All New Guardians of the Galaxy 5 Featured Reviews 

“All-New Guardians of the Galaxy” #5

By | July 7th, 2017
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Gerry Duggan and Chris Samnee deliver an instantly classic Star-Lord story as “All-New Guardians Of The Galaxy” continues to reinvigorate one of Marvel’s most popular properties. (Minor spoilers follow below.)

Cover by Aaron Kuder
Written by Gerry Duggan
Illustrated by Chris Samnee
Colored by Matthew Wilson
Lettered by Cory Petit

Star-Lord has been sailing the radio waves of the galaxy for years, keeping up with the one piece of Earth he could never quite leave behind. Guest artist Chris Samnee joins writer Gerry Duggan to check into Peter Quill’s sonic conquests!

Ah, the Guardians of the Galaxy.

For some, they peaked many years ago, and have never been as interesting or thrilling than they were when Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning weaved them through Annihilation and Annihilation Plus and Annihilation Extreme or whatever all those stories were called. But much to their chagrin, Marvel kept making comics with these characters. Then, even worse, the world fell in love with them in movie form, with a rude dude ‘tude that bore almost no resemblance to the team they once knew. Recently, Bendis tried his level best to bridge those two worlds, presenting the characters in forms a movie fan would recognize but in a cosmic backdrop that was at least a little closer to the space operatics of Annihilation: Let’s Get It Started In Here. That particular arc ended with Thanos actually saying “Hi!” before trying to destroy the earth, so I can’t imagine that satisfied any die hards. (Seriously, though, I just can’t picture ol’ Potato Chin saying “Hi!” It’s like, just, so UN-Thanos!!)

So, Marvel tasked Gerry Duggan, the guy who carried the baton from Rick Remender’s brilliant work on Deadpool in “Uncanny X-Force” and continued to make the character legitimately interesting in his solo title, with making a Guardians book that captured the totality of the movies: the tone, the status quo, and the rag tag scale. The first four issues have been a strong proof of concept, but this latest issue beats the movies at their own game by embracing the unique abilities of the medium, and telling a story in a way that only a comic can.

Like many of the best stories, this one is incredibly simple. Star-Lord, on a side mission for the overarching One Last Heist plot of the last few issues, accidentally destroys one of his treasured mix tapes. He sets off through the wilds of space and time to re-record one the most important songs in his life. I won’t spoil which one it is (and the comic wisely hides the title of the story which shares its name), but it is absolutely perfect, and sums up the character very poignantly.

That’s it! So what makes this story so special? You’ve got to put a lot of that at the feet of modern master Chris Samnee. Of course, it takes a great writer like Duggan to craft a simple hero’s journey and give it an emotional hook. But it’s Samnee who shows us the emotion and enthusiasm of Peter Quill, who designs a couple of oddball post-rock aliens, and who populates Star-Lord’s bizarro Emperor’s-Guard-Helmet-lookin’ ship and its clutter with such rich detail. Samnee also delivers a two page spread that could only be rendered in a comic: a tableau showing years of Quill’s mix tapes on the rack, along with the key beats of his life story on the scattered covers of a handful of tapes. It’s like Grant Morrison’s first “All Star Superman” page went to the prom with “Baby Driver” and we all got to see the picture their parents took in front of the limo. It’s breathtakingly simple storytelling that tells you about a character, their history, and the things that mean the most to him. It’s also the best two pages you’ll see this year, I guarantee it.

Samnee has honed his storytelling craft over the years and refined his linework and how he sharpens every panel with the way he balances light and dark through shadow. Matthew Wilson, however, enhances that work and brings it to even more interesting places. Tempering the neon pop that Duggan’s tone gleefully demands with a handmade feel to its texture, Wilson creates a look that artfully mirrors the analog, lo-fi thrill of anyone’s favorite mixtape.

Whatever you think of them, the Guardians movies have irrevocably linked these characters to bright, groovy tunes. And a movie can take the shortest cut there is by simply playing a great song underneath the action. It takes a special comic to capture the same feeling in words and images, and in so doing, deliver the same effect with a level of care, detail, and emotional resonance that a movie could simply never pull off.

Final Verdict: 9.3 – Evolving the tone of the film franchise in ways only creators at the peak of their craft can, Duggan and Samnee tell a story that will be difficult to top in any medium.


Benjamin Birdie

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