All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #1
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Penciller: Aaron Kuder
Colorist: Ive Svorcina
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Rating: T+
Price: $3.99
Release Date: 05/03/17
Plot: After their pit stop on Earth, the Guardians are back in space. The team’s first adventure involves stealing for the Grandmaster who will only pay them if they do another job for him. However, the team needs to find a way to work together again after each member has changed because of their time on Earth.
Story: Gerry Duggan is a writer that knows how to have fun with the story. One funny moment is the way the Guardians’s first part of their heist involves a Galactus mech. The planet’s citizens reactions are hilarious and even funnier when someone mentions Galactus’s change in motive (see Ultimates 2.0). There are other funny moments such as Drax trying to meditate while yelling at everyone and Star-Lord turning on his music to find someone changed it. These scenes have the same humor as the Guardians in the MCU, which makes it an easy transition for people who’ve only seen the movies.
Duggan also uses the issue to set up some future plots. The most intriguing one involves Groot who’s stopped growing. The last page of this issue shows a mysterious figure planting branches to possibly create his own army of Groots. This is an interesting scenario. In the past whenever Groot was destroyed the Guardians would regrow him with just a single twig. So instead of one large Groot growing from a single twig, we now have numerous smaller Groots growing from multiple twigs.
The only problem I have with this issue is that it’s not new reader friendly. There are numerous things leftover from the Grounded arc that might leave some readers confused.
Art: Aaron Kuder’s characters and designs look very cartoonish which work with the humorous and light-hearted nature of this title. Plus Baby Groot is adorable in this issue. The other character who has a great design is the Grandmaster. Grandmaster’s design and entrance tells the reader he’s one of Marvel’s bigger cosmic characters. Plus Grandmaster’s size compared to the Guardians help the reader understand that he only sees them as a means to an end.
Verdict: If you have not been keeping up with the previous Guardians title, then you’ll probably be confused. However, if you’ve enjoyed Gerry Duggan’s work on other titles such as Deadpool and Nova then you’ll find some enjoyment from this issue. Overall it might not be perfect for new readers but All-New Guardians of the Galaxy has potential for a fun series.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars