The concept of relaunching an established comic book series has undergone a bit of an evolution over the course of the medium’s history. Whereas once a relaunch was a matter of necessity (a book was cancelled and had to wait until a hole in the publishing schedule enabled it to try again), these days it seems to be one of sheer convenience. With books “ending” one month and returning the next with a “BOLD NEW DIRECTION” that sometimes is not that bold or new, many have begun to wonder if the little number in the corner of their monthly comics even matters anymore, or if comics as a medium have begun to morph from a medium with a strong reverence of what came before to one more concerned with making a quick buck by exciting cultural speculators all across the many internets.
This column returns to take a slightly more objective approach to the debate, one that views introductory issues as a genre in and of itself. As the old saying goes, you only have one chance to make a first impression. While comics have proven this functionally false by making relaunches the name of the game, I’m willing to bet that more often than not there is a lot of conceptual continuity that can be drawn from debut issue to debut issue, no matter the era those debuts happened to be published in. Or if not, there are at least some discrepancies we can drag to the forefront and make fun of mercilessly. Either/or. With that, welcome back to Reboot Nation!
This week, we’re going to look at “Guardians of the Galaxy” 1990 versus “Guardians of the Galaxy” 2008. At first glance, there are two very obvious differences between these two books. First, the 2008 book has four fewer pages of story. Second, the books have different goals. The 1990 book featured a pre-existing team set apart from the rest of the Marvel Universe without much continuity baggage. The 2008 book detailed the creation of a new team with closer ties to the present 616 and spinning directly out of an event.
Looking closer, the books are laid out very differently. In 1990, Jim Valentino was writing and drawing the book, and he averaged 4.8 panels per page with only two splash pages. In 2008, that had dropped to 3.6 panels per page with eight splash pages. In the space of eighteen years, the first issue of “Guardians of the Galaxy” lost four pages, lost over a panel per page, and went up in price 300%. Seems like cut-and-dried the 1990 book must be a better value.
There’s a very big difference in how these books tell their story. Both of them are packed with exposition, but they use it differently. Valentino used lots of narration boxes and a four page mystical vision to recap the team’s history. Abnett and Lanning used “confession panels” and allowed the characters to explain events in their own words. Distracting as the confessions were, they were more natural and allowed for fluid character development.
The first first issue managed to set up two different villains, a quest, and two mysteries for the team to deal with as the series progressed. It also ended on a cliffhanger. The second first issue almost managed to do the same, but introduced only one villain. It left many threads open, but its main plot had a definite ending.
One final measure of the two, which may be unfair, considering how different the industry was in 1990 compared to 2008, is how long each series lasted. The 1990 series ran for 62 issues and four annuals, while the 2008 series ended much earlier at 25. How much of that is due to the quality of the first issue, I won’t speculate.
Looking back, both books do a good job of attaining their separate goals. Of course, the nature of this column is to call one a winner. When it comes down to it, the second volume does a better job of introducing its characters, showing instead of telling, and the mission statement for the team has bigger stakes and is more interesting. If I could only choose one, it’s the one I’d keep reading.
Final Standoff: Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (1990) < Guardians of the Galaxy #1 (2008)
