Hey everybody, welcome to another week here at Marvel Snapshot! In this week’s character spotlight, we’ll be taking a look at an entire team! The Guardians of the Galaxy to be exact, and I’ll also throw in a little review of the Thanos Imperative so far. Strap on your seat belts, because we’re heading for The Fault!
The newest incarnation of the GotG (Guardians of the Galaxy) was brought together during Annihilation at first, and then even more so during the Phalanx/Ultron war (Annihilation: Conquest). This rag-tag team of weird and totally abnormal characters has somehow turned me into the biggest cosmic fan ever. I was always a big team book guy (Avengers, X-Men), but this group of misfits really struck a chord with me. I mean, a guy that’s basically a big tree running around, and a telepathic, Russian dog? Yeah, you get the picture after just those two guys, don’t you.
First, let’s do a roll call with the more prominent members, and then talk about the team’s overall tone.
Star-Lord is the team’s de facto leader, and although he doesn’t possess any superpowers, he makes up for that with sheer will and use of his noggin. Packing nothing but a pair of guns at his side as far as weapons go.
Rocket Raccoon is, well, a raccoon. He’s a walking, talking raccoon that loves big guns and blowing things up. He’s the guy Star-Lord turns to for advice when he’s down on himself.
Moondragon is also one of the team’s more senior members, and she has a long history with the Avengers, and also some of the other team members. She’s a telepath of the highest order.
Mantis is another chick with telepathic abilities, and also a big time martial artist. She’s another Avengers cast-off from back in the day as well. She’s usually utilized in certain capacities when her telepathy is needed.
Adam Warlock is a character that’s been around for a long time as well. He really never fit into the mold of a team guy, but I think since his reincarnation he’s the perfect guy for this team. His powers of magical energy manipulation are unmatched.
Gamora is another mainstay since the beginning. She is quite a formidable fighter herself (better than Moonie and Mantis), and loves to cut people to ribbons with her blade, which has unknown properties that allow her to cut down even god-like people such as Thanos or Adam Warlock. She’s kind of a tramp, too (victims include – Nova, Warlock).
Groot is a big tree-like dude that can grow to enormous size, and with it, his strength increases as well. He’s one of my favorite characters because he’s a man of action, not words. I love to see a full-page spread that shows an epic battle and see that trade-marked “I AM GROOT” tag-line.
Drax the Destroyer is a hot-headed, killing machine that was created for the sole purpose of slaying Thanos. He accomplished his mission after many years of trying in Annihilation. He tore out Thanos’s heart and killed him. Drax is a great character because of his fighting skills and his witty banter, and also his “I call it like I see it” attitude.
Ok, so, that is pretty much the core group of characters, but you do also have Cosmo – a Russian dog that speaks to the other team members through telepathy. He was the chief of security on Knowhere when the Guardians set up their home base there. You also have Phyla-Vell, or Martyr as she was called towards the end. It appeared as though she was slain by Thanos when he emerged from a cocoon that the Universal Church of Truth was incubating. If she is really dead, nobody seems to know. Bug is another guy who’s been helping out during these recent cosmic catastrophes. He’s basically an insect type guy who has super agility, can stick to walls, and is a great fighter. Major Victory is a guy from the future that has enormous fighting prowess, and carries the shield of Captain America. The Guardians stumbled upon him during one of their missions, and he’s been an asset ever since. And finally, we have Jack Flag. Jack is a guy who used to help Captain America back in the day, but was injured and couldn’t fight. Eventually he got drenched in Mister Hyde’s chemicals and he received super strength. He was in the Negative Zone prison for what I assume was not wanting to sign the papers during Civil War.
Right now in current continuity, you have the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Kree empire, and the Shi’Ar trying to fight off a bunch of evil doppelgangers from inside the Fault. The world has been dubbed the “Cancerverse“, and its inhabitants have been able to defeat death itself. It will be interesting to see how the Guardians, Nova, Quasar, and all these other planetary forces coexist, while trying to trust Thanos to help defeat the insidious beings from inside the Fault. You can tell already that at some point in this story, Thanos is going to stop cooperating with the good guys and do his own thing. That is the point in which things will hinge on either getting even better, or slowing down in my opinion. I trust in Abnett & Lanning’s creative abilities though, and expect nothing but their best efforts in everything cosmic for Marvel’s future.
Recommended Reading
Annihilation -Tpb (3 volumes)
Annihilation Conquest -Tpb (2 volumes)
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 (2008-2010)
X-Men: Kingbreaker – (limited series)
War of Kings – (limited series)
Thanos Imperative (limited series – currently ongoing)
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
I AM GROOT!
@Aron- Best Line Ever!
Billy I actually got back into the Marvel cosmic line a bit more after hearing you pump it up sooooo much lol GOTG is a title I’ve enjoyed off and on and It’s one of the few QUALITY titles from from Marvel
Billy, how about when Maximus the Mad had a full on intelligent conversation with Groot. That was crackin’ me up! Classic!
@Speech- Its definitely one of the few books you can count on being solid every month.
@Aron- ha, yeah that was funny. I guess Max is the perfect guy to have a conversation with a talking tree.
Although my all-time favorite Guardians are the ones from the 31st century (before they added all kinds of other weird characters towards the end of their series in the 90’s) this team has grown on me and I’m already going through withdrawals since they are only in the Thanos book now. I hope they return to their ongoing.
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