Writers: Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly
Artist: Kev Walker
Color Artist: Matt Hollingsworth
Cover Artist: Marco Checchetto
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
The Guardians on the wild frontier of known space, where the rules of the game have changed. Their team is missing a few members, they’re trying to avert a war, and on top of all that, the devastating Grootfall is not far behind. Read Guardians of the Galaxy #2 to see how Marvel’s favorite cosmic misfit heroes get through this.
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Review:
Okay, so as a heads up, it’s clear from the first issue and now this one that the writing pair of Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly are just writing the Guardians of the Galaxy as if they’re the same Guardians (somewhat) from the MCU universe. That doesn’t work for this reviewer, a major fan of the Guardians in the comics, but I’m willing to put that aside for now to see what the comic has in store for us. But if anyone’s wondering about all the various changes in the characters from Mantis’ skin color change as well as her perky demeanor, or Gamora and Nebula being adopted sisters even though they never were, etc. That’s why.
The plot of this comic is pretty straightforward all things considered. The comic provides a brief expositionary recap on the history of the new Manifold Territories, the frontier space this story arc is set in, was discovered and how two particular groups of aliens started warring over it while the people living there were caught in the middle. Now Star Lord is planning a mission where two groups would go to the representatives of both alien forces to persuade them to leave and get their people out before the impending Grootfall arrives. Of course, things go awry leading to action, failure, and disappointment for the Guardians. And somehow, someway, the writers tie the conflict to the weird “Mysterium” element introduced in the X-Men title S.W.O.R.D. by Al Ewing.
Most of this comic hinges on readers buying into the mission of the Guardians trying to talk down both sides to at least temporarily evacuate before Grootfall arrives. Of course it all blows up in their faces. The writing isn’t much to speak about, the writing duo provide a consistent tone and energy in the comic, keeping up the space opera western vibe from the previous issue as well as their takes on the Guardians. They make sure each Guardian is certainly distinctive from each other, readers’ milage will vary if they like the team’s individual characterization.
Kev Walker’s art is also good here as he continues that salty and gritty energy from the previous issue with a bit of a bombastic flair to it this time around. From the Guardians when they get into the action, or the many explosions and energy blasts being fired at our heroes. Admittedly, the action is a lot shorter than expected as half the comic is bogged down by this frontier civil war that just serves as exposition to lay out what’s going on. However, there weren’t any real stakes here since everyone basically said that Star Lord’s plan wasn’t going to work, and it does to no surprise and what we got in the process wasn’t that exciting.
Final Thoughts:
Guardians of the Galaxy #2 brings a new chapter in this space western style tale. Star Lord has the team try to play peacemakers but it blows up in their faces and action ensues. Unfortunately, the action is pretty short-lived and since there are no real stakes, it’s more of a waiting game while getting through all of the exposition from these new alien races introduced in this run. Ultimately, the comic is used to build up the danger of the impending “Grootfall” and hopefully the next issues follow through on it.