Guardians of the Galaxy 1

I enjoyed this series a lot. Don't know how on-the-money I am, but it seemed apparent to me right away that Dan Abnett was a big fan of Bill Willingham's Shadowpact, sharing the same foruth-wall-breaking approach to narrative and its snappy let's-not-take-ourselves-too-seriously dialogue. Instead of hanging out in a magical inter-dimensional bar, these heroes hang out in a colossal, inter-dimensionally-accessible Celestial head. Swap Nightmaster for Star-Lord, Detective Chimp for Rocket Raccoon, Flippy for Cosmo, and so forth. It doesn't really feel derivative though. It feels like a fresh spin with a lot of threads gathered from the rich history of Marvel's cosmic comics. There are some great if somewhat rushed appearances by Starhawk that really stood out in my mind, because each time he appeared he sported a variant of his costume that was cooler than the next. Fun, high-energy stuff that provides a nice change of pace from most of what Marvel's doing.

1/4 of the way through this book I became engrossed. I like the team dynamics. Drax is kind of a lame wolverine though, that's my only drawback. I dug this story and it certainly make me want to get volume 2. Gamora is super hot btw.

This is a great launch. It's written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (the same guys who write Nova). The premise of this book is simple. The cosmic universe is reeling in the aftermath of Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest. The Nova corps is no more so who you gonna call? No...not the Ghostbusters; the Guardians of the Galaxy. Star Lord puts together a team to nip it in the bud. In other words this is a galactic commando unit whose sole purpose is to stop major events like Annihilation from happening again. So who are the team members? All of the members are veterans of the afore mentioned wars. Peter Quill aka Star Lord, Drax the Destoryer, Rocket Racoon, Adam Warlock, Gamorra, Phyla Vell (Quasar), Cosmo the dog, and Mantis. This team is put together during the event known as SECRET INVASION. Yes, secret invasion rears its head in the cosmic universe as well. While I'm not a fan of the secret invasion arc as a whole, I think it works particularly well in Guardians of the Galaxy. This is a new team. The members are all so different, and there are trust issues to begin with. After all, Drax and Gamorra were phalanx selects fighting against the good guys for the majority of Conquest. Adam Warlock just happened to reenter the Marvel Universe after a long hiatus. There is a new blue guy weilding Captain America's shield, a telepath, a talking dog, a talking racoon, and a scoundrel leader in Star Lord. They are in space, they are cut off, and they know there are skrulls on board. Paranoia sets in. This is a solid title. It's not for everyone, I'm sure. However, if you enjoyed Annihilation or are a fan of Nova you should check this out. After all, where else are you gonna get Rocket Racoon?

Annihilation Conquest was not my favorite compared to Annihilation. That said this series took all the good stuff introduced Conquest and gave it some more character development. Rocket Raccon and his interactions with Cosmo are classic I admitt to love Knowhere and can not wait for Cosmo vs Raccoon.

Two words sum up this book: Action and Humor. If you like either you should definitely pick it up. Of course, that's not to say that superstar writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (ANNIHILATION, NOVA) do not fit some serious or even dark subject matter into the stories from time to time, but action and humor...well, these two just seem to be their specialities. The artwork by Paul Pelletier is also gorgeous, and fits the cosmic scale of the stories, the weird environments, and the offbeat planetoids that the Guardians seem to find themselves on in almost every issue contained within this hardcover (By the way, this book collects the first six issues of the newest Guardians of the Galaxy series, and its at least on par with the original series from the seventies, maybe even better). For those of you who don't know, the Guardians were a mainstay of the Marvel Universe about thirty or so years ago. The stories were set a 1000 years in the future (a la DC's Legion of Superheroes) and featured a number of cosmic heroes, most notably Starhawk and Vance Astro, aka Major Victory. In this newest version of the Guardians the stories are set in the modern era. They hardly ever take place on earth, but rather in deep space or the farthest corners of reality. And don't even get me started on the team roster - Drax the Destroyer (the killer of Thanos), Gamora (the "deadliest woman alive"), Starlord (gun-toting and guilt-ridden), Rocket Raccoon (furry little guy with massive armament), Adam Warlock (cosmic powered superbeing turned galactic magician) and a female Quasar (quantum bands, anyone?). Not only is this line-up enough to turn me into a fan for life, but the character interactions and hilarious banter tickles my funny-bone mercilessly. So what do I like most about this book? Let's get into specifics: The rivalry between Rocket Raccoon and the russian super dog Mister Cosmo is great and fits the tone of the book perfectly, while the fact that the Guardians operate out of the severed head of a Celestial floating through the nexus of all realities makes me want to applaud the weirdness and creativity of the ideas constantly juggled by Abnett and Lanning, not to mention the appearance (and eventual inclusion) of my favorite old Guardians member later in the series. After all this there's still more: Captain America's shield! The Skrull Invasion! The Universal Church of Truth! Tears in the fabric of space/time! And in Rocket Raccoon's own words: " One of those weird alternate reality things." If this hasn't convinced you to pick up this book yet, nothing will. Long live the GOTG!