Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Art by: Ed McGuinness
Publisher: Marvel
One of my close friends refers to Bendis’ Guardians of the Galaxy as “The Island of Misfit Toys”, referring to the constant flux in the members of team and lack of a clear plot line running through out. For the current arc, however, this helps the book in more ways than it could even hinder it.
Returning to the plot line of the post-Thanos Imperative storyline revealed in Guardians of the Galaxy #18Â and hinted out throughout the course of the series, we finally get to see what happened to Richard Ryder, Drax, Star-Lord and Thanos in the Cancerverse. One thing that could be seen as a con to this issue and the previous one is that it relies heavily on pre-Marvel Now continuity. New readers may be unfamiliar with Richard Ryder and the exploits of the Guardians pre-Marvel Now but in all honesty, this issue and the one before it have been the best the series has had to offer.
Issue #19 depicts an end-game fight to the death at the edge of the Cancerverse between Richard Ryder, Star-Lord, and Thanos and the multiple circumstances in which they have to reluctantly team up in order to survive and hopefully escape the Cancerverse. While Bendis’ decompressed storytelling can serve to be a drag on some of his other titles, it works in this one well by dragging out the revelation of what actually happened but still propelling the book forward with great character moments and stunning art delivered by the master, Ed McGuinness. Seriously, no one draws superheroes punching each other better than him. It’s also incredibly refreshing to see Star-Lord in his pre-Marvel Now costume, as his decorum has been shifted about 3 or 4 times since the start of this volume of Guardians of the Galaxy.
All in all, this plot line, picking up threads from Abnett and Lanning’s series, is the strongest this series have been thus far and constantly provides a hook for the reader to pick up the next issue. Here’s hoping this series can keep it’s momentum when this arc ends and we returned to the (belabored) Marvel Now continuity of Guardians of the Galaxy.
