Bounty on Gamora
This has been on of my favourite series in the Marvel NOW!, and although it's still to hit a consistent level, it has been outstanding, and I'm very happy I decided to get the point one issue.
Plot
After hanging out in a space bar with her fellow Guardians of the Galaxy, and having sexual relations with Iron Man (Tony Stark), Gamora is attacked, and it's revealed that there's a large bounty on here head.
Review
With last issue being as good as it was, this issue was actually slightly disappointing. Now don't get me wrong, it's far from terrible, and actually a good issue, but with a very explosive, and entertaining issue I was expecting a lot from this issue. On the other hand, with Angela, and writer Neil Gaiman making her début in next issue it was expected that this wouldn't be to big an issue, being more fun, which it was, and Brian Michael Bendis did a brilliant job. Bendis also did a decent job of focusing on Gamora, making her the main character in this story, but with everything else happening around about I couldn't help but feel that this was nothing more than background noise, which wasn't nice. I did however love the emotion that was in this issue, especially from Gamora, and Bendis did a brilliant job of showing her passion, and aggression. I also found the humour in this issue to be very appealing, and it made the issue that much more fun. I also loved seeing the continuation of character development, and how Tony's fitting into the team. Bendis also did a brilliant job of adding some action to this issue, as although it was far from perfect, added some excitement, and more drama, which is always nice.
This was the first issue not to feature any art from Steve McNiven, with the co-artist of the last two issues, Sara Pichelli doing all the art on this issue, and becoming the main artist of the series. Now I still much prefer McNIven's art, but Pichelli did do an excellent job, and this has to be her best work on this series. The fact that she's working on her own has definitely got to add to this, as she has total freedom, not having to work around another artists layouts. Talking of layouts, Pichelli did an excellent job with them in this issue, and it really added a lot more depth, and drama to the issue, especially in the bar sequence at the start. Pichelli also does a great job of drawing all the character's, making them look amazing. The emotion Pichelli added to this issue through the character's facial expressions was also outstanding, and especially on Gamora, who had ton's of different feelings throughout this issue, with passion, and desire whilst flirting with Tony, and pain, and anger whilst fighting the bounty hunter. The action was also handled perfectly in this issue, and Pichelli really did a splendid job, especially with the bar fight, as she managed to make it look exciting, whilst also fun, which isn't easily done.
This issue started with the Guardians of the Galaxy enjoying themselves in a space pub, having some pub banter. Now although this took away from the proper part of this story, it was still very enjoyable, and the dialogue, and interaction between the character's was brilliant. The that stood out the most however was once more Tony, and Rocket Raccoon, who also had some wonderful banter in the last issue. The thing that I enjoy the most about their conversations is the fact that Tony's talking to someone who's even more arrogant, and sarcastic than himself, which takes a lot. I also love how you see the differences of the two species, and how Rocket find human customs very strange, and funny, and the remarks he makes are also truly hilarious, and one of the things I love most about this series.
The part of this story that really grabbed my attention was the flirting between Tony, and Gamora, which would lead to them having sex. Now although I love a bit of cheekyness in comics, I usually find sex to be a line too far, as it usually lowers the tone. In this case with us only seeing the aftermath it was really funny, and humorous, and for the length of time Tony's been around it's strange that this appears to be his first time with an alien. Besides all that it does leave the question if anything will develop from this, and whether Tony, and Gamora will get into a relationship. Knowing both character's, I'm sure this will be nothing more than a one night fling, but it would be interesting if there was a development.
Now the main part of this story was Gamora getting attacked by a bounty hunter named, Maxilin the Accuser. Now this was a very interesting sequence, and I couldn't help but ask myself questions, like who put the bounty on her. The obvious suspect is of course J'son of Spartax, but it could also be Thanos (not likely but possible) or someone else, and although I'm not really bothered who it turns out to be, I'd prefer if it wasn't the obvious suspect (J'son). Besides this the sequence was very exciting, as Gamora wouldn't go down easily, and although I won't go into any more details, as to avoid spoilers, it was very entertaining.
The final sequence I'll talk about in this review will be the bar fight that the Guardians (minus Gamora, and Tony) get into against the Sparax Royals. Now to be fair this was far from your normal fight, and was exactly what I would expect from a pub brawl, and I have to give Bendis credit for that. I also loved how it was a very fun sequence, and that the Guardians seemed to see it as a bit of fun, with Rocket, and Drax the Destroyer really enjoying themselves. There was however a bit that I found amusing for a reason that's unrelated to the story, and that was that one panel showing Drax taking an uppercut to the jaw really reminded me of the fighting robots, which was fun.
Final Verdict
Although this was probably the worst issue of the series so far, it was still very good, and exciting. It also had a lot of fun moments, and left some interesting questions, and although it may have no affect on the immediate future of this series, I do hope that there'll eventually be some development from it. Due to this I'd recommend this issue, and the series so far, but for anyone who isn't following this series already, and is looking to save money I'd recommend waiting till next issue which is the proper start to the next story.
