The Good

Brian Bendis is writing one of the most underappreciated big books on the shelf in Guardians of the Galaxy, and it’s the way he’s writing it that makes me love it as much as I do. Bendis has a habit (some would call it bad, others would not) of writing ping-pong word balloons and conversations that seem to intentionally bounce back and forth while the art remains somewhat static, and while this book still has a lot of dialog, very little of it feels like its done in this style and all of it has an amazing, well paced feel to it. He’s fleshed out, and in some ways redefined, characters that have been having a decade long renaissance, and he’s still finding new and exciting ways to make it seem like they’re just holding on by their fingernails. I’d be remiss if I also didn’t mention that Neil Gaiman still gets a consultant credit on the book and I’d also be remiss if I pretended I knew exactly what that meant. The book has been a bit more staid and nuanced over the last few issues, but I can’t tell if that’s due to Gaiman’s influence, or an intentional matter on the part of Bendis.

Francesco Francavilla covers the entire span of the artistic duties and, much like with his one-shot work on Batwoman, he’s an unlikely fit to this book. Again, I’m a big fan of his work, but his muddied, dark visuals might not have worked the best in a book that takes place in space and features a talking raccoon (or rather space alien who resembles an Earth raccoon and will BLAM! MURDER YA if you get the two confused) and sentient, ambulatory tree, but here we are. Due to a combination of his style being incredibly versatile and Bendis being a real artists’ writer, this issue presents a much more down-to-earth story of stealth where Francavilla’s brilliant use of light and shadows creates a moody, atmospheric sense of dread and desperation. The link to Infinity is definitely there, but tenuous at best, so fans of Guardians as a standalone series won’t be left out.

The Bad

There’s really nothing not to love about this issue. It’s well-paced, well written, well drawn and fits perfectly into the tone and setting of both Guardians and Infinity.

The Verdict

The change of art is a little jarring at first, but it quickly becomes the highlight of the book and an extremely compelling reason to give it a look. The characters are amazingly well defined, to the point that you could read standalone snippits of their dialog and pretty easily identify who said it (and not JUST “I AM GROOT!”) The dynamic of this team strikes a great balance between “we don’t like/trust one another” and a fully functional one to the point that the “adversarial” banter doesn’t seem forced or shoehorned, but like a natural part of the story.

The coloring on this issue really bothered me. The washed-out skin tones made Gamora and Abigail Brand look exactly the same to me

I'm not a huge fan of Fancavilla's style. I prefer realism to the artsy/ muddled style that he has, but to each their own. I have been debating whether or not to keep this title for a few months now, but keep picking it up because it is entertaining and I have liked these characters since Annihilation. I still don't love the dialogue and banter and feel that the personalities for Drax and Gamora are glaringly different from their previous incarnation.

I hope that their assault on the Peak is a part of the final issues of Infinity as the Avengers are just about to stage their attack of the station.

I really like this in spite of the fact that I didn't like the art that much.

I love Francavilla, but his art style does not go with this type of book at all.

I only recently started reading GotG, my LCS had all the issues, so I thought "Why not?", and honestly, I'm loving the series so far. I'm a pretty big fan of Bendis Banter and I have to say, he does a very fine job when ot comes to this series. Of course, I've heard a lot of complaints that characters seem out of character, although I can't complain; but since I haven't read much of the previous GotG, so I wouldn't really know. Looking forward to picking up this issue tommorow, although I do have one complaint. The art, while beautiful, just doesn't seem to fit the tone of the book. Heck, I might be wrong and love it, but it just doesn't look right to me.

Stop dragging it on and explain the escape from from the cancerverse!

Really enjoyed this issue, and its funny reading the comments because i loved the art and thought it fit very well

Loved this issue including the art.

exactly my point, myonly probwiththe seriesthan thatisthe fact that itwould befunto do something differentthan justintervenewhen someone is inthespatialareaof the Earth.The title of theseriesGuardians of theGalaxyisnotGuardian of theSpaceLimitofEarth.P.S.sorryifI gotto muchexited.

I'm not liking the art. It's stopping me from picking it up. Plus, it's a tie-in, so there's not much too it.

I had this same problem. At first I thought Quill and Rocket were saving Gamora and I was confused what was going on.

Other then that, I did really like the art though.

I do have to say that I do NOT care for Bendis writing the Guardians. The Guardians were so amazing under Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. I'm not saying that Bendis is doing a bad job, but it definitely pales in comparison to DnA's wirting. DnA's writing for cosmic Marvel is some of the best writing I've ever seen in comics, by far the best I've seen in Marvel.

I still enjoy the new GotG, but I also find myself wishing for the Guardians of a few years back.

Knew what to expect with the art's colors, ie. Not many of them. Still liked the spaceship art a ton tho.

My copy hasn't arrived yet, but looking at the teaser, I dig the art. Is Francavilla just a fill in artist or is his contribution ongoing?

Just a fill in artist for this one and the next one for the better or the worst depending who you are.

i love this series as i for one, love Bendis' writing when characters banter amongst one another. In this issue, i loved how Bendis referenced to the readers, such as myself, who got annoyed at Rocket Raccoon's continuos use of "blam! murdered you"... it got me good.

GG Bendis... GG

Somehow this is the only good team book from Bendis ever.The only problem I had here was Francavilla's artwork.I often like him but this time it just didn't work for me somehow.

@samyroc: he needs to explain why quill and thanos are back, why drax is alive and what the hell happened to Richard rider!!!! Then ill be happy. Honestly how do they expect people to jump on board of the new shit kid nova when there has been no explanation to where Richard is!!

@akiro616:

The worstis that itis often referred to,butonly on the surfaceand neverreallyexplained asin thiscomicwhere hebringsthesubjectthenchanged the subjectandcontinuedas if nothinghad happen.

I was ready to stop reading this series after reading this issue but thankfully Francavilla was only a one time artist. His style does not work in space where shadows exist everywhere. The story was good but overall this was weak and hopefully #9 gets better.

Francavilla is focusing more on shadowing and colours than his actual pencils. It comes off as very rushed

Didn't really like this issue, its the worst thus far

I disagree that Francavilla doesn't suit a book like this, I actually think he could be perfect, sure some of his art in the two issues was rushed and kinda sketchy but if it was up to his usual high standards it would be amazing, it would give the book something of a Star Wars/Blade Runner/Riddly Scott type feel.

The art for this issue sucks compared to the art of the previous issues of this series.