Review: Korvac Saga- Warzones!

Quick Summary

Pros: The main storyline details a couple of interesting mysteries. The main storyline also has great levels of tension and excitement.

Cons: Random conflict occurring in the book’s subplots ends up being unappealing.

Overall: This book works as the second act in the Guardians 3000’s story and as a tie-in to the Secret Wars event. It has interesting concepts, exciting storylines, and details a mostly fun series of adventures. There are some underwhelming portions of the narrative but the book’s positives definitely outweigh its negatives. Anyone who enjoyed the last appearance of the Guardians 3000 should consider reading this book.

Story

Korvac Saga: Warzones!, by Dan Abnett, is filled with awesome and interesting concepts but is bogged down by mediocre and pointless fight scenes. The bulk of this book revolves around separate conspiracies and the mystery that these conspiracies have generated. The concepts used to push these plotlines forward are unique and help create a story with a lot of positive attributes. However, alongside this, is some generic conflict that distracts from, rather than adding to, the central plotline. Most of this conflict ends up being pretty uninspired and weighs down the book. However, there is still a solid story being told here that will be very worthwhile for many fans.

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The opening chapters of Korvac Saga: Warzones! directly continue the story from Guardians 3000 Vol. 1: Time After Time (Review) while also incorporating elements from the Avengers: Time Runs Out (Review) event. This creates an incredibly interesting narrative about the collapse of reality and a possible attempt to salvage it. With high stakes and well-written dialogue, this portion of the book is compelling, tense, and an all-around great conclusion to the current story arc.

However, alongside this tale of multiversal and chronal mishaps are an array of battles and interactions that feel wholly inconsequential. The modern Guardians of the Galaxy are introduced and dispatched without any worthwhile contributions and the fight against the A-Sentience robots feels more like a distraction than an compelling story of its own. Even the conclusion to this portion of the narrative is disappointing, as any tension is waved away by repercussions from the main portion of the narrative.

Korvac Saga: Warzones!‘s second half plays out in a similar fashion. It moves the narrative to the patchwork reality of Battleworld and serves as a tie-in to the Secret Wars (Review) event. Here, the Guardians of the Galaxy are forced to contend with an infection popping up among the local populace. The mystery behind this infection is nearly as compelling as the fracturing of reality in the book’s first half, which is a significant benefit for the book as a whole. There are still some underwhelming conflicts that distract from the main plotline but these conflicts are less pronounced than they were in the book’s first half.

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Art

Korvac Saga: Warzones! starts out with a couple of average chapters from Nico Leon. These issues are well-structured and even contain a few truly impressive pages. However, the lighthearted style seen in these chapters conflicts with the serious nature of the story being told. Visually, this portion of the book is appealing but it doesn’t complement the story quite as much as the artwork did in the previous volume.

The second half of the book has Otto Schmidt take over artwork and sees an increase in the visual appeal. Schmidt’s work here is expressive and helps properly capture the intense emotions this story is trying to convey. The linework also helps with ensuring that the characters here look beautiful and the world stands out as something unique. All of this assists in the book’s storytelling and adds to its overall quality.

Continuity

Korvac Saga: Warzones! continues the story from Guardians 3000 Vol. 1: Time After Time (Review).

The story of the struggle for control of Battleworld continues in Secret Wars (Review), though it does not continue the story of the Guardians. Elements from the Guardians’ story are continued in Guardians of the Galaxy: Guardians of Infinity.

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Many references are made to the Avengers and the Guardian’s fight with Korvac in The Korvac Saga.
• The modern Guardians of the Galaxy mention meeting the classic Guardians of the Galaxy before. This happened in Guardians of the Galaxy by Abnett & Lanning: The Complete Collection Vol. 2 (Review).
• Incursions and the collapse of the multiverse are mentioned a number of times. This is explained in the Time Runs Out event, which begins with Avengers: Time Runs Out Vol. 1 (Review).
• The second half of this book is a tie-in to the Secret Wars (Review) event.