Guardians of the Galaxy by Al Ewing vol. 2: Here We Make Our Stand

Vol. 1 of Ewing’s run was great fun.  It had all the snappy dialogue and clever plotting that you’ve come to expect from the writer as he set about addressing the remaining baggage the “Guardians’” cast had prior to his arrival.  Ewing also decided this was also a good time to give Peter Quill his third death (well… two real deaths and one cliffhanger-prompted heart stoppage) in recent years, which was a questionable decision at best.  However, in a sign that shows you just how much this volume is firing on all cylinders, he and artist Juann Cabal manage to make some real magic with it.

Before that, we’ve got three issues of quality art from Marcio Takara, as Ewing follows up on the events of the previous volume and the “Empyre” event series Ewing co-wrote.  First we get an issue where Richard “Nova” Rider checks in with his suspiciously-Doc-Samson-looking therapist as he deals with his survivor’s guilt, his crippling feelings of self-reliance, and where he’s left things with Gamora after getting her significant other “killed.”  Which makes this issue also a deep character dive into Richard’s character that generally works by keeping things low-key.  That’s good, because it also allows the creators to start ramping up the action over the following six issues.

Starting with a two-part murder mystery that has Noh-Varr donning his best Adam Ant getup to represent the Utopian Kree at the post-”Empyre” peace talks.  The Kree and Skrull Empires have merged and everyone needs to make sure where everyone else stands.  Which is why representatives from the Shi’Ar, the Badoon, the Chitauri, and a few more galactic civilizations you probably haven’t heard of have decided to meet on the Proscencium.  It’s the newly created space station meant to serve as a neutral ground in cosmic discussions.  While there’s plenty of raised voices and angry posturing in the first round of negotiations, progress is made after Adam secures a big win for his Utopian Kree faction..  It’s all coming up Marvel Boy… until he’s framed for murder in the bathroom.

This leads us to a locked room mystery… IN SPAAAAAAAAAACE!  If that didn’t get your attention, then you should know that the individual trying to solve this locked room mystery is none other than the Guardians’ own Rocket Raccoon.  This leads to an issue which mostly has the character acting as the smartest person in the room, with the wit and style to back things up.  It’s as fun as it sounds with a resolution that seamlessly transitions from one event series to the next.  Though we’ll have to wait an issue to see how the Guardians deal with the threat posed by the King in Black…

…because it’s time to find out just what happened to Peter Quill after he died at the end of issue #2 in the previous volume.  I make no regrets about spoiling this because death is a revolving door in the Marvel Universe and you should have seen this coming.  What you likely didn’t see coming is the means by which Peter cheated death this time as it takes him to a strange new universe where he spends a long time reinventing himself to become a genuine Star Lord.

Ewing is joined by Cabal again for this issue, and if you told me that the artist needed to take the past three issues off to deliver this one, I’d believe you.  The first and last parts of the issue feature some impressive yet straightforward comic art, its middle shows you the kind of magic that can be worked when formalism and storytelling mix like chocolate and peanut butter.  This is due to the fact that the story is told in a repeating rectangular/triangular grid across each page as Peter moves through the astrological houses of rebirth.  Each page represents a new chapter in the character’s life as he moves away from the person he was and towards who he will be in a logical and engaging fashion.  The best part is that most every page feels like an adventure, and one that eventually feeds back into the main story at that.

Of course, with Peter now an actual Star Lord, Ewing and Cabal are now obliged to show us what that means.  They do this while also tying into the “King in Black” event at the same time.  You shouldn’t go into this expecting any deeper insight into the actual event, just to see how the Guardians go about taking on one of Knull’s dragons.  The results are pretty spectacular as the creators haven’t abandoned their formalist experimentation for this issue and have a clear idea about what Peter’s new status quo and abilities entail.  That they allow him to win while saying and giving new meaning to the phrase “Sun’s Out, Gun’s Out” is just the icing on the cake.

Then we come to the final two issues where everything comes to a head.  This includes, but is not limited to:  The Olympian Gods, Moondragon and Phyla-vell’s relationship issues, Richard’s lingering psych issues, Peter and Gamora reuniting…  Yeah, there’s a lot of ground that’s covered in these final two issues and they make for a pretty fantastic wrap-up to this first year of “Guardians” comics from Ewing as there’s just so much fun mixed in with the cleverness and over-the-top action in how they dispatch the threat they face.  Even the soft reboot at the end comes off all right because you’re left feeling that things are just going to keep being as great as they were (or even better) now that the writer has the team just the way he wants them.

…This really felt like me gushing over a single volume, didn’t it?  So are there any real issues with it?  Well, the ending of this volume is basically a soft reset for the series going forward.  Which has the effect of making everything up to this point feel like a certain degree of setup for what’s coming next.  I don’t know if that was Ewing’s plan all along, or if flagging sales necessitated a rethink of the title’s direction and cast.  If that wasn’t the case, then it does feel odd to spend a year’s worth of comics on what was essentially a prologue.

Was there anything else?  You could say that the volume as a whole lacks cohesion a bit as each story feels like it’s coming from a different genre.  Though the events of a couple of the stories tie into “Empyre” and “King in Black,” they likely won’t change your mind if you weren’t interested in them already.  While each member of the cast gets their moment to shine, some are shoved way in the background for extended stretches of the volume.

So no, this is not a perfect volume of comics.  It’s still a damn entertaining one, and even if Cabal is leaving outer space for the nation of Wakanda, I can’t wait to see what Ewing and his collaborators have to show us next.