The universe needs them again – a review of the Guardians of the Galaxy comics. The Last Challenge”, Vol. 1 and “Guardians of the Galaxy. Without Faith”, vol. 2

In the developing Marvel Fresh, among the characters such as Iron Man, Deadpool or Spider-Man, of course, the old and good team of the Guardians of the Galaxy could not be missing, although this time with a slightly different composition.

 

Long live Thanos!

It happened… Thanos is dead, but is he really? His brother Eros (also known as Starfox) calls a meeting of all the cosmic heroes, including Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Bill, Moondragon, Darkhawk and Cosmic Ghost Rider, to hear the Mad Titan’s final will. It quickly turns out that Thanos sent his consciousness to a new body and did not deign to mention which one exactly. Although it is not certain whether he was telling the truth, he got what he wanted anyway, as he sowed the seeds of discord and caused a general commotion that now everyone is suspect. To make matters worse, shortly after the announcement of this “great” information, the Black Order attacks the assembly and steals Thanos’ body. Meanwhile, the Guardians are gone: Drax is dead, Gamora is the most dangerous and wanted woman in the galaxy, and Rocket is basically persona non grata. In the so-called meanwhile, Star-Lord and Groot head to Knowhere in hopes of rest, but are quickly drawn into a conflict.

There is no denying that the heart of the first volume is the legacy of Thanos. The Mad Titan’s hologram, as well as his entire speech, show not only his superiority and power, but also simply freeze the blood in his veins. Even after death, he is a deadly threat, and the heroes will have to work hard to stop him. The last challenge allows many characters to shine, whether it’s Cosmic Ghost Rider in a duet with Groot (the “I’m a bitch” scene amuses me all the time) or Beta Ray Bill. Each character has their own character, although perhaps Rider and Bill stand out the most, often relaxing the atmosphere.

This story is not only a show of screenwriter’s skills, but also a cartoonist. It’s clear that Geoff Shaw excels in a wide variety of settings, from Knowhere to Halfworld to the yawning frontiers of space, and creates images that perfectly match Donny Cates’ writing style. It will sound strange, but the characters are drawn extremely realistically for a bunch of space monsters. However, all this would be of little use without the appropriate colors, which is the responsibility of the duo of Marte Gracia and David Curiel. Even though they both dealt with their parts of the comic, the whole thing feels very cohesive, and the artists did a good job of using bright colors where appropriate and injecting a sense of emptiness with dark colors in those scarier scenes.

How to cheat death?

While the Guardians of the Galaxy have much to celebrate, their joy will not last long as a new enemy appears on the scene… the Universal Church of Truth. We finally find out what happened to Rocket, and it turns out he’s in trouble. The team will have to win the race against time, and not only the life of their friend, but the entire universe will be at stake.

Without Faith is the end of Donny Cates’ cosmic story, so there is no shortage of pathos here. However, despite the beautiful, detailed graphics and strong character development, something is missing here. This feeling does not come right away, because passing through the next pages of the comic book, we are preoccupied with the emotional experiences of the characters. We understand Quill’s dilemma and feel his anger while watching our engineer’s shed drain the life. There is a lot going on in the second volume, new characters like Adam Warlock and Cosmo are added, there are also spectacular fights and epic moments, but the story seems to be moving too fast.

It’s a bit of a disappointment to deal with Adam’s storyline, which ultimately serves as a side filler that could have been put to better use. In turn, the Universal Church of Truth seems to pale in comparison to the antagonist of the first volume, well, but maybe that’s the charm of Thanos. When it comes to the graphic design, another talented cartoonist, Cory Smith, is responsible for it. Fortunately, his line is great and fits very well into the suspenseful story being told.

Have faith

As it turns out, another run by Donny Cates, after the warmly received Venom and the very good Thanos , is a bull’s-eye. There are plenty of surprising cliffhangers and a large dose of humor in these volumes. You can feel here the palpable lightness, freedom and ingenuity of the screenwriter. Many threads run in parallel, the story never stops even for a moment and, most importantly, draws you in from the first page.

When it comes to graphics, in the case of Guardians of the Galaxy, it also does not disappoint. The illustrations are sharp and dynamic, and the vision of the cosmic characters and scenery is wonderful. Much of this is due to the cartoonists, who are perfectly able to convey both the attitude and the comedic feel of Cates’ scripts.

I definitely recommend both the first volume The Last Challenge and the second Without Faith , even though this one is a bit worse, although maybe it’s just my clinginess and the desire to see what happens to the characters next.

Guardians of the Galaxy in Marvel Fresh is action, drama, great sci-fi and plenty of unexpected moments sprinkled with a dose of easy humor.