The Marvel Space Race Pt 2: Guardians of the Galaxy #1

Following on from our review of Nova, we continue our intergalactic Marvel space race with Guardians of the Galaxy. With the upcoming movie and the need for Marvel NOW to take to the stars, where else is there to start (apart from with Nova of course...).

How any reboot's have been seen that rehash the same story of origin over and over again - Peter and that spider, Batman and that mugger. But when the hero isn't at the forefront of the public domain, this type of introductions is so gratifying.

Issue #1 recounts the history of Peter Quill aka Star Lord in 3 different time periods in the event's leading up to his birth and later his mantle as Star Lord. And true to Bendis form, the story is comprised of the usual character archetypes and enough dialogue to make the head spin. In other word this bad boy read like a good episode of One Tree Hill. There was mummy issues, daddy issues and a few kills here and there.

There are some great moments in this story - in particular the first meeting and later romance between Meredith Quill and J'son. It all happens so fast but you really don't question it. So rarely so we see this kind of true fleeting romance in the Marvel world, so any excuse to fall for it is welcomed. And penciller - McNiven, is definitely instrumental to this. His work is stunning. It's full of detail and expression, and McNiven is able to capture so many emotions throughout the panels. He really makes this story so easy on the eye despite all the dialogue. I really feel that the sum of his work is displayed in that beautiful spread of young Peter running away as his home is destroyed. And let's not forget colourist Justin Ponsor who really captures the varying moods and dynamics in this issue.

All in all, this issue doesn't come off a pre-requisite to the story, but it's definitely worth it for a reintroduction to Quill as well as some amazing artwork. There are so many shifting tones that really gave this issue pace and adventure, and it almost read's like the movie itself. We place the future of this title in Bendis' more than capable hands and this more than fitting song.

What Would Doom Do? Simple. Kick back and wait for the Nova crossovers to start kicking in, and then beggg that the GG swoop down into Avengers Arena issue and save the hell out of Cammi. True story.

The Marvel Space Race Pt 1: Nova #1

Fresh off the back of LSCC, overspending, and casual banter with Kieron (Karen) Gillen, we've found ourselves climbing on board for the Marvel NOW intergalactic space-race with the reboot of Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy.

First off I should say that I liked to keep my feet firmly on earth's 616 ground (and various alt universes) - Much of my galaxy corps learnings have come from my blogging partner in crime. So I must say that these #1's were the perfect introduction to the Marvel Galaxy.

In Loeb and McGuinness' Nova reboot, the mantle is about to be passed on from Richard Ryder to one of Marvel's newest recruits, 15 year old Sam Alexander (Avengers vs X-Men, Ultimate Spiderman - the cartoon!). For a Nova newbie (kinda), it's great to start a fresh. Loeb is able to fill you in on the NovaCorp history through a clever sequence of 'tales' from Sam's 'no-good' dad Jessie - a former wearer of the helmet. A rather amusing twist is that within a world of mutants, Sentential's, Civil Wars and all sorts - Sam doesn't believe his dad's stories!

What I really love about this issue is that Loeb is able to make such a far-fetched story seem so far-fetched but within a realistic setting. For once, we get to see a glimpse of 'real life' outside of the world of aliens and super-powered people - where the character's aren't focused on the next bad guy or their newest costume, but real life issues. Sam's a teenager facing typical teenage problems, as well as he added stresses of family life. But of course, that's already about to change.

If the story has one downfall then it's that we've seen it so many times before. But Loeb and McGuinness really make this work. McGuinness' work is perfect for this series. It's clean, action filled and just stunning to look at, and inker and colorist Dexter Vines and Marte Gracia really help to bring this all together.

Nova is already shaping up to be a great tale. It's so slick and already fun. It'll be great to see where they take this once Sam has established his powers. Even if it is just a story about growth, it's definitely one to make the SamAlex haterz give it read!

What Would Doom Do?
FIND OUT IN PART II!! (tomorrow)

Marvel NOW! Point One: A collection of my thinky things

Well, its been bought, its been read, its been mulled over and thoroughly thought through.
So here are my rash and entirely irrational thoughts on Point one and the teasers contained within.

The framing sequence (or the stuff with Fury and Coulson) is good, solid art work with decent writing and lots of questions raised. Plus we get to see a badass Coulson, fantastic. Looking forward to more of Fury and Coulson and their crazy, frolicking fun.

Next up is the Star Lord introduction, yes, I will definitely be picking this up. I've been a long time fan of Peter Quill and I'm very interested in seeing how this develops and seeing Bendis' and McNiven's handling of the character, considering the last time they worked together we got the Sentry, I'm excited to see what happens. Plus the artwork is pretty, always a plus, thank you Mr McNiven. I think we have a top selling run here, I'm very excited to see how the Guardians of the Galaxy turn out, I was a fan of them before, and I hope to be a fan of them again, with a start like this, I think I will be. Over to you Bendis

Nova, no, sorry but no. I think it may be that I'm still biased towards Richard Rider, I don't seem able to move on from DnA's Nova and the Annihilation wave and War of Kings and all that cosmic awesomeness  I cant see myself picking up this new Nova, I didn't connect with him immediately as I did with Rich. And no Worldmind?! maybe this is still to come, but still.... It also felt like it was pandering to a younger audience, both in terms of writing and artwork. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that, but its just not for me, though I will still keep an eye on how it develops, maybe it can win me over.

Young Avengers/Miss America, again similar complaints as with Nova, but I will reserve judgement on this one till we see the rest of the team and let things develop a little. Young Avengers have a great selection of characters and relationships and I am a fan of Kieron Gillen ( did you see his work with Uncanny X - Men? Wow), so I'll probably be picking up the next few issues of this to see how things go. And I'm sure my co-contributor will agree, its not Young Avengers till we have Wiccan and Hulkling there.

Ant man, this is an odd one, really not to  sure what to make of it. Did I enjoy it? I think so. Do I love the work of Matt Fraction? Yes I do. Did I like the Artwork of Michael Allred? It's growing on me, it reminds me of the Golden Age, I may grow to love it, or hate it, only time will tell. I think this could be a slow burner, I'll be keeping an eye on it, and I suggest you do the same.

Cable and X-force, this is a definite yes, mostly because I love Forge, but still seems awesome to me. We had Forge fixing his own brain?! How can you not love it already? so far its been very well put together, and I particular like the Cable reveal at the end, thank you Sir Gabriel Hernandez Walta. Really looking forward to seeing the future of this one, very excited to see the introduction of the other characters. And I have no idea the direction the story will take, you never can tell with Cable, so even if its terrible at least it'll be fun finding out.
Gotta love some X-force.







What Would Doom Do?
Why, go read it again of course, then make a note of all the release dates for the titles he is most looking forward to, which just so happen to be the same as my favourites, me and Doom, sitting in a tree....

Nova, what else do you need to know?

Richard Rider, The Human Rocket, Bucket Head, Nova Prime, in short the legend that is Nova.

Now here is a character that has seen some changes, permanent changes, not those easily reversible changes that happens to the Earth bound heroes of the Marvel universe. You should see his conversation with Iron Man regarding the whole civil war thing. Also, a character to have one of the best series known to man spinning out of the Annihilation saga (which if you haven't read yet you really should) both of which come courtesy of that beautiful pairing of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. (I may have mentioned something about them previously...)

We have a man, who previously wasn't much of a player, he could fly about and shoot some stuff, but then that all changed he got hyped up, given a new costume, bombarded with tragedy and personal conflict and thrown out to the farthest reaches of the universe, not just ours either. The things he goes through, we go through, and he actually has a human reaction to the tragedy that surrounds him, he doesn't just shake it off. And it is this small detail that allows the reader to connect far more with him than you may have thought going in. Nova the boy became the Nova the man, and through both the Annihilation run and his spin off series we got to see this transformation. In all its beautifully drawn detail. Seriously, not a single bad looking panel from start to climax, at least that seems to be the case to my untrained eye.

I know, I know, you want me to give details, to tell you what happens, to be specific, but I just cant. Not because I don't want to, but because you need to read it for yourself. You really need to read it, it is, in my opinion at least, one of the finest comic books of recent years, it shows how truly cosmic Marvel can be. It has everything, violence, bugs, superpowers of a cosmic scale, humour, a bucket shaped helmet, unbelievable team ups, true tragedy, surprises and even sex. Yep, ole' Richie goes and gets the girl, or to be more accurate the deadliest woman in the universe goes and gets him.

What Would Doom Do you ask? He would read this series so hard it would melt in his hands, then start drawing Nova and writing his name in a girly school crush kinda way. I encourage you to do the same. What's the worst that could happen?