Comic Book News Report: Guardians of the Galaxy #8

Report: Guardians of the Galaxy #8

Marvel Correspondance Team:

Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Penciler: Brad Walker
Inker: Victor Olazada
Colorist: Wil Quintana
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist: Clint Langley

Story: Past Mistakes

According to Abnett and Lanning, the Guardians of the Galaxy are still scattered to the corners of the galaxy, making news reports a threesome of mini-reports.

Peter Quill, the so-called Star-Lord, found himself captured by Kree Accuser Ronan. In order to make sure Star-Lord doesn't attract outside attention and inspire interference while he executes his plane to use spire technology to isolate the Kree Empire while they rebuild, Ronan exiles Quill to the Negative Zone and into the hands of Blastaar, the Living Bomb-Burst. Blastaar plans to invade Earth through the prison for superhuman criminals created by Tony Stark. Won't it be ironic when...I mean...If Blastaar invades Earth through that example of human arrogance and cruelty? Anyway, according to the correspondance team lead by Abnett and Lanning, Blastaar wants Star-Lord's help to break into the prison.

Meanwhile, the Guardians of the Galaxy consisting of Rocket Raccoon, Mantis, Vance Astro, Bug, and Groot interupt a Badoon weapons test on the planet Benthus. Following their defeat, the Badoon left Benthus...but we suspect that's not the last we've heard from the Badoon.

While at the same time, Adam Warlock and Gamora continue to confront the Universal Church of Truth. Nothing much more to repoprt here other than Warlock sending the message to the Holy Matriarch that it is time they met face to face.

The Players:

Good Guys: Star-Lord, Adam Warlock, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, Mantis, Groot, Vance Astro, and Bug. One of the grewat things about a good space series is the freedom to create interesting characters. Peter Quill, Star-Lord to some, is an interesting, all-too-human leader who is at times noble and at other times all-too cynical. Warlock, while the magical bent of his formerly cosmic powers kind of irritates me, provides the quiet, pompous arrogance and still remains intriguing and likeable. Gamora, the blood-thirsty, sexy "deadliest woman in the universe" is an endearing person trying to deny her noble qualities. Easily the most likable character, it's good seeing Rocket Raccoon become something more than the team comic relief, especially since he now has to share that role with Bug. Mantis remains fairly nondescript, and Vance Astro remains a generic Captain America copy. Groot is quickly becoming my favorite member reminding me of the Hulk from his "Hulk Smash" hayday. Possibly too many people to really get to know them all.

Bad guys: Ronan the Accuser, Blastaar, the Badoon, and the Universal Church of Truth. Ronan's been getting a lot of good press lately showing him to be a villain to us Americans and Earthers, but a hero to the Kree Empire. His actions may seem villainous to us, but by Kree values, he's a hero...and conflicts between heroes are often very enthralling. Blastaar, though, is pure villain driven by greed, arrogance, and lust for power. I'm glad to see him come out of the woodwork. Previous experiences with the Badoon have been unimpressive looking more pathetic than threatening, much like early experiences with the Skrulls. They always seemed to be in power more because of numbers than any other threatening attribute. Here, however, we see some cold, cruel Badoon and hopefully we'll see some more of the threatening Badoon Empire. The Universal Church of Truth, though, is wholly unimpressive. Maybe as Warlock and Gamora work their way up the chain of command we'll see why it is such a bad organization.

News Rating: 3 Worms. Three completely separate plot lines. One great villain. Too many characters to make them all interesting and that doesn't evebn include Drax or Quasar who didn't appear. Too much in too little space.