The Guardians of the Galaxy has taken a detour to Earth’s Solar System, and quickly find themselves in an outer space aerial battle with a group of invading Chitauri vessels. The Guardians being the Guardians, nothing goes right for them at any point, and they soon find themselves crash-landing into Earth’s surface, New York City no less. As Star Lord, Rocket Racoon, Gamora, Drax, and Groot brace for impact, they pass right by Avengers Tower, instantly getting the attention of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. As the crew drags themselves out of the rubble, the Guardians and the Avengers find themselves face to face, in an image that is sure to set comic readers and Marvel marketer’s hearts fluttering.
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Art AdamsLaunching directly out of Guardians of the Galaxy comes the new ongoing series bringing the Guardians to the Marvel Universe’s grandest stage for an opening arc of out-of-this-world adventures with some of the biggest hitters Marvel has to offer. Kicking off with a cosmic threat so massive, it’ll take more than just the Guardians of the Galaxy to stop it! Assembled side by side with the mighty Avengers, prepare for two titanic teams to unite like you’ve never seen before!
This series is a no-brainer for the higher-ups at Marvel. Here, they have the opportunity to take the characters from two of the biggest films of the past three years and mash them together in a fun romp. A version of the formula already proved to be successful when “The Guardians of the Galaxy” series re-launched featuring Tony Stark on a space adventure, which surely brought a level of attention to the book. The prospect of seeing the teams together definitely has a lot of appeal, but the second that two dozen characters fill the page, the cracks in this premise start to show.
Brian Michael Bendis knows how to write fun and enjoyable comic books. He’s the longest running “Avengers” writer ever, and he has kept “Guardians” steady and consistent as the group made the transition from C-level characters to a full-blown cultural phenomenon. He knows both these worlds inside and out, and his firm grasps on these characters keeps this issue from collapsing under its own superhero weight.
True to the title, Bendis focuses the first half of the issue on the Guardians, picking up right where his previous series left off. He fills these pages with more lighthearted character moments, even as they desperately try to avoid getting blown out of the sky. Bendis hits all the right beats with the Guardians, Rocket is sarcastic, Star Lord is cocky and Groot is Groot. If you’ve never read the series or are only familiar with the film, Bendis crafts an opening that either introduces or reintroduces the whole team in a clear and concise way for the reader.
Bendis resists the temptation to have every Avenger show up on the first page, and instead gives readers a chance to dip their toes in the superpowered water before taking the full plunge. The tease with Hawkeye as he tries to eat his lunch is one of the best moments of the entire issue, and asserts a fun and slightly irreverent tone for the book. The writer’s trademark witty dialogue is put to good use when as Hawkeye introduces an Avengers team that differs greatly from the familiar film version. Any Spider-Woman’s reaction to Rocket could be taken verbatim from the torrent of internet hate Marvel received when they announced a talking raccoon would a main character of one of their films.
What will certainly attract old-school fans to this issue is the moment when they spy Art Adams’ name on the cover. Adams made a name for himself penciling X-Men and other Marvel books in the 80’s, and his work here gives the issue a retro feel. Fans of Adams’ will find much about the first issue of “Guardians” to be comfortably familiar. The heavy amount of action and lighthearted character moments certainly play into Adams’ strengths in terms of dynamic and fluid motion.
Adams became famous for a painstaking level of detail that would ultimately prevent him from completing long runs on any monthly series. Here, however, that level of detail is of great benefit to the book. There is one panel that features 27 separate characters (I counted), and the panel itself only takes one third of a page. While that sounds like a nightmare of tangled limbs and incorrect head counts, here you can actually make out individual bad guys as the Avengers swat them away.
Continued belowWith any comic featuring this many visual pieces, there’s bound to be one or two missteps. Some of the character proportions get a little wacky, and there’s one instance where Star Lord’s face gets a weird glow around it for a single panel, but that’s made up for with great images like Hawkeye’s page-wide grin and Groot kicking some alien butt. Adams works without an inker for this issue, giving the images a lighter feel and frees the pages from any oppressive shadows that could muddle things any further. Adams certainly puts his unique artistic stamp on this issue, and it’s a neat change from the work normally found in both the “Guardians” and “Avengers” books.
There is a ton going on in this book, but readers should not expect to find much of it below the surface. This issue is heavy on action, and light on story and character development. In defense of the creative team, this is more or less unavoidable when dealing with two dozen or so characters on a given page. There just isn’t the time for anything less. With creators less experienced than Brian Michael Bendis and Art Adams, this book could have been a real disaster, but they manage to keep things from going completely off the rails. Barely.
“Guardians Team Up” #1 is a perfectly fine comic book. It delivers exactly what it promises: the Guardians of the Galaxy partners with the Avengers to fight aliens. If you are a ready of either the “Guardians” or “Avengers” series, both of which featured long-running story-arcs, you won’t find much of a continuation here. This is a good book for new readers, and once the cast gets pared down a bit and becomes a little more manageable there will surely be more room for story and character development. If that’s what you’re looking for, maybe give the series a few issues to get going before jumping on board.
Final Verdict: 6.5 – A decent comic, not bad and not great. Brian Michael Bendis keeps things light and fun, and Art Adams proves that his reputation for detail is well-deserved. It provides the big team up action that’s promised, but not much else.
