Move over, Hang In There Kitten! Make way for Nova!

I've repeatedly mentioned how great I think the last two panels of David Hine, Mico Suayan and Rafael Kayanan's What If? Annihilation #1 are, and here's why.

Superhero Nova has returned to Earth in the middle of the heroes' "Civil War" (Perhaps you've heard of it?). He's there to warn them of a much bigger threat then whether they ought to have ID cards and be governement employees or not. Annihilus, the giant bug man bad guy from the Negative Zone, is ravaging the universe with his imaginatively named "annihilation wave," a wave of soldiers and ships that, um, annihilates everything in its path.

After about 20 boring-ass pages of recapping and Uatu The Watcher breaking his vow never to interfere with events for the 433rd time, Hine brings us to the awesome climax, which is well worth $2.99 all by itself. Reed Richards and Uatu set up the Deus Ex Machina machine, but it's set on a timer or something, and it looks like Annihilus will be able to reach it and shut it off before it does its day-saving.

Unless someone stays and tries to hold him off, which, successful or not, means certain death. Nova steps up. As does Captain America. And Iron Man. Uatu is impressed as hell, as you can tell by his breathless narration. These are the last two panels of the story, although the second panel is actually a two-page spead (which I've trimmed a bit off, so it would fit here—Sorry Suayan!), so keep that in mind when you're reading 'em. Nova says his peice, then you turn the page and —bam! Two-page splash! (Oh, and click to make them big enough to read.)








See what I mean? Whenever you feel your resolve faltering, or you feel yourself losing hope, just remember this:



Uatu could totally write a self-help book based around this idea. It would just be two pages long, and across those two pages would be printed this image:




I think he's on to something. Let's test it out.


Oh man, am I ever going to get my credit card bill completely paid off?




It's the end of the month and the rent's due! That'll clean me out till payday. I wish I owned my own home instead of throwing away hard-earned cash to line my landlord's pockets every month, but I'll never be able to afford-





Is there really such a thing as true love? I wonder if I'll ever meet that someone special...





I want to keep up my daily blog posting schedule, but I'm all tapped out. I don't know if I can think of anything insightful or funny, or even mildly amusing, to post today...



Wow, it really works! I feel my resolve and hope returning!

So head to your local comic shop, buy What If? Annihilation #1, carefully cut out those last two pages, frame them, and hang them somewhere central in your house or office, where you can look at them to gain inspiration any time you need it.

After all, if Captain America, Iron Man and Nova can hold off 200,000 of Annihilus' soldiers, surely you can accomplish all your goals in life, whether it's acing that big presentation at work, or completing your run of All-Star Squadron back issues.