|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 12, 2018 12:02:09 GMT -5
So, the Guardians' timeline never was a possible future of the prime Marvel Universe? Or the Vance's decision of not becoming an astronaut had caused some crazy butterfly effect which prevented the Martian invasion..? In Defenders, Marvel portrayed that as the future. After Killraven and Deathlok were put to bed, it was a possible future, then an alternate future. MTIO 69 cemented it as an alternate future, when young Vance's powers are released. That was Gruenwald, who wanted everything to be a possibility in some reality, ala the DC Earths. By the time of the Guardians series in the 90s, Marvel was littered with alternate futures, pasts and other things. Now, we have a Guardians that began in the 21st Century, not 31st. Even the Legion was not set in stone. Things were deliberately kept nebulous, so as to not impact the other, present day series. The only real tie was Superboy, until the Byrne revamp threw that into a whirlwind. Then, we get pocket universes, stand-ins, and other gimmicks. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 18, 2018 14:30:43 GMT -5
Guardians of the Galaxy #5 Oh, look, Mon-El got a porn-tache! Todd McFarlane over Valentino, aping a Kirby cover. That sums up Image pretty well, if you ask me. Creative Team: Valentino-story art, romantic silent film; Steve Montano-inks and vague name resemblances to actors and football quarterbacks, Kenny Lopez-letters and jokes about the dichotomy of the names "Kenny" and "Lopez" (only in America!); Evelyn Stein-colors, not related to Ben; Craig Anderson-edits, not part of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew; Tom DeFalco-probably wishing he had passed on the job Synopsis: We open with a lot of opening narration on the splash page....  Yeesh! Did Don McGregor take over? The gang is in the Plieades System, Vance has a new "bendable" adamantium uniform, the Captain America II has had its shakedown cruise, and Charlie 27 still looks like a leatherman (minus the cap). Time for the ubiquitous double-page spread....   A computer is making introductions and letting the team know that their rivals, Force, are here. The computer says they have to duke it out with them, for possession of the shield, which Aleta (looking very blond) questions the maturity and logic of. The computer says "my rules, neener, neener" and they go for it and Charlie and Martinex get beamed to the competition. Gee, this sounds familiar...   Marti and Charlie face Broadside and Brahl. Broadside is a female bruiser, because, you know, "broad"; it's funny, right? She comes on to Charlie; because, you know, female villains really just want love, not wealth and power.   Charlie slaps her after making a comment about the name.... She can channel gravity and Charlie is now in deep doo-doo: "woman scorned" and all that. Brahl was one of Korvac's flunkies and Marti torments him about the buttkicking he got in Thor Annual #6. Brahl can turn other things intangible and drops Marti through the floor, where he crashes and breaks off shards of his body. Brahl then turns himself intangible when marti fires back. Charlie gets one in the kisser....  Charlie gets knocked through multiple walls and Marti's body gets shattered and teleports. Charlie finds the remains.  We cut to the next contest....  Of course, Yondu has to face the last female (known) of his tribe. She is Photon and she doesn't want to do the horizontal mambo and wants her tribe gone. She has issues. Nikki is about to smack her, since Yondu won't, when Scanner, the lizard-like Snark, attacks. Nikki has a lizard phobia...  Just as someone gets the upper hand (Nikki, on Scanner, Photon on Yondu) they teleport away. Nikki ends up nearly stabbing Yondu and they see Charlie hold int eh remains of Martinex and yelling "Mendoza!" or something like that....  Thoughts: Some fairly clumsy exposition and a jump into the middle of things, then the rather cliched "split the groups for individual fights". Some surprises with Marti and Yondu and Photon. Lot of action but little logic and more than a little sexist writing. Force haven't been established enough to make it interesting and it looks more like one of the random gang fights of Warriors. This quest seems to have a rather short attention span (welcome to the 90s!) and we see a hint of one of the problems that plagued Image comics, when those guys split from Marvel. Lots of generic or featureless backgrounds, which is typical of comics from the 80s onward (and not uncommon before that). The best feature of this is some character stuff for Yondu; but, the rest is kind of pointless, apart from Martinex's seeming death. That is a bit shocking. Anderson needed to get more involved here and question Valentino's script and push him to develop it more. If only Archie Goodwin had been the editor.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 18, 2018 15:27:06 GMT -5
Guardians of the Galaxy #6 You know how the story will end if the villain stands over the bodies of the heroes, with the prize held aloft. Creative Team: Usual bunch. Insert jokes at your leisure. Synopsis: Round 3 picks up with our favorite "Nick and Nora Charles of Arcturus," Starhawk and Aleta vs Eighty-Five and Tachyon. The playful bantering begins, as Stakar calls Aleta his "wife"...  Okay that explains a few things; but not while she felt that dressing like a superhero stripper was a good idea. Anyway, they are interrupted by Mon-El-with-a-mullet (Eighty-Five) and Tachyon and the fight is on. Aleta gets wrapped in metal tentacles ('cause, comics) and Starhawk comes to rescue her (ditto), when he gets blasted. Eighty-Five further wraps up Aleta in metal slabs, created a big ball, while his thought balloons fill in his backstory, about growing up a slave of the Kree (his name is from his cell block). He has a sudden change of heart, seeing as he is imprisoning Aleta and opens up the ball, only to find her gone.  Starhawk decides to do nothing (his usual) and then disappears. They arrive by Charlie and Starhawk heals Martinex , then nikki shouts for the computer to beam them back to the CA II, to save him. They disappear but end up in the gallery for Vance vs Interface...   It's a short fight, as Interface transmutes Vance's adamantium coating to helium, reopening his wound. he grabs the shield and turns its power on the Guardians....  ...with mixed results. Turns out, the legend that Interface believed was more metaphorical, as they power of the shield is in inspiration, not manipulation and Interface tosses it aside, only for Vance to pick it up and show him the true strength of Captain America and his mighty shield...   Vance correctly guesses the identity of Mainframe, the computer...  ...The Vision. He went to the stars, after the War of the Worlds, to find the mutants. Dr Doom had Cap's shield removed from Earth, to keep it from the Badoon. Antag was his servant, who created the puzzle clues. Vision tested the Guardians to see if the were worthy. Martinex had a test of courage, and he fought on, despite hs damaged body. Charlie's was a test of intellect and he failed, because he reacted solely with brawn. Yondu's was a test of honor, which he won, Nikki's was of mercy, which she lost, Aleta's was a test of charity, which she lost, Starhawk's of faith and Vance's awas a test of the soul and he won, big time. Vance becomes the new "Captain America" of the 31st century and the Guardians return to their original mission, to find the lost freemen of Earth...  Thoughts: The ending saved this. The fights were rather weak segments of the story and seem rather pointless, until the ending gives them context. The scenes of Vance struggling to reach the shield and them his impassioned statement about the power of Captain America gets to the heart of the American ideal... "It's a power that comes from compassion for the weaker.....a power fed by the belief that all beings are equal in the eyes of their creator......and that everyone has the inalienable right to live their lives free of petty tyrants." Vance recognizes that he lost sight of that while he wallowed in self-pity, for his lost time and imprisoned body (in his protective suit); but, the shield reminds him of Captain America and how he exemplified those beliefs. Vance emerges as a Captain America of the future and we have the real hook of this series (at the start, at least). It is an exploration of a potential future Marvel. We have seen the legacy of Tony Stark, with creatures who worshipped his tech and became conquerors with it. We see the Vision as the caretaker of Captain America's legacy and now we see that legacy passed on to one who is worthy, who comes from their time. The circle is complete and Vance Astro finally finds his purpose. The issue also gets a little into the problems that are to come for Stakar and Aleta. he failed to save their children, he held Aleta imprisoned until she was accidentally released or when it was necessary. The guy's a Richard! It helps explain the color deviation of her costume, though it doesn't justify having her boobs spilling out of it. That was a cynical comic book attempt to appeal to the young males who made (and make) up the majority of the audience of superhero comics, pure and simple. You'd expect a bit more from Valentino, with his indie background; but, it is Marvel and it is the 90s. Superhero comics hadn't matured that much and, in some ways, had devolved. The Force are sent on their merry way, with vows of revenge; but, they need much more development. A few seeds are planted (mostly Photon and Eighty-Five); but, they need a lot of development to be major foes. They are still too much of a generic team, designed to mirror the heroes. Also, I wish they would make up their minds about whether Vance really needs the protective suit or not. MTIO ended by basically saying he didn't and that it's functions had kept his cellular structure rejuvenated, not just preserved, then he gets wounded and we are back to exposure being death. Pick one! I made a comment, before, about editing, and I think it is the series greatest weakness and the weakness of many series, from the 90s onward. The editors job, aside from managing the production of the comic, is to develop the talent involved to their fullest potential. They are there to question and push to make the story the best it can be. In comics, too many were failed writers who played power games or were basic production traffic cops, who couldn't really help the creators with structure or plot or character development. Editors like Len Wein, Dick Giordano, Archie Goodwin, Louise Simonson, Diana Schutz, Karen berger, Bob Schreck and some others knew how to do this. They got the best from their people and were involved in great comic after great comic. This storyline needed an editor to say, "This doesn't make sense, rework it" and "this is a good idea, expand upon it." "This needs more room to develop". That is what kept this from being a true classic. The storyline is a bit truncated and choppy. A good editor would have noticed that. Still, pretty decent storyline and a good ending that held a shaky middle together. Now, where to from here?
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 18, 2018 15:29:14 GMT -5
ps, Could Nikki look any more 90s?
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 18, 2018 16:20:25 GMT -5
Guardians of the Galaxy #7 Well, Aleta is laid out, so no change in the sexist imagery.... Creative Team: Same bunch. Synopsis: The gang is back on the CA II, facing the future....  They come across a derelict space craft and Valentino rips off "The Space Seed," from Star Trek. Vance dispatches Charlie and Nikki to investigate, after monitoring a life sign. They fid an immense network of cels, with emaciated being in them and then a babe in red, who drains the energy from Charlie and attack Nikki. Faster than you can say cat fight, she has beaten her and gone to the CA II and attacked Aleta, looking for "the child" and recognizing Aleta as "the rival."   She heads toward sick bay and the Guardians race to cut her off. They beat her there and block the door; but, she releases her pent up energy and takes them all out..  Meanwhile, in a parallel story, Starhawk tells Martinex the Secret of One-Who-Knows, and we get a recap of Starhawk's origin, from Marvel Presents. Then, we get the missing part, about how Starhawk returned to Arcturus and asked the Hawk-God to allow Stakar and Aleta to be separate entities, which happened, allowing them to mate, creating the three children, who are kidnapped by their grandfather and turned into energy vampires, who die in the battle against the Reavers. He further explains how he is One-Who-Knows...  Martinex reasons that if his actions create alternate timelines, then he can change his fate, which Starhawk does not accept. This time, he and Aleta are split before they were meant to and he then goes to face the woman in red, Malevolence, to convince her that "he" is not on the ship. Our two storylines then merge...   Starhawk vanquishes Malevolence, who passes through the hull of the ship to the stars. Starhawk then revives the Guardians and Marti shows up, in new, simplified form....  He asks the gang to trust Starhawk, while they are all balking at the word of One-Who-Knows. Thoughts: The story is told in split pages, with the discovery of and battle with Malevolence at the top, and the recounting of Starhawk's past at the bottom, until Starhawk comes in contact with Malevolence, in a two-page spread, with the remaining pages laid out in the normal fashion. It works pretty well, though it reads better if you follow one thread and come back to the other, before the merger. Malevolence is the spitting image of Mephisto and the suggestion is that she is his daughter and she was sucking the energy out of the other beings on her ship. She also is looking for some child that seems to be related to Stakar and Aleta is her rival. Is a romance in the future? Is this child a product of a union between Starhawk and malevolence? Aleta, Someone else? This is a really good stand-alone issue, which sets up storylines to come. It fills in the gap from Marvel Presents and Defenders, about where Stakar and Aleta's children came from and how they split their existence, to conceive them. It also explains why Aleta now hates Stakar and explains how he "Knows" things, and why he has gaps in what he knows (new alternate events that are different from the previous timeline. the suggestion is that Starhawk returns to the beginning, in a new reality, each time. Valentino also explains away the facemask that Starhawk used to have when he travelled through space. before, it was life support. Now, it was a communication means, which he no longer uses, since the kids are dead. There is much of King Arthur here, as Merlin supposedly aged backwards, thus had great wisdom that would lessen, over time. Arthur and Guinevere's lives are interrupted by Lancelot and Arthur's child, Mordred, conceived in an evil union, brings his downfall. So, just picture Helen Mirren as Malevolence... ...minus the breastplate with nipples!  Man, she was smokin' then and still looks fantastic today and is a hell of an actress, who just kept getting better and better. She also doesn't take s@#$ from anyone! Anyway, this is what I was talking about in the last segment; it's a much more developed story and it experiments with format, rather than just the same old stuff. We also see Vance assuming his role as leader, as he is feeling it, having regained his purpose in life. Martinex was a reluctant leader and this was a logical step. Martinex's redesign was probably due to laziness on the part of the artist, as his original form is more complex; and, thus, time consuming to draw. The new form has less visual impact, if you ask me, which is another hallmark of the 90s. A lot of redesigns came about, which were eventually abandoned for the original look. This continues to be an intriguing series and a bit of a sleeper hit. Marvel advertised it fairly strongly; but, you had the sense it was going to be a cult book, as before. Instead, it turned out to be a bit of a hit, and one of the few outside the X books, with all of the turmoil at Marvel (Spidey was selling well, with McFarlane and gimmick covers and series launches). These weren't hit characters and Valentino wasn't a superstar; but, suddenly, people were taking notice of the series and prices on the back issue appearances of the team started rapidly climbing. I had previously bought the Defenders issues for less than $.50 each, and ended up selling them for about $5 each. Between those books, the Starlin Captain Marvel and the Deathlok issues (all were major focuses, with Infinity Gauntlet, the Guardians series and the Deathlok revamp) I financed and entire month's purchase of new comics, after I got out of the Navy.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 18, 2018 17:35:44 GMT -5
Guardians of the Galaxy #8 Creative Team: No changes Synopsis: The Guardians are working out in their version of the Danger Room...  ...when the usual happens: someone is distracted and one or more of the others have to rescue them from impending doom. In this case, it is Yondu. he's moping about Photon. Charlie yells at him for being distracted and Yondu tells him to get bent, since no one seems to care about finding Photon and preserving Yondu's race. Ouch! truth hurts, though. Mati asks Vance to assume leadership and remarks of the changes in him; but, Vance argues that Marti has been a good leader and the results uphold it. We are teased with the Stark and Taserface, who has been tortured but not killed, so he can be a weapon of the matriarch of the race, to gain revenge.  We cut back to the ship, as Nikki takes a swim and then rejects what is essentially a proposal, from Charlie. We also learn that her hair is actually flames created by removal of excess bodyheat. Poor Charlie rejects an offer of nookie and regrets trying to share feelings and pulls deeper into his shell, lest anyone hurt him. Starhawk is scouting ahead and finds an altar, with dead lizard bodies surrounding it, speaking of Knights of the Sacred Faith and sacrifices of children, ironically, the symbol at the top of the altar is an ankh, which represents life.  Back on the ship, Marti is about to approach Charlie about being the leader, then realizes the others wouldn't take to his military outlook. At that moment, the ship goes screwy and they head for the bridge, finding Aleta, who is trying to get past the door. They get inside and find Yondu, who attacks. Charlie gives orders in battle and they succeed in taking Yondu down. After, we cut to Vance's quarters, which Marti has adapted to be like his suit, preserving his body, allowing him to take off the suit and have a shower and sleep with sheets, as long as he stays inside.  He's just thinking it is too bad no one else can come in when in flies Aleta, who basically propositions him. Amazingly, he turns her down, feeling that it is rushing things and would be disruptive to the team. Aleta is still unnerved about Malevolence and how she called Aleta her rival, so we cut to the lady in red, talking to papa, who will guide her to allies, to help her secure the "child." Back to the ship and Yondu leaves his quarters and tries to steal a shuttle, to go after Photon, only he does't know how to fly it, as he has avoided learning of technology. he stats tearing it up when he is stopped by Starhawk, who calms him down and assures him that he is the hope of his race, without Photon.  Marti decides the team needs a renewal of purpose, to center them and takes them to Haven, the world of the lost Earth tribe of mutants, led there by Magneto. We cut down to the planet, which senses the ship and probes it, identifying an Earth form. The various mutants report to their queen, Rancor...  Thoughts: Character development issue and teasing of storylines. Marti is having a crisis of confidence, yet, in the end, he is the one who seeks to help the team, as a whole. That is leadership. You often face doubts about the decisions you make, yet, when your team is in crisis, you step forward to try to bring them together. That is the mark of a good leader. Charlie is a sergeant; one who has the skills and experience; but, is focused on tactics, not the bigger picture. Vance is a leader; but, he recognizes a better leader in Martinex, something his hero, Captain America would do. Charlie loses love and seeks to cut himself off from feeling, so as not to get hurt (an all too common reaction) Aleta seeks comfort in Vance, while having nothing but contempt for Stakar. Vance doesn't exactly realize it; but, subconsciously, he recognizes that SAleta needs to resolve her relationship with Stakar, before she can move on, in any direction. he also recognizes that she acts as much out of fear as loneliness ad must face her fear. Yondu has reached a spiritual chasm and is ready to jump off the edge, when Starhawk is able to help him restore his faith. he points out that Yondo wore the Kospah, the earrings which are shared with the mate, even when there was no knowledge of another survivor of his people. he gives him hope that his life will have great meaning to his people, even as he tells him he will not mate with Photon. We are teased by future clashes with the Stark and malevolence (possibly as allies) and are then introduced to the legacy of the X-Men, as we see a world of mutants, ruled by one who appears descended from Wolverine. Of course the leader would be, as Marvel was busy inserting Wolverine into every comic they published, which made me glad the Star line was no longer active. Imagine Wolverine and Peter Porker? The end result would be bacon! Good issue, even if I still do not think that Aleta is being handled in a non-stereotyped fashion (or Nikki, for that matter). This isn't Chris Claremont. Thankfully, though, it isn't Liefeld or McFarlane, either. The art still isn't the strong point; but, it will do, as the writing continues to lift the series.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 18, 2018 17:36:53 GMT -5
ps Is this Church a connection to Warlock or some other faction, descended from a Marvel character?
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 4:47:56 GMT -5
I have been checking this thread and I say this -- The Guardians has some spectacular, sexy, wild, and imaginative costumes and thinking of picking up some of their comics.
|
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Oct 22, 2018 8:34:32 GMT -5
I have been checking this thread and I say this -- The Guardians has some spectacular, sexy, wild, and imaginative costumes and thinking of picking up some of their comics. Mecha: Amazon has an omnibus for $54 which collects the complete Valentino run or you can get it in TPB in 3 volumes for $20-20 (around $10 used if you dig) each. Then there is also 3 TPB's collecting the rest of the GOTG run from Michael Gallagher as writer and Kevin West doing artwork. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2018 9:44:34 GMT -5
I have been checking this thread and I say this -- The Guardians has some spectacular, sexy, wild, and imaginative costumes and thinking of picking up some of their comics. Mecha: Amazon has an omnibus for $24 which collects the complete Valentino run or you can get it in TPB in 3 volumes for $20-20 (around $10 used if you dig) each. Then there is also 3 TPB's collecting the rest of the GOTG run from Michael Gallagher as writer and Kevin West doing artwork. Thanks ... Definitely will be getting it ... |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 1, 2018 18:37:24 GMT -5
Guardians of the Galaxy #9 Geez, even in the future, Wolverine is in every Marvel comic! Creative Team: Valentino, Montano, Lopez; Daniel Vozzo-colors, Anderson & DeFalco Boy, compared to the 70s constant changes, this is kind of monotonous! Synopsis: On the planet Haven, Giraud is out walking as we see some people with Arzach hats and a statue of Magneto. We get a ton of exposition, via thought balloons, to the point I thought Don McGregor was guest writer. Giraud is accosted by two mutants, Rhodney, a green dude with Road Warriors spiked shoulder pads (well, one pad) and Batwing, who looks like a cross between Banshee and Wolverine. Batwing wants to kill Giraud, just 'cause.  He replies "F this!" and escapes and is chased down, but saved by Starhawk and beamed aboard the CA II. He then provides even more exposition about the history of the Mutants and Haven. After years of fighting the Sentinels, Magneto led the mutants into space, first stopping at Europa. There, they ran into Apocalypse, who fought Magneto, with both dying. Wolverine led the rest, in two starships they had been able to build, in search of a habitable world. They found Haven as their fuel ran out. The world is geologically unstable; but, that is where they stayed. Wolverine refused to lead; but, his progeny did and they ruled with a tighter and more psychotic fist. Rancor is the fifth generation, descended from Logan and she killed her father on her 16th birthday (cut out his heart) and then enslaved the human population (fewer mutants were born in each generation). A resistance was born; but, they have little support, as the populace wait for the prophesized Overmen. Giraud thinks they are the GOTG.  The ruling mutants attack the resistance headquarters and kill several, including Bear, a traitor to the mutants. Starhawk takes the lead and sends sub-groups on their mission, with Charlie, Nikki and Vance sent to find the resistance (with Giraud) and Aleta, Martinex and Yondu sent to try to use diplomacy with Rancor. There is a brief interlude to remind us of the Stark and Taserface. Marti and his group meet with Rancor and mention others meeting with the populace and Rancor attacks, cause her short fuse makes Logan look like a Buddhist monk!  They fight and Yondu holds his own, while Rancor takes down Marti and Aleta gets taken out by Shaddo. Yondu is forced to surrender. Meanwhile, Starhawk talks to a volcano and we see a fiery form emerge from it and Charlie's group finds the dead resistance and a message from Rancor to the people, putting out an APB on the remaining GOTG. This being the 90s, Charlie grabs a really big gun...  Thoughts: You can tell that Valentino is mainly a writer and not an artist, as his panels are crammed with world and thought balloons, as well as narrative boxes. It gives the art a cluttered appearance, which is further exacerbated by the 90s style that Valentino employs, with excessive rendering. He's cramming too much into one comic, suggesting he's having problems pacing his stories. We weren't quite into the era of trade collections dictating story arcs; so, he doesn't have that excuse. I suspect he is trying to jam in so many ideas that he is trying to get to the next one before the last has a chance to fully sink in. The battle with Force also suffered from that. Usually, you have the reverse problem, where a story is drawn out longer than necessary. I think we are starting to see the 90s attention span come into play, as much as anything. The story itself continues to intrigue and the glimpse of the potential mutant future is compelling, though rushed. The idea that no more mutants are born is a bit off. The existing mutants would pass on genetic traits, though we wouldn't necessarily see the rise of new mutations. However, Valentino seems to be saying that only humans are being born, without genetic traits for special abilities. In that case, it would seem that the mutant traits are being corrected as the DNA is passed on. I need more than my high school biology to deconstruct this idea. It seems rather unlikely, biologically, unless environmental factors are affecting the passing of the power traits, or if those traits are more from recessive genes than dominant ones. Like I say, it's exceeding my science background (and high school was over 35 years ago). It's a plot device; I'll just leave it at that. I'm kind of surprised that Valentino didn't do more Moebius in-jokes, given his normalman past; but, the Arzach hats are a pretty unobtrusive one. Surprised he didn't give the rest of the resistance names like Dionet, Druillet, Caza, and other names from Les Associates Humanoids. I suspect it would be lost on the general Marvel readership of the era, though the Epic Moebius albums weren't that long before.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 1, 2018 19:23:06 GMT -5
Guardians of the Galaxy This cover sums up the 90s perfectly: a musclebound idiot with a really big gun. Extra points if it looks like the gun couldn't function in a real world environment (ie a Liefeld "Lego Gun") Creative Team: Evelyn Stein is back on colors, everyone else is the usual suspects. Synopsis: Charlie and the gang head off to help free the others, while the rebels raise the cry that the Overmen are here. people start openly displaying the ankh symbol we saw previously, as the big intergalactic religious icon. Rancot and the mutants attack in a battle sphere, while the shapeshifter replica releases the captured GOTG. Charlie uses his Lego Gun and gets knocked on his ass. He anchors his feat in the ground and tries again. Meanwhile, Starhawk scoops up Giraud and tells him to trust One Who Knows. Giraud is taken to the volcano, introduced to Fire, who must join with Giraud to unleash the power to defeat Rancor and her gang. He agrees and we see a fiery phoenix emerge from the volcano. Some of the mutants go down; but, so do some of the GOTG. Aleta is fighting the rise of Arcturian war lust (thanks to the mutant telepath/empath) and everything is interrupted by the arrival of the 31st Century Phoenix.  Thoughts: We are led to believe Replica might be a traitor, early on; but, she follows through and frees the captive Guardians. The battle lacks any real strategy and Phoenix shows up to put a fast end (we assume, to things. Everything still feels rushed, to get to the Phoenix reveal. Oh, there is a tease of the Stark, as Taserface is revealed as the new ultra-Iron Man, Overkill (not the later Liefeld/McFarlane Overkill, that they used as Overtkill, in Spawn). May explain why Image had to change the name. Not much else to say, other than my interest in this series petered out quickly and I believe (my memory is hazy) this is about where I jumped ship. I'm starting to feel the malaise again, as Valentino has some nice ideas; but, they seem to be tossed off and the rest of the book feels like it was slapped together. I'm going to give it a bit longer, to see if I missed something good; but, I doubt I will go any longer than Valentino's duration on the series.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Nov 1, 2018 20:08:44 GMT -5
Guardians of the Galaxy #11 The Phoenix! Creative Team: Just cut and paste the usual names. Synopsis: Starhawk has awakened the Phoenix and it consumes the volcano...  Starhawk cautions against getting too caught up in the power (Just say no, Mutants!) Back at the battlefield, bodies litter the ground. The Phoenix shows up, sees the people as insects, as it tooks more control of Giraud's mind. The Mutants turn their little Death Star on it and it shrugs them aside. Side-step goes to pull Batwing and Rhodney out of there, when Charlie zaps him with the Lego Gun. We then cut elsewhere to check in on Force, where Brahl is being a Peeping Tom, with Broadside fantasizing over a hologram of Charlie...  Interface spots the Phoenix fire, so, you know they will be back soon. On Haven, The Mutants escape and Starhawk tells the GOTG to beam out. nikki gets squished by turns out to have been rescued by Aleta. Starhawk talks remotely to someone and then we see the Phoenix consume Have, taking Rancor and the mutants with it, then bugger off into space. The GOTG are back on the CA II, when they get a transmission from Main-Frame (aka The Vision), who has teleported the human populace to his world and they will repopulate it. Phenix is seen and he has agreed to be put under psychic dampeners (isn't that convenient). All's hunky dory, except the Guardians are POd at Starhawk for not cluing them in and warn him they won't follow him blindly anymore, when they are interrupted by a distress call from Firelord.   Thoughts: Picture the monks from Monty Python and the Holy Grail walking around chanting, "Deus ex machina" and you get my take on this whole story. Again, there is no rhyme or reason to the battle sequences, except to have people punching and blasting. No strategy is implied, little story is told and then we get an abrupt ending. I think we see the limits of Valentino's writing. He is good with character, has decent plot ideas; but, can't seem to pace an adventure story and have a logic throughline. This is why I bailed on this series relatively quickly. Chris Claremont would have gotten at least two years out of this, while Valentino barely manages 3 issues. Granted, Claremont usually dragged it out too long (subplots, anyway); but, there is a real feeling of ADHD in this series, which should have been a pretty strong indicator of what was in store at Image. To be fair to Valentino, it was a problem of 90s comics and the rising lack of seasoned and talented editors. Worse part is, things hadn't deteriorated that greatly, yet. It got much worse, in superhero comics. Still plenty of good ideas, though; so, let's see if Valentino can recover. This pretty much climaxed the first year, even though there was another issue to go. The Guardians gained a mission (locate the lost people of Earth) and succeeded in it. Along the way, they found Captain America's shield and Vance became the symbol of liberty in the 31st Century, finally giving him a purpose beyond whining. Martinex got a makeover that makes him look like Iceman. Yondu got mindf@#%ed, and Stakar and Aleta were split and she isn't to happy with him. Charlie got put in the friend zone and is mopey, while broadside wants to find out why he is called Charlie 27. Vision is alive and inhabits a massive computer and Firelord is the protector of the Universe (hope his batting average improved over a thousand years, 'cause he sucked in the 20th Century!) Meanwhile, there is a Church out there that holds a lot of power across the galaxy and the Stark are still roaming around. Pretty decent first year; let's hope the second can sustain. ps. The Moebius caricatures show up at the end, on Main-Frame's world.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2018 8:33:39 GMT -5
Aleta could be played by Susan Anton -- I was thinking about it for the past few days and she would pull it off ...  Aleta  Susan Anton This is going to be my next group to read and I'm so freaking curious about it; and I'm seriously thinking about making it a priority in 2019.
|
|
|
|
Post by rberman on Nov 2, 2018 8:53:47 GMT -5
So, they have a danger room, a Wolverine analogue with a tan suit and Logan-style hair and sorta sideburns (and whose name is rendered in the font from Wolverine’s series), a “mutant” story title (rendered in the New Mutants font), and a Phoenix plot (making full use of the Phoenix font). It seems that the Guardians have gone from being the Avengers of the future to being the X-Menof the future. Was this editorially mandated, or just Valentino trying to ape the hot property of his day?
|
|
