Guardians, Guardians Team-Up

Marvel Box 5 begin!  I’m looking forward to this; After a month of Fantastic Four, this chunk of comics looks to be a smattering of many different titles.  At least I won’t be stuck with the same thing for days on end.

Guardians 1-5

Mark Sumerak pieces together a number of familiar elements, and the result is a solid, entertaining story.  Five kids briefly encounter an alien in the woods. Ten years later, all of them have moved on with their lives, except for Vince who refuses to let go.  He’s vindicated, of course, when the alien returns. Everyone’s whisked off into space and their adventures begin.

Nothing new, but Sumerak takes just the right amount of time setting up the lives of these young adults, who are clearly still struggling to discover their identities.  These are likeable, but not perfect, characters, and their relationship and conflicts make for interesting group dynamics.

I was especially pleased when Nick, Vince’s older brother, chooses not to accompany the others.  He’s in a different place from everyone else, with a wife and newborn. I appreciated his sensible decision, doing the responsible thing for his family.  It felt like a realistic touch in a medium where most characters would have gone along with the rest, either blithely ignoring the gravity of the choice or complaining the whole time.  

Looking up Casey Jones, because I like his art.  Reminds me of Joshua Middleton.

It's got that animated look.

Joshua Middleton.  Not the best example for comparison, but I love this image.

Looks like he’s done a ton of fill in issues, but he did just do a year-long run on Nightwing.  Good for him, I’d like to see him on something more permanent.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Guardians Team-Up 1-2

I bought the first issue because Bendis wrote it and Art Adams drew it.  I bought the second one because it was part 2. I shouldn’t have bothered.  Whoever Stephane Roux and Jay Leisten are, they weren’t enough to elevate a poor outing by Bendis.  (This is the start of my Bendis Guardians of the Galaxy run, which I stuck with for way too long.)

The second issue was so poor that I’m cutting it even though it means leaving the first issue with a cliffhanger for the rest of my collection’s life.  

The story isn’t so bad that I’m going to ditch an Art Adams comic, though.  I got a major Sergio Aragones vibe with his art in this issue. Something about the scribbly inks, I think.

Also, nice Rocket zinger.

See?  Scribbly!  (But not sloppy.)

And check out the wonderful silent storytelling:

Poor Hawkeye.  He just wanted to have his sandwich.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine (Entirely due to Art Adams)