Friday, December 12, 2008

Review: Guardians of the Galaxy #7 (Marvel Comics)


Since issues of the two mini-series that I am currently picking up seem to require more "cooking" time (Marvel Comics The Twelve and DC Comics Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds), I have found myself in need of a comics fix at the moment.

My last review of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy series indicated that I was a bit flustered with the direction that the book had suddenly taken (thanks to "Secret Invasion") and I was no longer planning on following the title. Abnett, Lanning, Pelletier and company are still around though, and ..... well .... What do you do when you need something to read, but nothing else on the stands is floating your boat?

The answer is you cave and schlep back to the store and grudgingly buy the next issue. Irritated or not! Blame Marvel.com and their multi-page preview of the latest Guardians (issue #7) that showed the entire membership of the original Guardians in some spiffy action sequences. That kind of marketing is tailor-made for an "old school" fan like me and I must admit that it really worked. Darn it.

Of course, a stickler could have simply flipped through the actual issue at the local comics shop and seen that the featured cameo of original Guardians Charlie-27, Martinex, Yondu, Major Vance Astro and Starhawk didn’t really extend throughout the remainder of issue #7, and then possibly passed on actually purchasing the book, but I went ahead and took the plunge.

The rest of this issue reveals that after discovering Star-Lord’s manipulation, the bulk of the team have quit and dispersed throughout the universe. Rocket Raccoon has pulled together another unit of Guardians comprised of Major Victory (Vance Astro/?), Bug (from The Micronauts), Mantis (promoted to active membership) and Groot (a big tree-looking-thingie) to handle a crisis in a nearby star system which may or may not be caused by original Guardians foes, the Badoon.

Warlock and Gamora (now recovered from her horrific injuries) have resumed their campaign against the Universal Church of Truth and is it me, or does this plotline seem to foreshadow a potential reveal that Adam Warlock may not be who he appears to be? Remember that an earlier issue showed another cocoon sequestered within the Church’s headquarters. Can you say "Magus"? Drax and Quasar are off on another jaunt which seems to suggest that Drax’s supposedly deceased daughter, Moondragon, may still be kicking around. Time will tell! As for Star-Lord, he has somehow ended up as the whipping boy of a well known baddie from the Negative Zone. As cool this villains’ appearance is, it may also tie into yet another impending mega-crossover from the House of Ideas (War of the Kings) and that’s exactly where Marvel almost lost me last month. Sheesh!

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