The Revolution has immensely enjoyed DnA’s work over on Nova. DnA have found their perfect niche over in the 616 universe with Marvel’s cosmic characters. And DnA have definitely done a wonderful job breathing new life into these characters. Therefore, it is no surprise that the Revolution has been eagerly awaiting DnA’s new version of the Guardians of the Galaxy. I always liked the original Guardians of the Galaxy, but it appears that there will be no ties between the original roster and the current roster for this team.
The new Guardians of the Galaxy consists of Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Phyla-Vell as the new Quasar, Rocket Raccoon, Groot and Star-Lord. That is definitely an interesting mix of characters. I have a solid working knowledge of Warlock, Drax and Gamora. The other four characters I have little to no knowledge of at all. Hopefully, DnA can mesh this roster together in a pleasant fashion. Let’s go ahead and do this review for Guardians of the Galaxy #1.
Creative Team
Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Pencils: Paul Pelletier
Inks: Rick Magyar
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with the Guardians of the Galaxy on their first mission and involved in a huge brawl on the Universal Church of Truth’s templeship Tancrid. Gamora mentions that she thought the UCT used to worship Adam Warlock. Warlock responds that he went to great lengths to rewrite that particular timeline so it never happened. Rocket Raccoon retorts if this is going to be one of those complicated alternate reality things. Star-Lord answers no, that this is a plain old stop the bad craziness from happening things.
We cut to a debriefing video of Phyla-Vell. She comments that she as not too sure how well a group of strong-willed individuals with their own agendas will work as a team. We zip back two weeks ago. We see Nova, Star Lord and Phyla-Vell on Hala celebrating their victory over the phalanx conquest.
Star Lord comments that first it was Annihilus and then the Phalanx. That they need to be ready for the next cosmic threat to the universe. They need an ass-kicking force that can act proactively. Nova replies that he is too busy with his Nova Corps duties to be a part of the team, but that Star Lord has all the talent on hand that he would need with Phyla-Vell, Warlock, Drax and Gamora.
We cut Gamora’s debriefing video. Gamora says that she isn’t the biggest team player. But, that at least they don’t call their headquarters a clubhouse. That would be unbearable. (Nice. A little shot at the Legion of Super Heroes there. I guess DnA are just bitter because their run on the Legion sucked ass. Then they got fired. Then their run was such a fetid and stinking pile of crap that DC decided to perform a second compete and total reboot to clean up DnA’s mess. That can’t be a compliment to a creative team that when they leave a title the publisher decides that the only thing they can do with their run is blow it up and pretend it never happened.)
We shift back to Hala, two days after the end of the Phalanx conquest. Star Lord enters a bar and asks Rocket Raccoon to join his team. Star Lord says that he needs Rocket’s brilliant tactical mind. Rocket says that he will join the team as long as Star Lord stops beating himself up for letting the Phalanx in and starting the entire conquest.
We cut back to the brawl on the templeship Tancrid. Warlock says that they have to head to the control deck, get control of the ship and swing it away from the fissure. Warlock takes the point and blasts down some doors and tells the others to follow him. We shift to Warlock’s debrief video where he say that time is critical. That he sees clearly now why he has been reborn. That they have not got long. Years if they are lucky. Months if they are not.
We slide back to the templeship Tancrid where our heroes have arrives at the ship’s faith generators. The church is powered by faith. It literally soaks up the belief of its worshippers and converts it to energy. Warlock says that if the power from this generator enters the fissure then the result will be cataclysmic.
We cut to Drax’s debrief video. Drax says that he has nothing to say. That they almost died. That he saw a bright light. That there was nobody in it that he wanted to see.
We zip back to three days after the end of the Phalanx conquest at the Grove of Honor on Hala. Drax stands at his daughter’s (Moondragon) grave. Phyla-Vell approaches Drax and says that he would have been proud of his daughter. Drax says that he never had a regular father-daughter thing with Moondragon. Drax tells Phyla-Vell that he needs nothing from her. Phyla-Vell responds that she thinks Drax does. That Drax was created to destroy Thanos and he did. Now he has no purpose. However, Phyla-Vell says that she thinks she can offer him a purpose.
We shift back to the present with the templeship Tancrid about to enter into the fissure in space. Suddenly, the priests activate their emergency teleportation device and evacuate the templeship. Warlock cannot believe that the priests just abandoned all their fettered believers on this ship.
We hop back to four days after the end of the Phalanx conquest in a hotel in Hala. Gamora is pissed that Nova would tell her to join this new team that Star Lord is forming. Gamora thought Nova invited her to his room for some sex. Nova says that Gamora told him that she loved getting possessed by the Phalanx because it have her a reason to get up in the morning. That this new team could provide a purpose for Gamora. Gamora then agrees to go talk with Star Lord. But only after she gets some sex from Nova. (My kind of woman. Tough and knows exactly what she wants. Plus, she’s green.)
We cut back to the templeship. Warlock says that they have to render the ship’s power source inert so that it won’t rupture the fissure. Suddenly, a giant monster comes through the fissure. Strange and the Phyla-Vell blast away at the monster and contain it while Rocket Raccoon blows up the templeship’s power source. The team saves the day.
We slide back to five days after the end of the Phalanx conquest. We see Warlock addressing the newly formed team. He tells them that the Annihilation wave was so catastrophic that it weakened the fabric of space-time and created fissures in space. That there are things that exist outside their universe. Things that would like to get in. And now they have a chance to pry open and slide through these fissures. Warlock says that he can’t do this on his own. That he needs their help to keep the galaxy stable.
We shift to the Sacrosanct Homeworld of the Universal Church of Truth. The Matriarch is informed of the templeship Tancrid being attacked by six post-mortals. That after the incident they conveyed the templeship Tancrid and its congregation safely to the nearest planet. The Matriarch orders her aide to find out who they are and where they came from. Then to dispatch the Cardinals.
We cut to Knowhere, which is now the home base for the Guardians of the Galaxy. The fact that Knowhere is an inter-dimensional crossroads, a nexus on the outer edge of time-space and has a continuum cortex that provides rapid transit to anywhere in the universe via the members’ “passport” bracelets makes it a logical base of operations for the Guardians.
We see our heroes coming home from their first mission that we witnessed on the templeship. Cosmo, the dog that runs Knowhere, greats out heroes as they return. We see Mantis reminding the members that they must complete their debrief logs immediately.
We then cut to Mantis’ debrief log where she says that she is not an active field agent. That she provides support services to the team. Mantis says that her precognition powers provide her with the knowledge that in twenty-four hours, the team will agree on the name Guardians of the Galaxy. Mantis says it would be an abuse of her precognition to tell them that. That time and reality must be allowed to run their course unaltered. This is the same reason why Mantis cannot tell them that nine months from now they will betrayed and killed by one of their own. That such dark truths must be kept to herself however much they hurt.
We cut back to Warlock telling Star Lord that he has located another fissure in decay that is very unstable near 56 of Hydronis. Star Lord tells everyone to suit up and get ready for another mission.
We cut to the decaying fissure in the vicinity of 56 Hydronis. We see an ice covered asteroid come through the fissure. On the chunk of ice we see Captain America frozen in ice. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Guardians of the Galaxy #1 was an excellent debut issue. DnA construct a story that possessed all the necessary components that is required in a strong debut issue. This was a well paced issue. This was certainly a fast read due to the good amount of action in this issue. However, even though it is a fast read, there is a pleasant flow to the story and at no point does the reader feel rushed.
Guardians of the Galaxy was a well plotted issue. I dig how DnA began the issue in media res with an exciting action scene and then sprinkles the small panels of the debrief logs into the action scene in order to give the reader the some more information on each character without breaking the flow of the story. The flashback scenes inter-spliced with the massive brawl scene gave the reader necessary back-story on how the team formed without making this a slow and dull like some issues are when we have to sit through the formation of the team.
DnA deliver the most critical element of any debut issue which is to make it new reader friendly. DnA are dealing with some relatively obscure Marvel characters that have been around for quite some time. It is tough to make these characters seem fresh and exciting and accessible to new readers while still paying respect to the histories of these characters to make long-time readers happy.
DnA give enough background on each character. The debrief logs interspersed during the action scene was a brilliant literary tool to give the reader information on each character without breaking flow of the story or boring the reader. And it is impressive that DnA delivered the necessary information about each character in such a concise manner.
Guardians of the Galaxy #1 is a balance issue. DnA crank out plenty of action in this debut issue. The exciting brawl scene is well choreographed and had a nice flow to it. DnA also serve up some good dialogue. Each character has an identifiable external voice.
DnA deliver plenty of quality character work. Often writers fall into the trap of telling the reader about what kind of person each character is. Instead, DnA deftly shows the reader via the fight scene and the debrief logs what type of personality each character is without telling us. Usually it takes a while for a writer to create some chemistry between teammates on a fledgling team comic book. Not with Guardians of the Galaxy #1. The fact that DnA provide good character work and dialogue allows them to almost instantly generate enjoyable chemistry between the members of this team.
I dig the roster for the Guardians of the Galaxy. And it is a real rarity that I like an entire roster of a super team. DnA makes sure that you have all the necessary types of characters that every super team needs. Star Lord nicely fills the role as the natural leader character. Warlock fills the role as the team’s heavy hitter with wide range of powers. Drax is the team’s necessary powerhouse brawler. Gamora fills the need for the required deadly hand-to-hand combat specialist. Rocket Raccoon plays the important role of comedic relief as the team’s resident wisecracker. Phyla-Vell is the team’s energy blaster.
Mantis rounds out the roster by supplying the team with the proper cerebral support character who can tend to their medical needs as well as supply the reader with cryptic hints of future plotlines. Even though I like all the characters, at this point, Rocket, Drax and Warlock are my favorites.
I love that DnA decided to make Knowhere the Guardians of the Galaxy’s home base. This was a wise decision. Knowhere’s role in the 616 universe makes it a convenient plot device to shuttle the team anywhere in the universe whenever a problem arises. It also means that we will hopefully get cameo appearances by Cosmo who is a fantastic character.
DnA waste no time giving the reader this new title’s mission statement. This is another critical aspect of any debut issue. The concept is simple and DnA even speak through Star Lord’s character by telling the reader that this is not going to be some convoluted time travel/alternate reality title that is going to require a roadmap to navigate. That the Guardians of the Galaxy is going to be a rather straight forward action themed title with the simple mission of stopping the fissures that appear in space from rupturing and letting in evil creatures from outside of our universe.
DnA spins several plotlines out of this debut issue in order to get the ball rolling quickly on this title. DnA deliver a short term plotline to hook the reader into coming back for the next issue by showing a chunk of ice coming out of a new unstable fissure. And on that chunk of ice is a frozen Captain America.
DnA craft a mid-range plotline involving the UCT. I’m curious to see the Cardinals. I’m sure that they will be nothing but bad news. DnA then plant the seeds for a long-term plotline with the teaser from Mantis concerning one of the Guardians of the Galaxy betraying their teammates and the death of the team in nine months.
I find all the various plotlines interesting. DnA flash excellent depth and long term vision with this many players of plotlines in just the first issue of this title. DnA certainly succeeded in getting me excited for the next issue.
The Guardians of the Galaxy #1 has plenty of quality artwork. I love Pelletier’s pencils. I always have enjoyed his style of art. However, I just am not a fan of Magyar’s ink. Pelletier’s pencils would look much better with a different inker.
The Bad: I have no complaints about this issue.
Overall: Guardians of the Galaxy #1 was a strong debut issue. DnA deliver a textbook example of what a debut issue of a new title should accomplish. This issue gives enough background information on each character, starts the story off quickly, delivers the title’s mission statement and sets into place multiple plotlines. A reader cannot ask much more from a debut issue than what DnA gives us with this issue.
Without a doubt, a new reader will be able to pick up Guardians of the Galaxy #1 and fully understand and enjoy this issue just as much as a long time read. If you are a fan of cosmic characters and universe spanning Science Fiction stories then you will probably enjoy Guardians of the Galaxy #1. I would certainly recommend giving this title a try. It is worth the cover price.
8 thoughts on “Comic Book Review: Guardians of the Galaxy #1”
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I’m thinking the figure in the ice may be Vance Astro who had Cap’s shield at one point.That would also be a connection to the original Guardians.
DnA have said in a couple interviews that this Guardians group would have connections to the old Guardians group of the 70’s-90’s. I know in a future solicit, Starhawk will be showing up. I think the frozen guy is another of those links, as mentioned with being Vance Astro.
This also sets up a couple of earth based interesting stories as Vance is an alternate version of Justice, most recently seen leaving the initiative. In his timeline, he discovered what a powerful telekinetic he was, spent some time with the Thing in that Superpowered wrestling fed that ben was part of when leaving the Fantastic Four, had some adventures with the FF, then joined Nasa for deep space exploration. He was put in a special stasis suit and woken up in the future to eventually lead the Guardians. To mo knowledge, while he’s been to the 616 reality a few times, he’s never encoutnered his younger self.
Also, curiously, if this is Astro, the shield he has is, essentially, Captain America’s shield, which the Guardians quested to recover, and gave to Vance in the early 90’s series. That would put two identical Cap shields floating around the 616 at the same time. Vance frequently used the shield in conjunction with his TK, pulling off the same types of stunts Cap did. With the Guardians having at least a small part in SI later on this summer, if Vance is on the team, there could be some interesting thigns that could happen.
Add another two Night Girls for me on this one! Space adventures are not my thing. I picked this up purely on the merits of Nova and the Annihilation minis which were top-notch. This was a meaty story; characters were brought in perfectly, the story moves along at a good pace and you get a feeling this is going to be a fun mix of heroes. I felt I got more than my money’s worth here!
DnA has something special going on here and I hope people will give this a look. I mean, for crying out loud, he has got Rocket Racoon AND Groot on a title… and they work? Anyone who can take an old favorite from the obscure pages of Monsters on the Prowl and bring him to life deserves forgiveness for his Legion fiasco.
I am ordering a couple of extra copies for a few of my students as rewards for good lessons. This was a surprisingly enjoyable first issue. Thanks for another great review.
Cierdwyn2: Vance Astro has met his younger self during one of his treks to the past…that meeting is what set off young Vance’s latent telekinetic powers. Actually, future Vance has psychokinesis that was unlocked during his long space trek.
where the hell was bug?????
I guess DnA are just bitter because their run on the Legion sucked ass. Then they got fired. Then their run was such a fetid and stinking pile of crap that DC decided to perform a second compete and total reboot to clean up DnA’s mess.
I invite you to check out my latest Legion sales chart, dating back to 1995. DnA’s work on the Legion rescued the book from likely cancellation, and by the end of their run sales were UP by 50%.
That said, I don’t know the exact reason they left. I suspect it was because they wanted a chance at a new post-Infinite Crisis Legion to start fresh with some Name talent (Waid and Kitson).
While I agree with you that increasing sales doesn’t necessarily imply good writing, it is a sign that it’s what people want. Whether you like it or not is a completely different issue.
I can’t disagree with your last paragraph, though. My only thought about the post-DnA reboot is that DC gambled that even though sales were on the rise, they’d get more readers by going to Waid/Kitson. And sales-wise, they were right. Even with the slide during the Bedard issues, sales are still up over the DnA issues.
And that’s what it’s all about, ain’t it?
The only thing I have to add to your last comment is that be careful of which rumors you believe. Rich Johnston of “Lying in the Gutters” has posted a rumor twice about Shooter leaving early, but there has been no other confirmation, only lots of speculation.
Just because he missed a convention (or two, not sure), does not mean that he’s off the book. That’s essentially what Rich is saying; fans discussing it in the message boards somehow gives it extra weight and now he’s calling it “industry gossip”. I’ll believe it when I get independent confirmation (and keep reading the Omnicom).