Comic Review: Guardians of the Galaxy (2019-) #1

Guardians of the Galaxy (2019-) #1

Marvel Comics

Writer: Donny Cates

Artist: Geoff Shaw

Right on the heels of the ‘Infinity Wars’ event comes a new relaunch of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The creative team behind the ‘Thanos Wins’ epic – Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw – are in control and they’re promising a wild ride.

The universe is on fire as thousands of worlds remain at war. Thanos is still dead and almost all of Marvel’s cosmic heroes have been gathered by Eros on Thanos’ wake. This might seem a bit unusual – why would they go to the wake of the universe’s most hated tyrant? Turns out, Thanos is prepared for everything. Even his untimely death. His last will and testament informs all of the attending heroes that he has made arrangements to upload his consciousness into another body. His only regret is being unable to witness them succumbing to horror in search of his new body. Just another day in the normal life of cosmic superheroes, I guess.

Like always, I’m gonna start with the art. Which is freakin’ awesome. Shaw’s work is choke-full of details and it’s hard to imagine him managing to pull this off every month. He has to work with a TON of characters and he does every single one of them justice. On top of that, he has to take care of a huge, epic fight, while also giving us some gorgeous space scenery. None of this would be possible without the amazing colouring, which makes every page pop. 

Donny Cates has proven that he’s a helluva capable writer and this issue is just another confirmation. Picking up a story after a major event is always a tough thing to do, especially if you’re planing on luring new readers. You have to bring everyone up to speed, but do so in a way that keeps the reader interested, without slowing the pace of the book too much. Cates manages to do this masterfully, and then some. He keeps the backstory brief – there’s a huge war, Thanos is dead, most of the OG Guardians or missing and/or evil, and there’s someone else pulling the strings. Commence action sequences.

Cates and Shaw also manage to seamlessly put in some funny and interesting moments. Cosmic Frank and Silver Surfer’s meeting comes to mind, as does Quill’s and Groot’s interaction with the Nova Corps officer. The formation of the new team is also a cool and delightful moment that leaves the reader excited for the future.

Overall, Marvel is having a fantastic start of 2019 with some amazing new (and returning) series. With such a great creative team helming the book, the Guardians are poised for a fantastic run. Can’t wait for the next issue!