The Good

While the Guardians’ impact on Infinity may not have been the strongest, it was an interesting shift for the team and a good chance to get to know newcomer Angela a little better. Now that the team is back to their own devices, we get an issue focusing on her and Gamora as they track down a badoon slave trading ship to try and ferret out more information about Thanos’ wearabouts. They also engage in some absolutely top-notch banter as they help liberate the downtrodden and even get a lead that they didn’t expect. Quill comments that the two ladies had an Earth equivalent of a spa, but it’s cool to actually see two female heroes have a full-on girl’s night that doesn’t involve shopping or getting their nails did. The dialog between the two is fantastic and even serves to differentiate their admittedly similar personalities.

Kevin Maguire tackles the art with Justin Ponsor on colors. They do an absolutely amazing job rendering the two ferocious women in all their brutal, cosmic glory. Gamora’s been one of my favorite characters since her reintroduction in Annihilation and I’ve loved seeing the ways she’s developed in terms of her style (the fact that her armor bears more than a passing resemblance to N7 armor is, I assure you, purely a coincidence). While I may still not be 100% on-board with how Angela looks, Ponsor does a great job showing her graceful, lethal style of combat that starkly contrats with Gamora’s straightforward violence. The issue is focused on giving these characters both a unique voice and a unique style and, between the writing and the art, it absolutely succeeds. The colors are rich and full as well, gorgeously showcasing the vastness of the Marvel U and horrors that the badoon have wreaked.

The Bad

There’s very little to dislike about this issue. The fact that it doesn’t do much to advance the plot, or even introduce any new threads, is fine considering what the Guardians just went through and it’s good to take a breather and get to know the newest addition to the roster. If anything, it’s over TOO quickly with the two battles winding up feeling clipped and abbreviated where they could have been stretched to allow more breathing room.

The Verdict

Guardians of the Galaxy is back on course to be one of the most entertaining books in Marvel’s roster and one of the best ways to mix your sci-fi wants with a hearty dose of superhero action. What it lacks in the heady, huge-concept ideas department it more than makes up for in the sheer fun department. The book doesn’t take itself too seriously, and in a book with a sentient space raccoon and walking tree (I swear I don’t MEAN to bring them up every review in this context), that is most assuredly for the best. This book is a pure delight.

I feel like the Guardians should have had a bigger presence in Infinity, I mean they are meant to be the premier cosmic team and Gamora is Thanos's "daughter"

Wait, did this already come out or not till Wednesday?

@jonny_anonymous: That's probably because Hickman obviously had a specific story to tell and he didn't have a place in it for the GOTG. I wouldn't be surprised if their whole plot was slotted in after the fact in the main story.

Love this series.

@artisticneedham: Comics came out today this week due to New Years

Yea but given how connected the GotG is to the whole galactic community and especially Thanos they could have slotted them right in.

Nothing happened in this issue

I enjoyed this issue a lot and have loved the whole series, I would have to say tho the art in this issue has been my least favorite so far tho, I just really liked the last to issues, where the art was more dark and felt very SiFi. That is just my opinion tho.

I'm going to start picking up this series very soon with the addition of Agent Venom. I've been interested in it for a bit (Rocket just seems awesome) but didn't have the extra cash flow to add the title. With some recent cancellations, I have that wiggle room now. Glad to see it's a consistently good title.

One of my favorite books and favorite teams. I wasn't loving the Angela thing but she's growing on me and I'm excited to see her story play out. Artwise I pray they keep Kevin McGuire chained to a desk somewhere so he can keep drawing this book, I need a "Bwah-ha-ha" moment and I'm good.

average issue. Art was fantastic though.

Wow, the art blew me away. I went back and reread it twice just for the art. (Definitely not for the story)

This comic is fun in its own right, and while it may not be as creative, thought-provoking, or nuanced as DnAs run (in fact, its hardly any of those things), I'm just happy to have some GotG on the comic book shelves.

Yet I'm still waiting for the rest of the team to show up. Lets see some cosmo, bug, moondragon, jack flag, and vance astro!

Now I really hope Angela gets her own series soon. Seems like it would be a waste of time and money to get her rights and not put her to good use, don't ya think?

Starlord still confuses me... I thought maybe this was a new one but, seems not. So, we just change the character for the movie and... give no explaination why he's younger and less experienced than before? Oh well, love the series but I miss the old Starlord.

GOTG has just earned a spot in my pull list

Nice

As an X-Men reader, I told my shop to add Guardians so I'd catch the Trial of Jean Grey crossover, but I guess I said so too early because I got this issue too. In hindsight, it's one of the better mistakes I've made, because this was a really enjoyable issue. It's true, not much happened here -- the fact that as a non-reader I didn't feel even remotely lost suggests as much -- but the art and dialogue were great.

My main qualm is with the cover, thrusting the completely irrelevant guy in the center of an issue entirely about two girls.

Where I am confused is why doesn't the GotG now where Thanos is? He's a frick'n statue in Africa. Couldn't Iron Man (who was part of their team) just send them a message?