All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #1 Review: New Galactic Adventures with Some Unnecessary Nods to the Film(s)

• Ethan Supovitz


• 5 May 2017

Don’t get lost in space while you check out our review [WITH SPOILERS] of All-New Guardians of the Galaxy!

The Guardians of the Galaxy have returned to space! New adventures are awaiting them but things have changed since they left Earth. However, there’s no time to worry about that since they have a heist to pull off at the request of…The Grandmaster?! What does he want with the Guardians, and when did Groot get so small and cute?

Following up Brian Michael Bendis’ long run on Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s Gerry Duggan’s turn to have a go at it. In this issue, he delivers a heist with tons of action, as well as a few other little surprises. So, does this rendition of the Guardians make a good first impression? Well, in short, this comic was just all right.

Duggan’s comedic dialogue really shines in this issue. All the Guardians have fun interactions with each other and still show the same chemistry they’ve always had.

I liked the idea of a pacifist Drax and I laughed like hell when they came out of the Galactus robot. It’s so over the top that it’s hard not to smile while reading it. This is also helped by Aaron Kuder’s art, which brings the same dynamic that worked so well during his time on Deadpool.

So, if everything sounds great, why did I say this comic was just “all right”? Well, there were a few things that stopped me from calling it “amazing,” all of which fall under the “hey, why is there stuff from the movie in here?” category. Not that there’s anything wrong with this, but it does get in the way of the story at times. For example, Star-Lord happens to have the “Awesome Mix Tape” handy, something he didn’t have before in the comics.

The most awkward example has to be Baby Groot, who’s almost a non-factor in this story. He’s barely in it to the point where I actually forgot he was there once or twice. Not to mention, there’s barely any explanation for how he got this way in-between Guardians of the Galaxy #19 and this comic!

All we really know is that there was a battle off panel and Groot got injured. Only this time, and for some unknown reason, he’s regenerating slower. We don’t exactly know why, but it’s implied because whomever attacked the Guardians wants to use pieces of Groot to build an army! Honestly, it would’ve been nice to see the battle instead of hearing about it at the end of the issue, but I the idea of a Groot army certainly sounds cool.

Now, like I said, none of these things are really bad but they do lend to this comic’s big flaw: because the comic takes so much from the movie, it takes away some of the uniqueness of the comic.

It doesn’t really feel like these things fit organically, it feels more like they’re here because the movie’s popular. This gives All-New Guardians of the Galaxy something of an identity problem. So, the question is this: does it want to be its own thing or does it want to be the movie? Unfortunately, it’s too early to tell, but I think this series has a lot of room to grow.

Despite all that, I still enjoyed All-New Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s still imaginative, it’s still action-packed, and it still presents a dynamic cast of enjoyable characters. If you’re a fan of the movie or just want to read a fun, light comic, I recommend this one. A space-outlaw’s life has never been this…uh…bankable?