Finally. My Guardians.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Abnett
Art: Gerardo Sandoval
What They Say:
Dive right into the action as the original Guardians of the Galaxy: Vance Astro, Yondu, Martinex, Starhawk and Charlie-27, try to save the future universe from the menace of the Badoon. But what happens when the Guardians discover something behind the Badoon, something even worse than they could have ever imagined? The very future itself is in danger, and the only possibility of salvation relies on the shoulders of this ragtag, bombastic group of underdogs. Thrown together by fate and fighting against intolerable oppression, how can they even hope to survive the first issue?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’ll easily admit that I’ve thrilled to the summer spectacle of the Guardians of the Galaxy film and loved that such an odd group of characters made their way to the big screen, exposing the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe for all to see. I’ve always had a stronger affinity for that part of Marvel, partially because I grew up in the Star Wars era. I had thrilled to many adventures years ago in the original books and guest appearances for the team, that took place in the 30th century, and was admittedly a little saddened at the relaunch several years ago that put in a new group in the present day. But now the original team is back, saddled with the awful sounding Guardians 3000 name, but still filled with the kind of space opera swashbuckling adventure that simply tickles me in all the right places.
This opening issue has a hard chore ahead of it, one that Dan Abnett is certainly up to in the scripting and storytelling side, and he’s helped to really knock it out of the park with Gerardo Sandoval’s art. Taking place in 3014, we’re introduced to the core team that exists here to do just what their name implies, to guard the galaxy against the large threats out there. One that has been a long term problem is the race called the Badoon, which they recently had to encounter again as they made a save at a labor camp where they busted out a young woman named Geena Drake, a rather ordinary looking human overall compared to the rest of the cast. Geena, or “sweetgenes” as Charlie-27 keeps calling her, is brought to the Hideaway Parliament. This is one of those neat places that exists in a pocket of folded space where the ambassadors and rulers of the elder races in existence meet away from prying eyes to deal with the threats that must unite them. They’re not exactly best friends or anything, but there’s an understanding of with galactic power, comes galactic responsibility.
Unfortunately, before things can really get settled, the Badoon have mysterious gotten access to this place, which is far beyond their tech level. That, of course, means someone helped them. The chaos of the attack is what dominates the book from the start and we see how the Guardians do their best to protect Geena while also providing some action based dialogue to familiarize us with the cast, their powers and personalities. It’s traditional in a good way as it works and keeps things moving well for an introductory piece. But it also twists things nicely as most of the cast dies along the way and then eventually everyone dies. But this is where it gets good, right? Right. Because as we get a trip back in time by about thirty minutes and expand on what we know, it’s here we learn that the kind of oppressive dread that’s filling so many of the species may be manipulated by another force that essentially resets time each time the Guardians win, thereby causing them to be defeated over and over. And that gives this whole event a really big feeling to work with, especially since the newly introduced Geena is described by Starhawk as a pivotal player in what’s to come.
While I wasn’t a fan of a lot of Abnett’s early work years ago when the Marvel UK books came out originally in the US, I warmed up to his stuff in recent years and he’s definitely firing on all cylinders here. There’s a classic kind of space opera approach to this that kind of asks you to have a little familiarity but also just some faith if you don’t have that. It’s seeded with the codewords and characters that make you grin and giggle if you’re unfamiliar with the main team, but for an old fan like me I’m just thrilling at some of this elder race representatives. Abnett’s dialogue and pacing keeps things moving and grooving well, but he’s lucky in that Sandoval really has a great dynamic approach to the work here. The backgrounds may be bland space based things and buildings, but the action is beautifully laid out and the detail is spot on throughout with the character artwork and the variety of the alien creatures. The third time I read through, I wasn’t reading; I was just tracing my fingers over the artwork.
In Summary:
Clunky title aside, Guardians 3000 is a return to a more classic old school aspect of the Marvel Universe that I grew up loving and adoring that’s given a new lease on life. I have the same thrill here that I did with the 1990 series launch and I’m thrilled to reconnect with “my” Guardians. But the series also works as a hugely accessible piece with a bit of faith because it’s going to work with such varied aspects that aren’t part of the familiar continuity, taking place in 3014 as well. Part of the fun of a book like this are the nods to the past and the connective aspects of a thousand year history. But it’s also fun because it’s not tied so heavily to ongoing continuity and can do its own things. And going by this first issue, it’s going to be one hell of a fun right.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 1st, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
