{"id":12276,"date":"2014-08-19T08:00:16","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T08:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=12276"},"modified":"2014-08-18T11:31:59","modified_gmt":"2014-08-18T11:31:59","slug":"guardians-of-the-galaxy-volume-2-war-of-kings-book-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2014\/08\/19\/guardians-of-the-galaxy-volume-2-war-of-kings-book-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Guardians of the Galaxy volume 2: War of Kings Book 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Dan Abnett<\/strong> & Andy Lanning<\/strong>, Paul Pelletier<\/strong>, Brad Walker<\/strong>, Carlos Magno<\/strong>, Wes Craig<\/strong> & various (Marvel)
\nISBN: 978-0-7851-3339-1<\/p>\n

Following twin cosmic catastrophes (the invasion of our cosmos by Annihilus<\/em> and legions of Negative Zone<\/em> monsters plus a subsequent assault on the shattered survivors by parasitical invading Phalanx<\/em> techno-horrors) our corner of the universe was left reeling and frantically trying to rebuild.<\/p>\n

During that period of instability and crisis, Star-Lord<\/em> Peter Quill <\/em>assembled a rag-tag team of alien warriors with the intention of acting as a pre-emptive peace-keeping and disaster management force.<\/p>\n

They comprised Quill, Adam Warlock<\/em>, Gamora<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, Drax the Destroyer<\/em>, latest Quasar<\/em> Phyla-Vell<\/em>, anamorphic adventurer Rocket Raccoon<\/em> and gloriously whacky \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Kirby Kritter\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Groot<\/em>, a constantly regenerating killer tree and one-time \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Monarch of Planet X\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n

The squad was supported by telepathic precog and failed Celestial Madonna Mantis<\/em> and Cold War Soviet superdog Cosmo<\/em>, both high in the controlling hierarchy of intergalactic research think-tank Knowhere<\/em>, situated in the hollowed-out skull of a dead Celestial<\/em> Space God\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Before too long they were battling on many fronts after discovering that the fabric of the cosmos – stretched, mauled, abused and abraded by continual crises – had begun to unravel in various hotspots, allowing access to things from outside reality: very nasty things that really, really wanted to come and play in our universe\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Whilst closing one such rift the team recovered a huge chunk of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153limbo-ice\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and found the temporal effluvia was encasing a chunk of Avengers Mansion<\/em>, an appalling atrocity hungry for slaughter and a strange costumed hero holding Captain America<\/em>‘s legendary shield\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The amnesiac outcast alternately called himself Vance Astrovik<\/em> and Major Victory<\/em>, claiming to be part of a 30th<\/sup> century group of freedom-fighters called The Guardians of the Galaxy<\/strong>. He had travelled back from the future but could not remember what for, why or even if he had eventually arrived in the right universe\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Before the suspicious heroes could explore further, Knowhere and especially Astrovik were targeted by another future-born being – Starhawk<\/em> – and the base was subject to infiltration by shapeshifting Skrulls<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In fighting off the attack Quill’s team accidentally discovered that when they initially convened, Star-Lord had urged Mantis to telepathically \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nudge\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the war-weary warriors into joining his proposed team.<\/p>\n

Quite understandably on hearing this, they all quit\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Perhaps a better term would be mutinied as weeks later the majority were still putting out cosmic brush fires, but without the manipulative betrayer Star-Lord\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

This particular collection – gathering Guardians of the Galaxy<\/strong> volume 2 #7-12 spanning November 2008 to April 2009 – acts as prologue to yet another cosmos-rending crisis wherein the battered Shi’ar Empire<\/em>, ruled at this time by mutant Vulcan<\/em> (half brother of Scott<\/em> and Alex Summers<\/em>) battled for its very existence against the resurgent Kree<\/em>, led at first by Ronan the Accuser but eventually Black Bolt<\/em> of the earthborn genetic weapons known as Inhumans<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The convoluted saga involved a host of space-themed characters, crossed over into many titles and served to forge closer links between the Earth-based Marvel Universe and its far-flung intergalactic outliers, eventually encompassing and engulfing such diverse elements as the X-Men<\/em>, Nova<\/em> Corps<\/em>, Darkhawk<\/em>, Starjammers<\/em> and many more\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Here however there is the barest inkling of what is to come as writers Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning describe ‘No Future’ <\/em>(illustrated by Paul Pelletier & Rick Magyar) wherein the constantly gender-shifting captive Starhawk shares his\/her shaky memories of the future and the fall of tomorrow’s galactic guardians with telepathic canine \u00c3\u00a9migr\u00c3\u00a9 Cosmo whilst elsewhere Rocket, Groot, Mantis, Major Victory and Galactic Warrior Bug<\/em> (from 1970’s phenomenon The Micronauts<\/strong>) struggle to prevent a Spartoi<\/em> colony world from being ravaged by technologically enhanced undead monsters.<\/p>\n

In a flash of memory Astrovik recognises them as precursors of the Badoon<\/em> terror battalions he knows as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Zoms<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d just as he discovers a colossal factory churning out fresh horrors from the remains of the colony’s populace\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Half a galaxy away Adam Warlock and Gamora have invaded a citadel of the Universal Church of Truth<\/em> responsible for the latest rips in the fabric of space\/time whilst Drax and Phyla-Vell are searching a planet of spiritualists and get a disturbing message from someone long dead\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

And, further still from any of them, Peter Quill wakes up a captive of bombastic tyrant Blastaar<\/em>, deep inside the subspace hell of the Negative Zone\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

How he got there is revealed in ‘Past Mistakes’<\/em> (with art by Brad Walker & Victor Olazaba), disclosing how the guilt-ridden Star-Lord returned to Kree homeworld Hala<\/em> to aid their resistance only to be ambushed by notional leader Ronan who has commissioned the reconstruction of a lethal atrocity weapon dubbed the Babel Spire<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Quill’s moral and physical objections were overruled by superior force before the fallen hero was cast into the N-Zone whilst all his erstwhile comrades soldiered on without him in their own sectors of a growing universal disaster\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The self-appointed lord of the Negative Zone and unlikely ally of the Accuser wants Quill’s help. King Blastaar<\/em> has a plan to invade Earth again\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

At that time Earth’s smartest minds had built an other-dimensional jail – codenamed 42<\/em> – where they unceremoniously dumped a wide variety of super-felons and enhanced maniacs. ‘Prison Break’<\/em> (Walker, Carlos Magno, Olazaba & Jack Purcell) found Blastaar pitting his armies against the supposedly impenetrable fortress, determined to capture its single portal back the positive matter universe\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The penitentiary, long abandoned by its correctional officers, was being run by some of the less crazy inmates such as vigilante and former Captain America sidekick Jack Flag<\/em> who had organised a stiff resistance to Blastaar’s bloody, besieging legions.<\/p>\n

Quill, sent in by Blastaar as an ambassador to convince the humans to surrender, instead links up with the cons and they hatch a plan to unlock the one-way transmat portal and ship the surviving cons back home, but dealing with maniacs like Gorilla-Man Arthur Nagan<\/em>, hacker Skeleton Ki<\/em>, winged killer Condor<\/em> and mutated mauler Bison<\/em> proves as fraught with peril as betraying Blastaar\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

In the outer universe, whilst Drax and Quasar seek a way to reunite with dead and possessed champion Moondragon<\/em>, Quill uses a captive telepath to send a message to his former comrades. In response Cosmo uses Knowhere’s tech to despatch Rocket, Bug, Groot, Mantis and Major Victory to his aid\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Unfortunately they materialise on the wrong side of the invading forces just as a traitor opens the doors to the killer king’s forces\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

‘Blastaared!’<\/em> (Walker, Olazaba, Rodney Ramos & John Livesay) finds the reunited heroes battling for their lives inside 42 as, on the throneworld of the Universal Church of Truth, Warlock confronts his own appalling future before regretfully taking control over the merciless theocracy.<\/p>\n

Pulling off a minor miracle, the Guardians and last penal survivors beam back to our reality, even as in a dark cell Starhawk realises that the war she\/he had fought so hard to forestall is beginning\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The last two tales in this collection (illustrated by Wes Craig) yield focus to Drax and Phyla-Vell, beginning with ‘Welcome to Oblivion’<\/em> wherein the recently murdered duo awake in a deathlike dimension to be challenged by a number of deceased heroes and villains such as her father Mar-Vell<\/em> and murderous maniac Maelstrom<\/em>. The Avatar of Oblivion has been slowing leading the seekers to this pocket purgatory with psychic breadcrumbs of Moondragon’s essence in a scheme to escape back to the lands of the living\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

The resurrection shuffle spectacularly concludes in ‘Sacrifice’<\/em> as ghostly champion Wendell Vaughn<\/em> – the first Quasar – boldly appears to aid Drax and Phyla’s rescue of Moondragon before sending them all back to the world of breath and light.<\/p>\n

However plots within plots are constantly unfolding and in truth a new Avatar of Death has manifested, allowing the cosmic entity known as Oblivion<\/em> to anticipate a forthcoming \u00e2\u20ac\u0153End War\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

This stunning stellar treasure-chest also includes a covers-&-variants gallery by Clint Langley, Jim Valentino, Brandon Peterson, David Yardin and Paul Renavo to complete a sharp, breathtaking adventure with loads of laughs and tremendous imagination.<\/p>\n

On its own terms this is superb stuff well worth seeking out, but Fights ‘n’ Tights completists might be wise to remember this is only the tip of a cataclysmic cosmic iceberg and the full picture spans at least six other volumes\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6
\n\u00c2\u00a9 2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, Paul Pelletier, Brad Walker, Carlos Magno, Wes Craig & various (Marvel) ISBN: 978-0-7851-3339-1 Following twin cosmic catastrophes (the invasion of our cosmos by Annihilus and legions of Negative Zone monsters plus a subsequent assault on the shattered survivors by parasitical invading Phalanx techno-horrors) our corner of the universe was … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Guardians of the Galaxy volume 2: War of Kings Book 1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[79,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marvel-superheroes","category-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-3c0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}