{"id":29956,"date":"2024-06-07T09:06:59","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T09:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=29956"},"modified":"2024-06-07T09:06:59","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T09:06:59","slug":"guardians-of-the-galaxy-by-brian-michael-bendis-volume-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/06\/07\/guardians-of-the-galaxy-by-brian-michael-bendis-volume-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Guardians of the Galaxy by Brian Michael Bendis volume 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" \"\"
\nBy Brian Michael Bendis<\/strong>, with Neil Gaiman<\/strong>, Steve McNiven<\/strong>, Sara Pichelli<\/strong>, Michael Avon Oeming<\/strong>, Olivier Coipel<\/strong>, Valerio<\/strong> Schiti<\/strong>, Francesco Francavilla<\/strong>, Kevin Maguire<\/strong> & Mark Morales Ming Doyle<\/strong>, Michael Del Mundo<\/strong>, John Dell <\/strong>& various (MARVEL)
\nISBN: 978-0-7851-9400-2 (HB\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

With the final GoTG <\/strong>Marvel Cinematic interpretation long done and dusted, there\u2019s little to look forward too other than the past, but at least in this anniversary year – 55 and counting! – there are still timely collection ideal for boning up on some of those blasts from futures past…<\/em><\/p>\n

Although heralded since its launch in the early 1960s with making superheroes more realistic, Marvel Comics never forsook its close connection with outlandish and outrageous cosmic calamity (as embodied in their pre-superhero \u201cmonster-mag\u201d days. This iteration of space crusaders maintains that delightful \u201cAnything Goes\u201d attitude by revisiting an impressive relaunch – then part of the MarvelNow! group reboot – that built on the movie franchise.<\/p>\n

The Guardians of the Galaxy<\/strong> were created by Arnold Drake in 1968 for try-out title Marvel Super-Heroes<\/strong> (#18, January 1969): a group of futuristic freedom fighters dedicated to liberating star-scattered Mankind from domination by the sinister, reptilian Brotherhood of Badoon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Initially unsuccessful, they floated in limbo until 1974 when Steve Gerber incorporated them into Marvel Two-In-One<\/strong> #4-5 and Giant Size Defenders <\/strong>#5 following up in the monthly Defenders<\/strong> title (#26-29, July through November 1975), wherein assorted 20th<\/sup> century champions travelled a millennium into the future to ensure humanity\u2019s liberation and survival. This in turn led to the Guardians\u2019 own short-lived series in Marvel Presents<\/strong> #3-12 (February 1976 – August 1977) before cancellation left them roaming the Marvel Universe as perennial guest-stars in such cosmically-tinged titles as Thor<\/strong>, Marvel Team-Up<\/strong>, Marvel Two-in-One<\/strong> and The Avengers<\/strong>. Eventually – in June 1990 – they secured a relatively successful series (#62 issues, annuals and spin-off miniseries until July 1995) before cancellation again claimed them.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t them; this is another bunch…<\/p>\n

In 2006 a massive crossover involved most of Marvel\u2019s 21st<\/sup> century space specialists in a spectacular \u201cAnnihilation<\/strong>\u201d Event, leading writing team Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning to reconfigure the Guardians concept for modern times and tastes. Among the stalwarts in play were Silver Surfer<\/strong>, Galactus<\/em>, Firelord<\/em> (and other previous heralds of the world-eater), Moondragon<\/em>, Quasar<\/strong>, Star-Lord<\/strong>, Thanos<\/strong>, Super-Skrull<\/em>, Tana Nile<\/em>, Gamora<\/strong>, Ronan the Accuser<\/em>, Nova<\/strong>, Drax the Destroyer<\/strong>, a Watcher <\/strong>and host of alien civilisations such as the Kree<\/em>, Skrulls<\/em>, Xandarians<\/em>, Shi\u2019ar<\/em> et al.: all falling before a invasion of rapacious negative zone bugs and beasties unleashed by insectoid horror Annihilus<\/em>. The event spawned a number of specials, miniseries and new titles (subsequently collected in three volumes plus a Classics compilation that reprinted key appearances of a number of the saga\u2019s major players), and inevitably led to a follow-up event…<\/p>\n

Sequel Annihilation: Conquest<\/strong> expanded the cast, adding Adam Warlock<\/strong>, The Inhumans<\/strong>, talking dog Cosmo<\/em>, Kang the Conqueror<\/strong>, Vance<\/em> Astro\/Major Victory<\/em>, Maelstrom<\/em>, Jack Flag<\/em>, Blastaar<\/em>, The Magus<\/em>, Galactic Warrior Bug<\/em> (from 1970\u2019s sensation Micronauts<\/strong>), the current Captain Universe<\/strong> (ditto), Shi\u2019ar berserker Deathcry<\/em>, Celestial Madonna Mantis<\/em>, anamorphic adventurer Rocket Raccoon<\/strong> and gloriously whacky \u201cKirby Kritter\u201d Groot<\/strong>, a walking killer tree and one-time \u201cMonarch of Planet X\u201d, amongst others…<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve covered part of that cataclysmic clash and will get to the rest one day: suffice to say that by the conclusion of the assorted Annihilations a new pan-species Guardian group had appointed itself to defend civilisations and prevent any such wars from ever happening again.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t them either… not exactly…<\/p>\n

A few years later and with many more cosmic crises – such as a devastating War of Kings <\/strong>– averted, the remnants of those many Sentinels of the Stars are here getting the band back together, still determined to make the universe a safe place.<\/p>\n

Thus this impressive and readily accessible volume (collecting Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow\u2019s Avengers<\/strong> #1 Guardians of the Galaxy<\/strong> #0.1 & volume 2, #1-10 from February 2013 – January 2014#1-10) provides a handy jumping-on point, recapitulating the bare essentials before launching into an immensely absorbing interstellar romp tied inextricably into mainstream Marvel continuity.<\/p>\n

Brian Michael Bendis, Steve McNiven, John Dell & Justin Ponsor set the ball rolling with the secret origin of Star-Lord, revealing how 30 years ago warrior Prince J\u2019Son<\/em> of the interstellar empire of Spartax<\/em> was shot down over Colorado and had a brief fling with solitary Earther Meredith Quill<\/em>. Despite his desire to remain in idyllic isolation, duty called J\u2019Son back to battle and he left, leaving behind an unsuspected son and a unique weapon…<\/p>\n

A decade later, the troubled boy saw his mother assassinated by alien lizard men determined on eradicating the legacy of Spartax. Peter vengefully slaughtered the Badoon with Meredith\u2019s shotgun, before his home was explosively destroyed by a flying saucer. The orphan awoke in hospital, his only possession a \u201ctoy\u201d ray-gun his mother had hidden from him his entire life…<\/p>\n

Years later his destiny found him, and the half-breed scion of Spartax became Star-Lord. Rejecting both Earth and his father – now king of his distant corner of creation – Quill chose freedom, the pursuit of justice and the comradeship of disreputable aliens. The origin story concludes with Peter welcoming avid listener and neophyte spacer Tony Stark<\/em> into his loose-knit fellowship of Guardians…<\/p>\n

The series proper – by Bendis, Steve McNiven, John Dell & Justin Ponsor – opens with Peter Quill diplomatically ambushed in a seedy dive by his long-lost dad. J\u2019Son rules Spartax but the rift between him and the Star-Lord is wide and deep and impassable. Dear old dad also has a message: he has entered into a compact with the other major powers and principalities of the universe and declared Earth off limits and quarantined from all extraterrestrial contact. He\/they will act immediately to stop any alien individual or species from contaminating it.<\/p>\n

That especially means his own wayward son…<\/p>\n

A little later, Iron Man<\/strong> is playing with and in his new space armour when a Badoon starship attacks Earth. Overmatched, Stark is unexpectedly reinforced by Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon and Groot who devastate the monolithic vessel – but not before fighter ships break atmosphere and bombard London.<\/p>\n

With the Home Counties under attack despite The Council of Galactic Empires\u2019<\/em> edicts – and apparently by one of the signatory civilisations – the Guardians go to work ending the Badoon, with Peter distracted in trying to divine his duplicitous father\u2019s actual intent.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in the Negative Zone J\u2019Son is conferring virtually with his opposite numbers from the Kree, Shi\u2019ar, Brood, Badoon and Asgard, with a new Annihilus presiding over the fractious meeting, and indeed dirty work and dirty tricks are afoot…<\/p>\n

In blistering battles the Badoon are beaten, but no sooner do the Guardians pause for breath than a star fleet supposedly blockading Earth arrests them for breaking the embargo. Imprisoned on Spartax, Quill and Co eventually bust out and publicly declare war on J\u2019Son, sowing seeds of a future rebellion – but even they are unaware that the devious and double-dealing king is also being played for a sucker…<\/p>\n

After Stark scores an amatory epic fail with Gamora (a wry episode which delivers plenty of laughs for his new comrades, who can\u2019t let it lie for the rest of the book), she storms out to cool off and is ambushed by an alien bounty hunter. Despite her formidable prowess Gamora is only saved by the arrival of the Guardians – who have just finished trashing a bar and the squad of Spartax soldiers who walked in on their drunken carousing…<\/p>\n

With no information on who else now wants them dead, the disparate legion of the lost head back into space and a fateful dalliance with destiny…<\/p>\n

Still being crushingly snubbed by Gamora, Stark occupies himself learning new ways to repair his comparatively primitive armour under the guidance of an aggravatingly disparaging racoon whilst Quill takes a secret meeting in one of the universe\u2019s many unsavoury and unwelcoming armpits.<\/p>\n

Star-Lord\u2019s consultation with former ally Mantis about a bizarre episode (wherein he seemed to experience an inexplicable and debilitating chronal mind quake) provides no answers and he is forced to go ask the last person in creation he ever wanted to see again…<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Stark and the remaining Guardians spot an unidentifiable lifeform approaching Earth and rush to incept her before she can do any damage. They reason they can\u2019t identify her is because she\u2019s from another universe and time. Angela<\/strong> (created by Neil Gaiman for Spawn<\/strong> #9 in 1993 and, after much legal foofaraw, brought under Marvel\u2019s auspices in Age of Ultron<\/strong><\/a>) is lost and baffled: approaching a world her people have always considered a fairy tale or religious myth when still-disgruntled Gamora smashes her into the moon, grateful for an excuse to work off her pent-up hostilities. The satellite\u2019s oldest inhabitant – Uatu the Watcher<\/em> – reels from the conflict. Not because of its savage intensity but because he knows what Angela is and how she simply cannot be present in this Reality…<\/p>\n

Quill however is pumping mad Titan Thanos for information on his own time troubles and suddenly realises he has just poked the biggest bear in existence. The Death-Lover declares humanity\u2019s perpetual tampering with the time-stream has broken the universe and brought our pathetic mud-ball to the attention of races and powers that won\u2019t let Mankind muck up Reality any longer…<\/p>\n

Rushing back to his birthworld, Star-Lord finds his team faring very badly against mystery menace Angela and pitches in. When she is finally, spectacularly subdued, Uatu appears and proffers dire warnings for all Reality as – with uncharacteristic diplomacy – Quill coaxes the enigmatic intruder into relating her story. Apparently she\u2019s a \u201cHunting Angel\u201d from somewhere called Heven, fallen through a gaping crack in Everything That Is.<\/p>\n

Drawn to Earth – a place her race reveres but considers a beautiful fiction – she was ambushed by Gamora, who cannot believe Star-Lord\u2019s next move: freeing Angela and, after personally conducting her on a tour of the world, letting her go free…<\/p>\n

At this time almost all of Marvel\u2019s titles were building to a big Avengers-centric crossover event Infinity<\/strong>, and the next two issues (#8-9, stunningly illustrated by Francesco Francavilla) form the Guardians\u2019 contribution to the epic, in which a double crisis afflicts our particular portion of space. As Thanos invades Earth, an ancient array of races from far beyond attack those stellar empires still recovering from the Annihilation outrages and War of Kings. It\u2019s nothing personal: this invading alien Armada is tasked with eradicating every Earth in every dimension and the Kree, Skrulls, Badoon, Galadorians, Spartax, Shi\u2019ar and all the rest are simply guilty of associating with humans…<\/p>\n

With all the Avengers called into space to fight beside their former enemies, Earth is helpless when enemy E.T.\u2019s overwhelm The Peak (the planet\u2019s orbital defence citadel) and Abigail Brand<\/em> – Director of the Sentient World Observation & Response Department<\/em> – sends a desperate distress call to Star-Lord.<\/p>\n

His affirmative answer enrages Gamora, already bristling from the knowledge that Quill has been fraternising with despised Thanos. She quits – and with Iron Man also gone, Star-Lord, Groot and Rocket sneakily infiltrate the station (Drax doesn\u2019t do unobtrusive) but quickly fall foul of the superior forces. Only the sudden return of Angela saves the day and when Gamora and Drax join the fray the Guardians are magnificently triumphant… but at a terrible cost…<\/p>\n

Regular programming ends with a far lighter \u2018Girls Night Out-rageous\u2019<\/em> (#10, illustrated by Kevin Maguire) as Gamora and Angela enjoy a blistering bonding session and action-comedy moment whilst visiting Badoon homeworld Moord, freeing the reptilians\u2019 vast contingent of enslaved races and accidentally uncovering an impossible connection between the scurvy raider race and Angela\u2019s dimensionally displaced people…<\/p>\n

This initial volume closes with more delving into formative events as seen in anthological Tomorrow\u2019s Avengers<\/strong> #1 (Bendis, individually illustrated by Michael Avon Oeming, Ming Doyle & Michael Del Mundo), revealing how Quill tracked down old friends and prospective members for his new team, detailing recent exploits of at-large and unfocused stalwarts Drax, decidedly odd couple Rocket & Groot and, of course, the Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy…<\/p>\n

The former bane of Thanos, Drax is idling away the days in pointless fighting when Star-Lord comes calling, whilst Groot at least is still defending the weak from the wicked in a classy farmers-vs.-bandits fable.<\/p>\n

The unique, blaster-toting peril-loving Procyonidae (look it up) was mouthing off in a bar, drinking and fighting as usual when he found tantalising evidence that there was at least one other Rocket Raccoon at large in the universe, whilst gorgeous Gamora just never stopped. She was still slaughtering her adopted dad\u2019s minions when Star-Lord made his offer…<\/p>\n

Bright, breezy, bombastic and immensely enjoyable, these action-packed fun and frolic fables also include a beautiful and massive gallery of covers and variants – including a lovely movie-art landscape\/wraparound by Charlie Wen, and a Lego variant by Leonel Castellani. Contributors comprise McNiven, Dell & Ponsor, Doyle, Ed McGuiness, Joe Quesada, Adi Granov, Mark Brooks, Milo Manara, Terry Dodson, Mike Deodato Jr., Phil Jimenez, Mike Perkins, Joe Madureira, Skottie Young, Pichelli & Ponsor, J. Scott Campbell, Julian Totino Tedesco, Brandon Peterson, Francavilla, John Tyler Christopher, Maguire, Paul Renaud, Paolo Manuel Rivera, Adam Kubert and more.
\n\u00a9 2020 MARVEL.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brian Michael Bendis, with Neil Gaiman, Steve McNiven, Sara Pichelli, Michael Avon Oeming, Olivier Coipel, Valerio Schiti, Francesco Francavilla, Kevin Maguire & Mark Morales Ming Doyle, Michael Del Mundo, John Dell & various (MARVEL) ISBN: 978-0-7851-9400-2 (HB\/Digital edition) With the final GoTG Marvel Cinematic interpretation long done and dusted, there\u2019s little to look forward … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Guardians of the Galaxy by Brian Michael Bendis volume 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":[182,120,79,107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guardians-of-the-galaxy-graphic-novels","category-iron-man","category-marvel-superheroes","category-science-fiction"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7Na","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29956","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=29956"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29956\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29959,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29956\/revisions\/29959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}