Quickly introduced are Richard Rider and the Nova Corps, Drax and Cammi (remember the little girl from Alaska?), Ronan the Accuser (Kree), Silver Surfer and Super-Skrull (though he's not named in the issue). The home planet of the Nova Corps, Xandar, is realised excellently with the immense size and power of the Corps shown off. Very quickly Xandar is attacked and devastated. The pages where the Annihilation Wave suddenly appears and the Corps overwhelmed are epic. We're shown glimpses of the Kree and Skrulls before the reveal of who is masterminding the Annihilation Wave... Annihilus, the insectoid ruler of the Negative Zone.

It's a great single issue and sets up the event incredibly dramatically. I much prefer Keith Giffen's scripting here on a cosmic scale than the close-up Drax mini-series. The art is great by Scott Kolins and Ariel Olevetti (some dynamic panelling though there are some awful computer-generated blurs that really detract from the visual storytelling) and there's definitely a nod to Moebius in the spaceship and alien city designs. I really like the time-stamping at the start of each scene so we get to know the timespan of events: it starts the day before the invasion (which is called Annihilation Day) and the Prologue ends 16 days later. I'm guessing that "day" would be some sort of inter-galactic day rather than earth day. Also, at the end of the single-issue of Prologue are some great extras: information about the Corps, Annihilus, Thanos plus a glossary and map. By the end of reading this there's a great sense that the event has been realised in great detail.