Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy #1

/ / Comics

Guardians of the Galaxy #1The new adventures of Star-Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Groot, and Drax begins with Peter Quill receiving a surprise visit from his estranged father and a warning that Earth has been deemed off-limits to all extra-terrestrials. Realizing such a bold pronouncement would only paint a bullseye on his homeworld, the Guardians of the Galaxy head into the Milky Way where they find Iron Man, in his spiffy new space armor, fighting off an entire battleship of Badoon.

After a pretty good reintroduction to Peter Quill (and his major daddy issues) the comic ramps up the action pretty fast as Iron Man and the Guardians work together to stop whatever the Badoon have planned. The good news is the group is successful. The bad news is the Guardians crash land on Earth, immeadiately violating the treaty his father just signed (which may have been his plan all along).

A strong first issue, even if Quill and (to a lesser extent Iron Man) get the spotlight shone of them far more than the rest of the team.

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Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1

/ / Comics

Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1Although the Guardians of the Galaxy make only a cameo appearance at the end of the issue, this .1 reintroduction of Peter Quill is a must-read for any fan of the character. Writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Steve McNiven use the issue to explore the origin of the hero before the series relaunches later this month.

Although I find it humorous that Bendis basically gives Star-Lord the the origin of Christopher Daniel Barnes from the Starman TV-show, it certainly works well as Peter Quill’s mother meets an alien from another world and falls in love, only discovering her pregnancy after he’s returned to the stars.

The majority of the comic is spent on Meredith’s time with the man from the stars and the tragedy involving the adolescent Peter Quill first encounter with that Badoon which would push him to the stars years later. Simply running out of pages, this means we don’t really get any information on how Peter became Star-Lord here. The story we do get is well-told and terrifically illustrated by Steve McNiven.

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Avengers Assemble #8

/ / Comics

avengers-assemble-8-coverIn deep space the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy come across Thanos who has control of a Cosmic Cube (okay, it’s not a real Cosmic Cube). Turns out the power in Thanos’ hands was made by the United States Government and could very well mean the end of everything as the Mad Titan expels Thor and the rest of the two teams into the Cancerverse before making his way to Earth.

On Earth the Fanatastic Four and renaming Avengers including Ms. Marvel, War Machine, the Vision, and Captain Britain prepare for a final stand. Inside the Cancerverse the heroes meet with the Elders of the Universe who Thanos trapped in the alternate dimension as well. With the Elders help, and a little Stark know-how, the teams return to Earth to help stop Thanos.

The end of the arc works well, and gives us two full pages of the two teams beating the crap out of a de-powered Thanos. There is still the matter of the Badoon armada on their way to Earth, but it looks like we’ll have to wait a few months to see how that plays out when the Guardians return in their new monthly comic in February. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Avengers Assemble #7

/ / Comics

avengers-assemble-7-coverHonestly, I wasn’t looking to get into another Avengers title (especially after being discouraged by the recent AvX tie-ins in the other comics), and, even after reading it, I’m a little unsure in what version of the Marvel Universe the title actually takes place. But if you throw in Thanos and the Guardians of the Galaxy I’m going to give it a shot.

The issue opens with most of the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy slowly dying in the vacuum of space as their attack on a Badoon warship didn’t go exactly to plan. The team regroups and makes another attack (the issue certainly isn’t light on action), but they find themselves out of the frying pan and into the fire as the issue ends with them confronting a super-powered Thanos with his own Cosmic Cube.

The use of the Badoon is a nice touch (given their importance to the original Guardians of the Galaxy) and although Thanos omnipotence and brashness to the Elders of the Universe is nothing new, it’s presented well. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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News and Notes

/ / Film News & Trailers

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting Marvel Studios is now talking exclusively with James Gunn (Slither, Super) to direct 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy about a ragtag team of interstellar heroes that includes a talking tree and a mercenary raccoon

The New York Post is reporting that Marvel Studios is considering Anna Kendrick, Felicity Jones, and Imogen Poots for the female lead in Captain America: The Winter Soldier

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