The DC New 52 Justice League 1-6 Review

So, last couple of things I put up in here was a little less comic book like than this one, though related to them at least. Now, it’s pure comic awesomeness and for a change, not Marvel ComicsJ. Though I prefer Marvel, it doesn’t mean I don’t keep a look on other stuff as well and I doubt it needs saying, but the Justice League and Batman in particular is of course an item of interest. I’m pretty sure I knew of and liked Batman even before any of the Marvel characters. I remember some Danish TV channel showing the Batman series starring Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman & Robin, way back when I was a kid. Since then, I’ve never really gotten into reading Batman or any other DC comics book. DC comics have for the most part been superior to Marvel in the animated universe (Batman, Superman and the Justice League animated series), but as far as comics, I never gave them much attention. Recently, DC decided to do a so-called reboot of their entire multiverse, calling this move/event The New 52. Roughly put, that meant erasing 70 years of continuity and starting from scratch with new numberings, origins and costumes.

Some would consider a move like this, to say the least extreme, maybe even disrespectful to those fans that have followed the characters for a long time. Something I would agree with, had I been a devoted DC comic’s reader. I know for sure it would piss me sincerely off if Marvel decided to simply erase everything I’ve read for the past 20 years and start over. But hey, this isn’t Marvel, it’s DC, lucky for me. And the very positive side of DC’s move to a non-reader/non-knower of their universe like me, is that it’s a great jumping-on point. 

Left to right: Aquaman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, Flash & Cyborg

I’ve read the first 6 issues of Justice League and am currently getting through the same first of Batman. But I thought I’d give JL a short review here, from the perspective of a, relatively, stranger to the DC universe. Written by Geoff Johns and with art by Jim Lee, the first issue kicks off with blow-it-out-of-the-sky action as the Gotham city PD is hot on the trail of Batman who in turn is chasing some alien looking creature. Eventually joining the fight is the emerald knight Hal Jordan AKA Green Lantern. The two of them tracks the alien creature to the sewers of Gotham in which they, upon finding the creature, are too late to prevent it from detonating what seems like a bomb. Before the explosion, the creature cries out “for Darkseid”, letting us know who/what the main villain of this first story arch is. Since they are dealing with aliens Batman and GL decides to go to Metropolis, to question the vigilante known as Superman, rumored to be an alien.  They find him, but this being 5 years prior to “current” multiverse continuity, Supes isn’t his usual friendly self and greets them by knocking GL down and the issue ends with a cocky Superman posing as Mr. tough guy (which I guess he is, still annoying though) and asks Batman “so.. What can you do?” leading to next issues promise of Batman vs. Superman. And well, basically, that’s the first six issues… Not, of course, this fight in particular, but the pattern of these heroes running into each other (besides the mentioned, also the Flash/Barry Allen, Wonder Woman and Aquaman appears), having their arguments and then agreeing to stand together against the common threat of Darkseid. During and eventually clashing with our main heroes’ story, is the origin of Victor Stone/Cyborg. This part of the story seems to be an attempt to add an emotional side to the story and does so indeed, though only slightly. The relationship between Victor and his father could’ve been explored more to add further depth to the characters. But instead, Cyborgs origin and the inclusion of this ends up looking like it was only added for the heroes to have an advantage over Darkseid. 

On the positive side, the art is amazing. Jim Lee is an artist I am well familiar with and his work in this book is great. A lot of people consider the creative team of Johns & Lee to be THE dream team of a Justice League book. And while I enjoyed these first 6 issues, it was mostly due to the fantastic art and the fact that I’m new to most of these characters and as such don’t need much to be intrigued perhaps. This first story is mostly composed of big fighting scenes and while that is entertaining at times, the book will need to deliver more deep and character focused stuff to keep me on. The story has got humor, action and a fast paced narrating style, which some might claim is what can be demanded as well as expected from a flagship team-up title such as JL. I see the point of starting out like that to catch new readers, but the style has its faults. 

For instance, the villain Darkseid simply isn’t done justice in this story. We’re talking one of the most powerful and evil villains of the DC universe and he does kick some ass, but is still taken down fairly quickly (doesn’t even show up for real until the end of issue 4 and has no lines at all until issue 6), he almost has no dialogue/monologue except stating the obvious fact: “I am Darseid”. He does state that he is looking for someone when being asked by Wonder Woman why he is there. Darkseid simply replies he is there “for her”, assumingly his daughter, whom is mentioned by his servants elsewhere. To my knowledge Darkseid has never previously had a daughter, but several sons who were important/semi important characters of the DC multiverse, such as Orion and Kalibrak, but no daughter. The JL of course defeats Darkseid, aided by Cyborg and subsequently being recognized as heroes by the goverment. 

The issue ends with a short story about a mysterious, new to the DCU, female character called Pandora. She first appeared in the final issue of the Flashpoint storyarch, which launched the New 52 and have since appeared in every single one of the new 52 DC issue 1’s, mostly in the background. In this story, she is confronted by the Phantom Stranger, who warns her to stop whatever she’s doing. He references a lot of things that I personally don’t know of, maybe because I’m new to that world or maybe it’s all new stuff since this is a reboot. Either way, the stranger accuses Pandora of rewriting reality, implying that she is responsible for the changes in the DCU. I myself, along with several other fans, wonder whether this Pandora might be the daughter that Darkseid is looking for. 

It all reeks of a larger conspiracy-ish scheme, just waiting to be revealed, which is probably what’s going to keep me reading, at least for now. So my first encounter with the Justice League has been with mixed experiences, but overall, satisfying enough for me to read more. 

Smoking in comics and how fiction might/might not affect readers

So, smoking in comics? Let’s start with Captain Archibald Haddock of the Tintin comics. The first full length film premiered last year and it showed a drunken, swearing Haddock as we know him… Well almost at least. See in the comics, Haddock is a smoker, not cigarettes though, but he smokes a pipe. In the adaptation this was left out and sure, one can claim that it might not be a defining characteristic. There’s no doubt that part of the reason he doesn’t smoke in the movie is to make it more “child friendly”. And hey, great job, because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being a complete drunk that can’t function without a buzz. There’s a war on smoking everywhere these days and there’s nothing wrong with alerting people of the dangers of smoking or decreasing the chance of non-smokers getting sick from second-hand smoking by illegalizing smoking in many public areas. Personally, I think the problem starts when what should be a matter of awareness becomes a witch hunt instead. The government deciding that they make the rules of private establishments such as a restaurant or bar is bordering on fascism in my opinion. It may be harsh, but if you don’t like the smell of smoke in the kitchen, get out. That’s what smokers have to do, let’s make things 50/50. 

Okay, I need to be careful not to stray too far from the comic book angle of this… the center of the universe in this blog is comics after all. There have been many characters through the years, good guys and bad guys alike smoking, cigarettes, pipes, cigars and whatnot. In some cases, it’s a defining characteristic and in others it might just be a prop of sorts. Lucky Luke, the poor lonesome cowboy of Belgian cartoonist Morris’ famous comic by the same name, was originally a smoker. Although eventually changed to better win acknowledgement, specifically in the American market, Morris’ defended the critique of his character’s habit, by stating it was a part of his profile same as Popeye’s pipe. Furthermore it can be argued that:

"Lucky Luke's famous cigarette not only identifies a profile but allows the tempo to be modified and extended, expressing a feeling: in Le Pied-tendre (The Tenderfoot), Morris shows Lucky Luke's feelings at the death of a friend in a series of three frames in which the hero rolls and spills a cigarette” (World Health Forum vol 11 1990).

Today, you’ll have to look for older versions of both the comics and the cartoons to find those with Luke smoking a cigarette. Newer versions will most likely show him chewing on a straw and one cartoon even depicted him using a nicotine patch, which left me personally with a feeling of “really? A cowboy of the old west using a fricking nicotine patch? That’s just demeaning to the character in my opinion, not to mention completely ridiculous. 

There are without a doubt several more characters to use as examples, but the last two we need to get around are Nick Fury and Wolverine of the Marvel universe. Both of these characters used to smoke cigars in the comics. While cigars are often associated with wealth, power or arrogance, they are sometimes also considered as something only refined personalities can enjoy. Mark Twain, Sigmund Freud, Orson Welles and JFK all smoked cigars and are all men well respected within their “field”. So what would it matter if two comic book characters did so too? A fairly obvious explanation would be that of political correctness. Since comics are often considered to be children’s literature (which in the case of Wolverine and others is simple ignorance) any harmful and amoral behavior of the good guys, the superheroes, is rarely condoned. And in today’s society where smoking is considered one of the worst habits a person can have, a superhero starring in “children’s literature” and as such a role model and influence of young people, like Wolverine or Nick Fury can’t be seen smoking cigars. They can however, kill and dismember people as long as it’s some of the bad guys… Is it weird or wrong for some superheroes to think a threat can only be removed by killing them? Well, that’s a matter of point of view of course, but since comics are considered by some to be influencing the reader, isn’t that kind of like saying it can be justice to kill an enemy? And if it is, how is that better to teach kids than letting a good guy smoke cigars? 

The sad fact is that all of this is due to an idea, that society as a whole is responsible for children’s upbringing. And sure enough, I agree that we as a society share SOME responsibility of each others lives. As the Danish philosopher Knud Ejler Løgstrup said:

“We all hold a part of each other’s life in our hand”

Naturally, a child or adult for that matter can be affected by those around him or her. But in the case of children, I personally believe it to be the parents’ responsibility to teach them right from wrong and as far as comics or any form of fiction goes, the ability to distinguish between what’s real and what’s not. The tendency to blame influences such as literature, music or movies is a way too used, and appalling I might add, method of saying “it’s not our fault, it’s someone else’s”. And with that I’m not saying anything bad happening to a child is always or necessarily the parents’ fault. But they are those closest to their own child and therefore those that affect him or her the most in a huge part of their lives.

American philosopher and social psychiatrist George Herbert Meads wrote in his book mind, self and society from 1934 that a child’s identity is created through interaction with the significant others. From birth, this would be the parents, though through life more and others will become significant others to a person. But in short, Meads says that children are affected by what their parents say and do, pretty logical right?

Based on this, I believe the main responsibility lies with the parents, simply because they are the first and if not always, for a very long time, the strongest influences on a person. 

Wow, this ended up being really long, and it could go on and on, I’m sure… To summarize, I think we, as conscious, healthy and sane human beings, all need to take responsibility of our own actions as individuals instead of blaming other people, art, fiction or whatever else excuse that might occur as acceptable. Bottom line is if you’re capable of making your own decisions, it’s your responsibility. And for the record, both Nick Fury and Wolverine looks even more bad-ass with a cigar, which is damn well what they are, quit whining and (can’t believe there’s an actual need for this reminder) tell your kids, just because a fictional or real person does something, it doesn’t mean they should do the same. If Wolverine or Lucky Luke jumped off a bridge, you wouldn’t do that either right.

Mo

Adaptations & CapMo "merchandize"

Adaptations

Okay, so I want to talk a little about movie adaptations, those based on comic books of course. This could very well end up getting pretty long, but bear with me, worth the time I think. It’s more or less common knowledge that whenever a book, a play, comic or pretty much anything being adapted, is turned into a movie, changes are bound to occur. And to be fair, in some cases it’s definitely for the better. Hugh Jackman might have been hard to take seriously if wearing Wolverine’s original yellow/blue costume in any of the X movies. That’s one example of how changes can be for the better, mostly because there simply are some things that work in print, but not in a movie. Unfortunately, examples of changes for the better are few and changes for worse are PLENTY. I’ll start with the Marvel character Nick Fury, director of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate). He has appeared so far in 5 of Marvel’s films and has a larger role in the upcoming the Avengers. In the original Marvel universe, Nick Fury looks like the picture on the left, but in these films, he’s portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson. Now, just to make it clear, it is NOT a matter of race or anything like that. The color of a person’s skin really couldn’t matter less to me, this is about staying true to the source material. Though it has been argued that since films and written fiction are two completely different Medias, they should be treated as such and one shouldn’t be concerned with sticking to the original material.  Personally, I beg to differ. As a fan and reader of the originals, I prefer films based on comics (or books/videogames etc.) to be as true to them as possible. Because to me, it’s about something I’ve loved since I was a kid, “coming to life” on the big screen. Mr. Jackson does portray a great Nick Fury and in the case of this character, Marvel simply decided to base him on the Ultimate universe (alternate reality in the Marvel multiverse) version. Compared to the, to say the least, embarrassing attempt David Hasselhoff made in 1998 to play Fury, Samuel Jackson is definitely preferable. 


Even before the movie premiered, some, evidently, small minded people took offense to the fact that the Nordic god Heimdal was played by African-American actor Idris Elba. I remember thinking “who the “¤% are you guys to define how a Nordic god looks?” I mean, I’m the guy living here where the Nordic myths originated and I, among others I’ve discussed this with, don’t have a problem with it. Why would you? I don’t know why they decided to do it like that, but it doesn’t bother me, who cares right? Elba did a nice job; Thor was a good movie, and in case it was lost on you, Tom Hiddleston was frickin awesome as Loki, end of discussion!!! 

Sadly though, one can’t help but consider if there’s a less positive reason for changes such as Heimdals skin color. It’s normal that movies which are meant to hit as wide a target group as possible are politically correct to avoid alienating anyone. In order to achieve this, the concept of “token African-American guy” is regrettably common within any genre. Again, I don’t mind how Heimdal was portrayed at all, I just think it would be a better thing to adapt a character such as Black Panther or Luke Cage and give them their own movie… Denzel Washington might be a little too old by now to play T’challa/Black Panther, but damn, that would be AMAZING :D. And I’m happy to say, that both Black Panther and Luke Cage are being talked about, hopefully it’s only a matter of time. 

In short, don’t change the original material unless you have a really good reason to do so… And honestly, I think the concept of a “token African-American guy” does more damage than good since it, the way I see it, only upholds racism and reminds everyone of times when things were even worse, thusly slowing any sort of improvement.

CapMoComics "Merchandize" 

Recently, my close and best friend returned from vacation with her boyfriend, also a good friend of mine.  On one of the Canary Islands, she’d found a place that engraved lighters and had the one made shown on the picture… Pure AWESOMENESS :D, spotting part of the name of the blog and Captain America’s shield. It’s pretty funny having this sort of “merchandize” of something you’ve made yourself, lots of thanks to my sis for that J

While writing this and thinking of movie adaptations, I remembered the fact that Tintin came out a couple of months ago. A change that was made was that Tintin’s good friend Captain Haddock isn’t smoking in the film. This made me think of a lot of stuff both concerning the comic book world, the real world and how things like smoking are often changed to please the majority. It spurred a lot of stuff so a new posting will soon be here on the topic. And to be clear, I’m not going to advocate that anybody should smoke, it’s really more about personal freedom and the ability to make decisions as an individual instead of someone else deciding what’s best for you. Big words, I know, I’m going to do my best to justify them.

Mo

"It's Coming" AvX

On March 28^th, Marvel will release Avengers vs. X-men #0, the prelude to their big crossover Avengers vs. X-men, which has been hyped for quite some time now. The hype began back in October when Marvel released the image on the right, clearly showing the phoenix force and spotting the words “it’s coming” along with the names of Marvel’s top artists. Now, I could go on and on about what/who/where etc. regarding the phoenix force, but as simply as I can put it it’s the universal avatar of death and rebirth and possessed the X-Men member Jean Grey, the first time we saw it. This was during the Phoenix and Dark Phoenix saga in the 70’s, the latter being one of the most influential and famous comic book stories ever.  In the end, Jean Grey died, but was later resurrected by the phoenix. This happened more than once up until 7 years ago when she seemingly, at least so far, passed for good. Now, the phoenix is returning to Earth and it’s looking for a new host. Hope summers, first mutant to be born after the decimation event (when the Scarlet Witch used her reality altering powers to remove all but 198 mutants’ powers), is believed by both the X-Men and the Avengers to be the phoenix’ choice and it’s their disagreeing on how to deal with this that leads to the conflict. 

Now, despite the enormous hype around the event on all comic sites and Marvel even giving retailers the opportunity to choose sides in the conflict by throwing launch parties decorated in either Avengers or X-Men style (though I doubt any of the shops here in DK will do that), I have to say I’m a skeptic on how “big” it’ll actually be. See, Marvel has this tendency to call each and every one of their major story arch’s or events a “the biggest thing EVER/nothing will ever be the same after this” kind of thing. And, well, personally I don’t think they live up to that every time. Let’s take a look at 2011’s Fear Itself: something in particular that bothered me was one of the teasers released sometime before the series started. It depicted Captain America broken, on his knees in tears and his shield lying broken in front of him with the words “do you fear… a loss of faith?” And sure enough, the shield was broken by this asgardian god of fear, some guy that basically showed up out of nowhere and then, what? He’s worthy to be one of the few that can hurt Cap’s shield? Not bloody likely, I say. To me, it simply wasn’t believable that this guy could break the shield, god or no god. In other words, you might say his bad-ass-ness hadn’t been established in the limited series’ previous issues, mainly because of poor writing and art as well. I’m usually happy with both writer Matt Fraction and artist Oliver Coipel, but in the case of Fear Itself, they just didn’t deliver. The event was a companywide crossover and while the aforementioned main limited series wasn’t that good, a lot of the other books were worth a read. 

Thor dies in Odin's arms

That was just a little thing about the event that bothered me personally, probably because I’m a huge Captain America fan, but it’s not the only thing wrong with Fear Itself and lots of other Marvel events. You can pretty much be a 100% one or more of the heroes will die and sometimes it’s a big character and other times you might feel like who died? But in any case, death isn’t that finite in comic books, characters can and will return a lot of the time. And that’s okay, it’s not like you can demand a lot of realism with superhero comics. But personally, I feel that whether they eventually come back or not, death should matter, even in comic books and to fictional characters. I don’t mind them being resurrected somehow, as long as it’s a good story. But when Thor died in the end of Fear Itself (which EVERYone kinda saw coming since issue 1), Marvel had already announced a new series starting less than a year later and featuring Thor. And that’s just “¤#”ing stupid… Seriously, how the ¤%#” am I supposed to care that this or that character gets killed off if you tell me “he’ll be right back” at the same time? Again, it’s fine to kill off and resurrect characters, but at least pretend that it means something.

 Okay, that’s gotta be enough bitchin over superhero deaths, I’m gonna keep reading the books anyways J… Once AvX starts, I’m planning on doing a review of each of the 12 issues of the main series and while we’re at it: AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!!! I’m definitely rooting for the Avengers, just my favorite team of the two. Of course, there’s also the option that the two unite against a common foe, not like we haven’t seen that before (sarcasm may occur), but what do you think? The Avengers? The X-Men? Or the two joining forces against something else? Drop a vote in the poll and comments below.

Mo

Avengers trailer breaks record!! And using comics in the classroom?

The new Avengers trailer breaks record

The new Avengers trailer broke the TDKR iTunes trailer record, having been seen 13,7 million times within the first 24hours. And yes, it's just that awsome, April 26th can't come soon enough.

Using comics as a tool in the classroom?

As mentioned earlier, I'm studying to become a public school teacher and as such I can't help considering if and how comics could be used in teaching? I myself am working on a couple of ideas and at some point I'll put them up here and I would like to hear people's thoughts about it. until then, it would be great if anybody has any suggestions for this sort of thing..! Anything from what comic, character or story to ways of working with the material and how you think it would benefit students. 


My reasons for wanting to use comic books in the classroom are sort of a mix between me being a selfish geek who loves talking comic books and wants to make as many people as possible love them :).. And, all jokes aside, the fact that I profoundly believe that any child, teenager or adult for that matter, can only gain from having their imagination expanded. Naturally, there are other ways of doing that and it's not to say that a person will "lose" anything by not being introduced to superhero comic books in particular. It just so happens that comics are my thing, passion or whatever you want to call it. And teaching can only get better with passion, which of course one oughta have while teaching any subject or theme. 

Oh and just to make sure there are no misunderstandings, I'm not advocating use of comics in the classroom just for the fun of it or own pleasure. It goes without saying, just saying it anyway, that use of comics should be related to a theme relevant to the students education. An example could be some X-Men comics. A general theme of the X-Men comics is racism, in this case towards mutants, which could be a topic both in Danish and English. And an analysis of Captain America as both a character and concept in the comics, and in part real life too, could offer insight in American ideals during an American culture cource. Just a couple of things I've thought about, tell me what you think and give your own suggestions if any!!!
Mo

Flashback: My first comic, how the collection started and why you should get your kid comic books

"Edderkoppen" 40 cover

Hey people, I decided to take a look at the first comicbook I ever owned, an issue of the Danish Spider-Man series, renamed/translated into “Edderkoppen”, “the Spider” in English. The issue came out in ’88 here in Denmark; I think I was around 4-5 years old when I got it in a supermarket in Sjaellands Odde where I was on vacation. I don’t remember much of “reading” the comic at that time, probably because I was 5 and didn’t read that well, if at all, yet. Mostly, I remember the pictures and this first comic also featured several more Marvel characters than just Spider-Man. Originally, the story in this issue is a part of the Secret Wars storyline, issue 5 to be exact. In Secret wars, a cosmic entity calling itself the Beyonder, has been observing the mainstream Marvel universe and finds itself fascinated by the concept of good and evil. As a result, the Beyonder takes a group of both super heroes and villains to Battleworld, a planet created by the Beyonder. The heroes and villains are promised their deepest desires coming true if they destroy their enemies.

The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man 

Among those on the heroes’ side are The Avengers, counting Captain America, Iron Man (though not with Tony Stark in the armor, but Jim Rhodes/War Machine), Thor, She-hulk, Hawkeye and Wasp, the Fantastic Four minus Susan Richards/Invisible Woman, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman and the Hulk and also the X-men with members Prof. Xavier, Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, Rouge, Storm and Nightcrawler.  To oppose the heroes are Dr. Doom, Kang the Conqueror, the AI Ultron, Dr. Octopus, the Lizard (featured villain of this summers The Amazing Spider-man film), The Wrecking crew, Klaw, Titania, Volcana and Molecule Man. It’s a classic “big-time-brawl” between good and evil and has been reprinted in collected editions both in the US and DK as well. Also noteworthy about this story is that it was on Battleworld Spider-man got his black suit and brought it back with him to earth. When Spider-Man later rejected the suit, actually a living alien being, it bonded with the previously scorned by Spider-Man journalist Eddie Brock and became the villain known as Venom. Venom quickly became one of Spider-Man’s most popular foes and also one of my favorites when I was younger. 

Venom in his own series

Cover of "Edderkoppen"
117

A couple of years after finding that first issue, my real collection of Spider-Man began with nr 117 in the Danish numbering. I consider that to be the beginning of the collection, because all issues I have before that were randomly bought at various times when I found them in antiques and the like. But from 117 and forth I have each and every Danish issue up until 3 years ago when I switched to the US comics. Today, no Superhero comics are printed in Denmark anymore, except if certain stories are reprinted in paperback or similar. No monthly series are being published anymore simply because there’s no market for it here right now. Superhero comics have been printed here with ups and downs for more than 50 years and I’m pretty sure they’ll return sooner or later. But until then I have to admit it saddens me that kids today won’t have the same opportunity to get familiar with this amazing world of heroes, villains, gods, demons and aliens, the same way I did. Until superhero comics return to DK, if they do at all, fans here will have to depend on the American issues. I personally prefer those in any case, but sadly, not being translated and printed in Danish prevents smaller children from enjoying more than just the pictures. Here’s my advice, parents: buy your kids some comics, either find the Danish issues in places such as antiques or collected editions in libraries and bookshops. Or the American in special shops and read them out loud, great way of practicing a second language as well as having fun with your kids. For the younger ages I’d recommend Spider-Man, since it features lots of humor and colorful villains or the Fantastic Four. Both Superman and Batman has also been published in more child friendly versions called Superman the animated series and The Batman adventures, so there’s lots of choices, get going!!!

SpotOn: Guardians of the Galaxy

A while back, I downloaded the first issue of a series called Guardians of the Galaxy, through the Marvel app, which is what you would consider a cosmic based superhero comic book. I’ve never really given this particular kind of stories any attention, though I am familiar with several of the characters. Readers of marvel like me will most likely have heard of Galactus and his heralds, the Silver Surfer being the most famous one. Both of these originally appeared as antagonists in the Fantastic Four series and have since clashed with both the FF and other heroes of Earth. But Galactus and the Silver Surfer are far from the only cosmic characters in the Marvel universe and of course there are several others that every now and then find their way to earth, including an immense amount of alien races. 

Galactus & the Silver Surfer

Anyways, to get back on topic, Guardians of the Galaxy… After reading the first issue, my interest was piqued, and since GotG takes its departure in events prior to this issue, I read Annihilation and Annihilation: Conquest, first. Both of these are absolutely worth reading as well if you have any interest in the cosmic genre of comic books. I then recently picked up GotG again and thought I’d give you my two cents on this. The team consists of very different and stubborn individuals of whom none are really big on teamwork or cooperation. Their leader, a human named Peter Quill, formerly known as Star Lord, was forced into leading a team of various convicts during the Annihilation: Conquest event (during which the alien cybernetic race the Phalanx, took advantage of the devastation left in the wake of the war in the previous event Annihilation and took control of the Kree Empire) into the Kree capital and destroy the Phalanx.  The team is successful, but Quill, upon avoiding yet another galaxy wide threat (Annihilation & A. Conquest) realizes the need for a proactive force, a team that can neutralize these threats before they do real damage.  To this end, he recruits Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Phyla-Vell, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon and Groot, along with Mantis as a support member of the team. They take up residence in a space station called Knowhere, a severed head of a Celestial (omnipotent universal being), which has a near-universal range teleportation system. Operating as chief-of-security at Knowhere is the telepathic soviet dog Cosmo, who was lost in Earth orbit sometime in the 1960’s and is also working close with the Guardians despite not being an actual member of the team.  One of the team’s first missions brings them on collision course with the Universal Church of Truth, a universe spanning religious empire who will go on to appear frequently through the series, though mostly working behind the scenes.  After returning from their encounter with the church, the team is startled by the appearance of a man from the future suffering from amnesia. He calls himself Major Victory and proclaims he is a member of the original GotG. Readers of either the current Marvel series Avengers Academy or the now cancelled Avengers: The Initiative will recognize Major Victory by his real name Vance Astro, as the Avenger Justice on present Earth. Victory’s proclamation inspires the so-far unnamed team to adopt GotG as their own name.  The team members angrily disband when they learn that Star Lord had Mantis telepathically coerce them into joining in the first place. 

Left to Right: Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Star Lord,
Adam Warlock, Drax  and Phyla-Vell

 Naturally, that isn’t the end of the Guardians and the team in its entirety, with additional new members, eventually does get back together. It’s a comic book with both humor and a more serious tone when there is a need for that and trust me; the serious, grave and dangerous situations are most definitely present through this series, despite that fact that the team consists of some extremely wacky and in some cases unstable personalities. I’d recommend Guardians of the Galaxy to anyone having the slightest interest in both superhero comics and sci-fi since it is a great mixture of both.

Next SpotOn will be a on a series named Rising Stars, by author J. Michael Straczynski , one of my favorite writers whose work among others include: tv series Babylon 5, The Changeling (2008 thriller), comic books Midnight Nation, Amazing Spider-man and several others. 

Rising Stars