will Rule?", accompanied by the text "Stay tuned to Marvel.com and get ready for the blockbuster answer atSan Diego Comic-Con!"[4] At the SDCC, it was announced that this was part of the build-up to the War of Kings,[5] an outer-space storyline focusing on the X-Men family of characters rather than the cosmic entities. The core series was written byDan Abnett andAndy Lanning and edited by Bill Rosemann.[2][6][7]
The event started in December 2008[8][9] with the mini-seriesX-Men: Kingbreaker and continued in theSecret Invasion: War of Kings one-shot (Jan 2009) andWar of Kings #1-6 (Mar - Aug 2009). Abnett and Lanning tied the main series into their other titles,Guardians of the Galaxy andNova (vol 4).C. B. Cebulski wrote two other tie-in mini-series,War of Kings:Darkhawk andWar of Kings: Ascension.[10][11][12] A series onMarvel Digital Comics,War of the Kings: Warriors byChristos Gage andJay Faerber, tied into the storyline and featured different stories focusing onGladiator,Blastaar,Lilandra Neramani, andCrystal.[13][14] These four stories were later collected and published asWar of Kings: Warriors 1-2.
In the aftermath of theSecret Invasion storyline,Black Bolt and theInhumans return to theKree for their right to lineage as rulers. They come into direct conflict withEmperor Vulcan and his campaign of expansion for theShi'ar. The first issue sets up this conflict and shows an attack at the wedding ofRonan the Accuser andCrystal - a betrothal arranged by Black Bolt to unite the two races, resolve ancient hostilities, and provide common defense against mutual enemies. The Inhumans and Kree reply in kind, attacking the Shi'ar in the following issue.
TheGladiator of the Shi'arImperial Guard leads the assault against theInhumans. As Crystal of the Inhuman Royal Family and Ronan the Accuser are about to be married to unite the Inhumans with theKree, they are attacked by Gladiator and the Guard. Gladiator takes onBlack Bolt and is able to defeat him with some help from White Noise. The Guard also capturesPrincess Lilandra who is with the Kree and Inhumans. Ronan also falls as he tries to help Crystal. Gladiator says that they have made their statement, and the Imperial Guard leaves.Medusa shouts that the Shi'ar will pay with their blood for what they have done.
Gladiator and the Guard face off against the new batch of Nova Centurions, whom they quickly defeat. Gladiator's cousin, Xenith, shows up, informing him that the Emperor has ordered Gladiator to present Lilandra to him. Gladiator quickly leaves, though he clearly shows his dislike for his cousin and her presence. Gladiator walks a fine line in doing his duty for an emperor he personally dislikes while still protecting Lilandra from his wrath. Later, theStarjammers, accompanied by a faction of theGuardians of the Galaxy, attack Gladiator's ship to extract Lilandra. He is taken out of the fight byRocket Raccoon, aided byMarvel Girl, until he sees through their trick. He quickly defeats the rest of their team and recaptures Lilandra before she can escape. She pleads with him again but another guard interrupts her and demands that Gladiator do as the Emperor ordered and kill Lilandra and the others.
After battling the Starjammers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, Gladiator is swayed by Lilandra's argument against Vulcan and kills a member of the Imperial Guard loyal to the Emperor, saying that he is loyal to Lilandra. In the next issue, Lilandra is killed by Darkhawk's Razor persona. Gladiator goes crazy and begins to attack all of his enemies. Vulcan and Black Bolt battle on a ship or bomb. Black Bolt has the final strike and seemingly kills Vulcan. As Crystal and Lockjaw are about to take Black Bolt away, Vulcan gets up and pushes Black Bolt to the ground. Just as Lockjaw and Crystal escape, their ship blows up and both kings are seemingly killed. Back on the Shi'ar home planet, Gladiator becomes the new emperor. Also, the explosion from the ship has literally made a hole in the fabric of space and time. This rift is actually the event that Starhawk (inGuardians of the Galaxy) was trying to prevent. The Shi'ar fleet, suffering from the explosion, surrenders to the Inhumans, but the price is too high.[15]
A second wearer ofDarkhawk armor, calling himself Talon, arrives on Earth and tells Chris Powell (the original wearer of the armor) he is part of an ancient organization known as "The Fraternity of Raptors," who were created to protect the universe. After millennia of dormancy, only Darkhawk and Talon are left, and their job now is to return the balance to the universe. Unfortunately for Chris, Talon has lied—when Chris accesses the memories in his armor, he concludes that the Fraternity of Raptors are the bad guys as Talon apparently purges Chris's consciousness from the armor. A new identity for the armor, "Razor," emerges and takes control.
Talon and Razor then recover the Cosmic Control Rod from Catastrophus, stopping briefly for Talon to implant a suggestion in the gestatingAnnihilus. Chris's personality was not wholly destroyed yet, and a vision of his father tells him that much of what he believed about the armor was false: the prior history, evenEvilhawk himself, was a lie made up by Chris's mind, and the other armor is a second configuration that took control to cover earlier anger issues. Horrified, Chris' psyche breaks free of the prison in which it was locked, only for Chris to find himself on a great tree adorned with thousands of amulets like his own, where he encounters gargoyle-like creatures that urge him to return to the one from which he has just emerged. Meanwhile, in theNegative Zone, Talon and Razor offerBlastaar the Cosmic Control Rod in exchange for his assistance influencing the outcome of the War of Kings. Talon then appears toVulcan, telling him that the fraternity was created in order to keep the Imperium strong. Talon also tells him, through the Datasong, that Blastaar is helping the Shi'ar, and also tells him of Lilandra's coup on Chandilar. Razor is later seen on Chandilar, disguised as a Shi'ar. AlthoughRachel Grey manages to see his true form, he shoots several Shi'ar before he kills Lilandra.[16]
The newly reformed and under-trainedNova Corps suffers great casualties facing the Shi'ar Imperial Guard. WhenNova's brother, Robbie, attempts to rescue a fellow corpsman he had befriended, he finds himself needing rescue. Nova and some more experienced centurions rescue Robbie and take Strontian and Ravenous into custody. The Kree territory that had been under Ravenous' control is left to "King" Blastarr.[17]
In an attempt to prevent, and then stop, the war, theGuardians of the Galaxy split into two groups. The team led byRocket Raccoon tries to communicate with Vulcan, andStar-Lord's team appeals to the Inhumans. Neither group has had any success.
December 2008:[18]
January 2009:[19]
February 2009:[20]
March 2009:[21]
April 2009:[22]
May 2009:
June 2009:
July 2009:
August 2009:
September 2009:
Following the conclusion ofWar of Kings in August 2009 the one-shotWar of Kings: Who Will Rule? was published, which served as an epilogue toWar of Kings as well as setting the stage forRealm of Kings.
Realm of Kings began with aneponymous one-shot in November 2009 and continued with three mini-seriesRealm of Kings: Inhumans,Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard andRealm of Kings: Son of Hulk. As withWar of Kings bothNova andGuardians of the Galaxy also tied into the event withNova #31-35 andGuardians of the Galaxy #20-24.[23][24]
| Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| War of Kings: Road to War of Kings | X-Men: Kingbreaker #1-4,Secret Invasion: War of Kings,War of Kings Saga | June 2009 | 978-0785139676 |
| War of Kings Prelude: Road to War of Kings Omnibus | Son of M #1-6,X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1-6,Silent War #1-6,Secret Invasion: Inhumans #1-4,Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #1-12,Nova (vol. 4) #13-22,Nova: The Origin of Richard Rider,War of Kings Saga | April 2017 | 978-1302904463 |
| War of Kings (TPB) | War of Kings #1-6,War of Kings: Who Will Rule? #1,Marvel Spotlilght: War of Kings | May 2010 | 978-0785135425 |
| War of Kings (HC) | War of Kings #1-6,War of Kings: Ascension #1-4,War of Kings: Savage World of Sakaar #1,War of Kings: Darkhawk #1-2,War of Kings: Warriors #1-2,War of Kings: Who Will Rule? #1,Marvel Spotlilght: War of Kings | December 2009 | 978-0785142935 |
| Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2: War Of Kings Book 1 | Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #7-12 | January 2010 | 978-0785141273 |
| Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 3: War Of Kings Book 2 | Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #13-17,Marvel Spotlight: War of Kings | January 2010 | 978-0785140481 |
| Nova Volume 5: War of Kings | Nova (vol. 4) #23-29 | November 2009 | 978-0785140665 |
| War Of Kings: Warriors | War of Kings: Darkhawk #1-2,War of Kings: Ascension #1-4,War of Kings: Savage Sword of Skaar,War of Kings: Warriors #1-2 | June 2010 | 978-0785143680 |
| War of Kings Omnibus | Uncanny X-Men #475-486,X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #1-5,Secret Invasion: War of Kings #1,X-Men: Kingbreaker #1-4,War of Kings: Darkhawk #1-2,War of Kings: Warriors #1-2,War of Kings #1-6,War of Kings: Ascension #1-4,War of Kings: Savage World of Sakaar #1,Nova (vol. 4) #23-28,Guardians of the Galaxy (vol. 2) #13-19,War of Kings: Who Will Rule? #1,Marvel Spotlilght: War of Kings, material fromX-Men: Divided We Stand #2 | November 2016 | 978-1302945671 |
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