The Guardians of the Galaxy are one of those teams that have a very passionate and loyal fan base that basically single handily drive their sales, rarely picking up new readers along the way. They seem to have enough appeal to warrant an upcoming movie, however, so obviously someone at Marvel thinks they can appeal to a larger audience. It was most likely the intent, as with the rest of Marvel NOW, to try to capitalize on this potential with the new Guardians of the Galaxy #1. Does it succeed? Does it fail? Find out with this cosmic, out of this world, Major Spoilers review!
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Steve McNiven, John Dell
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Cover Artist: Steve McNiven
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Guardian Of The Galaxy: Inspired by the heroes of Earth, Peter Quill, the Star-Lord assembled a group of like-minded interstellar heroes to stop threats like Thanos, The Magus and other cosmic-level threats. Plus, they have a raccoon.
ZERO GRAVITY
Let me start with the disclaimer that I am not a Guardians of the Galaxy fan, I have read a few issues of their stuff here and there but have yet to take the time to really invest myself in their older, and well praised, runs. With that out of the way, this issue is pretty lack luster. It sets up the Star Lord (leader of the Guardians) and the contention between him and his father, King of the Spartax Planetary System, and the basic premise of the series (the Guardians have made themselves the planetary defenders of Earth along with Tony Stark), but thats it. It barely gives any characterization to the cast, and ultimately gives me no reason to care. Yeah, Earth is being attacked, but that happens so often in the Marvel universe why should I care about this specific cast of terra-defenders? The issue leaves the reader with no personal investment in the characters or situation, nothing one can relate to. One might argue that Star Lord’s anger towards his dad abandoning him would be enough for some readers, but it felt too cheap to leave any lasting impression.
IT CAME FROM ANOTHER PLANET
The art, as a whole is more than fine. The problem lies in the new suit designs. Abandoned are the old jackets, which I rather enjoyed, and are now replaced with lifeless space suits that are more “realistic.” It takes away all the personality the Guardians had before. Just looking at the jackets one could tell these guys went on crazy cosmic adventures, the like of which would blow one’s tiny mind. Now they just seem like they belong more in a modern science fiction movie or video game. It’s just a shame.
BOTTOM LINE: SKIP IT
This is not worth picking up. It’s not a terrible comic, but it just is not different enough from everything else Marvel is putting out to justify buying. It was kind of boring to be honest, and a series about Rocket Racoon and the living tree-man Groot should not be boring. Guardians Of The Galaxy #1 earns only 2 out of 5 stars.
[rating: 2/5]DID YOU READ THIS ISSUE? RATE IT!
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1 Comment
Yawn of a book. And a spot-on review. Though I think you gave it one star too many.
Prediction: This book will hang on only until the movie premiers. When it underperforms, the book will disappear until it is rebooted 10 years down the line.