Guardians of the Galaxy #3 Review

(w) Brian Michael Bendis
(a) Steve McNiven and Sara Pichelli

Though it started slow, I've really been digging Guardians of the Galaxy. Brian Michael Bendis is at his best writing epic, team-based stories, and this series checks off both those boxes. Man fans of the previous iterations of the Guardians were upset with the way Bendis basically ignored a lot of what came before in exchange for his own vision of the franchise. I never read any Guardians stories before this, so all I have to go on are these three issues (and the #0.1).

Guardians of the Galaxy #3 finds the team in the clutches of mean old King J-Son, Peter Quill's father and the ruler of the Spartax Empire. It's been pretty obvious since issue one that J-Son has some sort of scheme a-brewin due to his general withholding nature, the very existence of the galactic council he seems to lead, and the overall vagueness of everything he says. I'd be more frustrated with how enigmatic J-Son and his agenda are if I wasn't as familiar with Bendis' work as I am.

Other than that, the narrative is exciting and fast-paced without feeling rushed. Bendis is at his best writing teams. His work on the Avengers franchise is more than enough evidence to this fact. Guardians of the Galaxy #3 really conveys just how legendary this team of heroes is, though many consider them menaces and pirates. Basically, this series allows for Bendis to use all his favorite tropes in one place: pomp and grandeur, deriving conflict and character development from emotional resonance, the proverbial "David vs. Goliath", divisive interpretations of consequential happenings. All of this stuff can be seen in Guardians of the Galaxy #3. Bendis graduated from the Earth's Mightiest Heroes to the defenders of the entire galaxy.

GRADE

8/10

4-SENTENCE REVIEWS (AUG 8-13)

Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #2 of 4
(Wein, Lee)


Part of being an effective storyteller is knowing when to leverage 'showing' as opposed to 'telling', how to portray a character in the best way, and figuring out the best way to keep your audience interested. In the case of Ozymandias, Len Wein has found a nigh-perfect balance with Adrien Veidt, a man who takes the time to dictate his own autobiography because he's exactly the kind of person who would do something like that. While other characters like Comedian and (most of) the Minutemen weren't heavily characterized, even in the original Watchmen, Ozymandias has always had a god complex, a feeling that is thrilling to watch evolve as Adrien discovers more and more about how to be the hero he wants to be. I went into this series expecting it to be one of my least favorite of this whole Before Watchmen experiment, but I've found that it's pleasantly enjoyable and actually adds information that's worth reading (instead of, say, showing Eddie Blake killing Vietnamese soldiers).

GRADE: B

The Ravagers #4

(Mackie, Sampere, Martino, Rapmund)

The Ravagers has been anything but consistent so far in it's run that started back in May as part of DC's 'New 52: Second Wave' - it started as a spin-off to an already convoluted storyline, and since then hasn't really been able to pull itself up above being a series about a bunch of troubled kids who are angst-ridden. Now, this might be tolerable if the plot was strong, but Howard Mackie has really struggled to characterize and develop any of the main players of this series: Caitlin Fairchild is almost exclusively a worry machine, Thunder and Lightning have a stereotypical brother and sister relationship, I still really have no idea who Ridge is, while Beast Boy and Terra exhibit super-cliched "us vs. them" isolationist behavior. And they aren't actually even 'Ravagers' at all, in the strictest sense, meaning that this series' title is a total mislead. I have to hope for something better in the future, as all of these characters could be connected to other teenage series down the road - something I hope will inject something interesting into this lackluster series.

GRADE: C-

Spider-Men #4 of 5
(Bendis, Pichelli)

One my biggest pet peeves about comic books is misleading covers, and Spider-Men #4 commits a capitol sin in this regard, showing a broken and beaten Miles Morales in the arms of a distressed Peter Parker - a powerful image that never, irritatingly, ever happens in this issue, or even comes close to happening. In fact, this entire issue is about relationships, foregoing most if not all fighting in exchange for Peter connecting with people he's lost in his own universe, as well as meeting alternate versions of some of his closest allies. There's nothing wrong with this issue, per se - the emotional impact of Peter being in the Ultimate universe are palpable at Brian Michael Bendis' hand, and Sara Pichelli's artwork is stunning as ever - but the fact that the image on the cover was decided upon purely to sell more issues is truly frustrating. It's frustrating when such a good issue from such a good series and such good creators has such a big flub.

GRADE: B-

(COMIC) SPIDER-MEN #2 of 5

STORY: Brian Michael Bendis
ART: Sara Pichelli

Well hello, multiverse! In Brian Michael Bendis and Sarah Pichelli's Spider-Men #2, some revelations are made, some characters introduced to each other for the first time, and we get a whole lot of Mysterio! Last month's premier issue wasn't my favorite. In fact, I felt that Bendis went on an ego trip, writing as many witty one-liners as he could for the web-slinger and turning him into an anecdote machine. It came off as showy and overly-saturated. Spider-Men #2, however, makes a 180-degree turn and sets things right for this series. Miles gets some lines of dialogue, Peter freaks out a lot harder than he normally does, and Nick Fury meets the Peter Parker than could have been. This is an issue of graphic art and storytelling that reminds us why we read comics: for the fun of it.


Mysterio made a confusing cameo last issue, babbling on about "the other Peter Parker" before his machine sucked Peter Parker Spider-Man into some wormhole. Of course, we re Mysterio aders know that Pete has landed in the Ultimate universe, a dimension quite similar to ours, with minor differences like Nick Fury's race, a giant Triskelion outside Manhattan Bay, and a Spider-Man that isn't him. While is one of Spider-Man's oldest and most consistent villains, he hasn't had a major presence in the Ultimate line of books outside of one storyline that didn't reveal much about the character in a significant way.

Ultimate Mysterio's enigmatic nature is finally addressed with the reveal that Quentin Beck has been sending a Mysterio-avatar through the rift, using the Ultimate universe as some sort of sociological experiment. During Ultimate Peter Parker's encounter with Mysterio, he was never able to figure out how Mysterio's head stayed imaterial, a question that might have been minor at the time, but now ties into Beck's control of the dimensional portal and Peter's current dilemma.

Now, about Peter and Miles.

The only thing I really didn't like about their meeting was the obligatory 'fight of misunderstanding.' Peter starts freaking out - more so than usual - as everyone seems to know his real identity. Regular civilians tell Peter his choice of costume is, "in bad taste" in consideration of the deceased. Of course, Peter Parker-616 has never been the most put-together guy, so it makes sense that he would lash out at a different Spider-Man - who still knows the name Peter Parker - who randomly shows up and tells you you're actually dead. And even though it does seem logical, the fight still feels forced, like Bendis was bullied into including it simply for the sake of pitting the Spider-Men against each other. There had to have been better, more natural ways to make these two characters fight. In the pages of Avengers vs. X-Men, Spider-Man even comments on the age-old tradition of 'fights of misunderstanding' and how much he misses them. Each Spider-Man tries to unmask the other. Only Peter is successful - albeit after giving Miles a rather stuck-up lecture on superheros and masks - and Miles is forced to run around covering his face until he manages to knock out Peter and turn him over to Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.


Now, the inclusion of Ultimate Nick Fury was somewhat inevitable, as this summer's movie blockbuster, The Avengers, featured Fury as portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, who was the original inspiration for Ultimate Nick Fury in the first place. If that sounds a bit convoluted, it is, not to mention that the regular Marvel Universe (Earth-616) now has a black Nick Fury to call it's own. Obviously, Marvel is doing everything it can to make connections between the movie Avengers and the comic books that inspired the film (see black Nick Fury, Avengers Assemble, Hawkeye's new costume, etc.), so bringing in Fury was a question of "when", not "if".

Spider-Men #2 is a huge step forward from the first issue, not only in terms of story progression, but also of narrative structure. The subtle hints at past events connecting to current dilemmas is near-perfect, and Sara Pichelli's art just fits so well with the tone of everything going on. Mysterio looks menacing, Peter looks dumbfounded, and Miles looks overwhelmed. There's got to be more to Mysterio's involvement in this situation, and Bendis seems to be taking the series in the right direction. I'm definitely looking forward to next month's issue!

GRADE

B+

(COMIC) SPIDER-MEN #1 of 5

STORY: Brian Michael Bendis
ART: Sara Pichelli

Spider-Men is an event that, this author feels, might become a bit long in the tooth. Fortunately, Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli may have also recognized this, seeing as the series is only five issues, not quite a mini-series, but not a mega-event like Avengers vs. X-Men or last year's ridiculously long and boring Fear Itself. Indeed, Spider-Men seems to be a perfect length; long enough for a popular character such as Spidey, while not overdoing it and losing readers in the process. Of course, this is all speculation after reading only Spider-Men #1. And actually, this first issue really should be called Spider-Men, Part 1: Peter Parker because Miles Morales is only on the final page, for one panel.

Bendis spends the entire issue in Peter Parker's head, following his stream of consciousness as he swings around New York City and beats up some bad guys. Eventually, Parker sees a mysterious glow, follows it, fights Mysterio for a quick mo',  then gets sucked into the Ultimate Universe through the mysterious glowing....thing. A lot of things are left vague and open at the end of Spider-Men #1, and it's hard to tell if it's on purpose or if Bendis is just trying too hard to make Spider-Man more insightful than he is. And though Mysterio is supposed to be the 'villain' of this arc, he literally has less than a paragraph's worth of lines, mostly relegated to lines like, "NO! Not you!" and the ever-popular-and-cliched, "You have no idea what I am capable of!"

And really, that is what irks me about Spider-Men #1: it's not really a crossover yet. If Bendis wanted to do a lead-in to their meeting, he should have done it in an issue of The Amazing or The Avenging Spider-Man instead of taking 1/5 of his narrative about TWO Spider-Men and only focusing on the one. I finished the issue thinking Well, maybe issue two will be in Miles' head, then immediately thought how boring and tedious THAT would be! Bendis is a great writer - one that seems to be a bit overworked these days - and I have faith that Spider-Men will get better, but based on this first issue alone, there's a lot left to want for.

GRADE:

C+