Post by goldenfist on Jan 22, 2009 0:56:50 GMT -5
Here's a review of Guardians of the Galaxy #9 from Ign.com
Abnett and Lanning begin their latest installment of Guardians of the Galaxy with a quote from Jack Flagg, proclaiming, "I hate cosmic stuff. I ****ing hate cosmic stuff." There was a time, not too long ago, when I would have been inclined to agree. Yet every month, this title continues to convince me otherwise. Guardians of the Galaxy is space opera at its best. It's everything the Star Wars prequels should have been, a perfect mixture of thrills and good-natured fun. And if it weren't for a massive failure in the art department, this would have been one of my favorite installments yet.
As much fun as a typical installment of Guardians is, Abnett and Lanning do a particularly fine job here, mainly with their driving narrative from Jack Flagg. Not only are his misgivings a fun ribbing at the general sentiment this title is at a constant war with, but they also work fairly well to make his otherwise mismatched presence work within the confines of the cosmic niche.
Focusing on the burgeoning war in the Negative Zone, Guardians #9 picks up with Star-Lord dealing with his recent imprisonment as he works as a go-between for Blastarr. While this book routinely gets credit for its handling of a hodge-podge cast, Abnett and Lanning take things to a whole different level here, bringing characters ranging from the Condor to Gorilla Man into play, almost seamlessly.
A large part of this issue reminded me of the Arrested Development episode, S.O.B.s, where the Bluth family routinely took jabs at both Fox and its underdeveloped audience, while also making light of the show's impending cancellation. No less than five times do Abnett and Lanning kid about their cosmic niche, basically laughing at the book's relative obscurity. What results is easily the funniest issue of Guardians to date.
Unfortunately, while the book is nearly flawless in scripting, the art… yeah, not so much. I thought that Brad Walker did a fairly great job with the last issue, but there are points in this book that are downright hideous. There are two artists listed in the credits (Walker and Carlos Magno), and I'm not sure who drew what, but whoever was responsible for the creature being passed off as Rocket Raccoon on the last few pages, completely dropped the ball. Cosmo is equally as ugly, while even the most presentable of other characters still suffer from a veritable lifelessness.
It's a shame Paul Pelletier has jumped ship to War of Kings. His pencils have the rare ability to play up the cosmic theatrics, while maintaining a tangible comedic underpinning. He is a hard act to follow, no doubt, but I hope Marvel can find a few artists to better suit Guardians basic tonality. Again, when dealing with multiple artists it is hard to spread around the blame, but there is no doubt that this issue marked a serious step back.
Yet if you can get past the artistic woes, Guardians #9 remains another outstanding installment of one of the most reliable titles on the shelf. I remain hopeful that War of Kings will bring more people on board, as there are still a large number of people missing out on Abnett and Lanning's best book.
Review Score: 7.6 Good
Abnett and Lanning begin their latest installment of Guardians of the Galaxy with a quote from Jack Flagg, proclaiming, "I hate cosmic stuff. I ****ing hate cosmic stuff." There was a time, not too long ago, when I would have been inclined to agree. Yet every month, this title continues to convince me otherwise. Guardians of the Galaxy is space opera at its best. It's everything the Star Wars prequels should have been, a perfect mixture of thrills and good-natured fun. And if it weren't for a massive failure in the art department, this would have been one of my favorite installments yet.
As much fun as a typical installment of Guardians is, Abnett and Lanning do a particularly fine job here, mainly with their driving narrative from Jack Flagg. Not only are his misgivings a fun ribbing at the general sentiment this title is at a constant war with, but they also work fairly well to make his otherwise mismatched presence work within the confines of the cosmic niche.
Focusing on the burgeoning war in the Negative Zone, Guardians #9 picks up with Star-Lord dealing with his recent imprisonment as he works as a go-between for Blastarr. While this book routinely gets credit for its handling of a hodge-podge cast, Abnett and Lanning take things to a whole different level here, bringing characters ranging from the Condor to Gorilla Man into play, almost seamlessly.
A large part of this issue reminded me of the Arrested Development episode, S.O.B.s, where the Bluth family routinely took jabs at both Fox and its underdeveloped audience, while also making light of the show's impending cancellation. No less than five times do Abnett and Lanning kid about their cosmic niche, basically laughing at the book's relative obscurity. What results is easily the funniest issue of Guardians to date.
Unfortunately, while the book is nearly flawless in scripting, the art… yeah, not so much. I thought that Brad Walker did a fairly great job with the last issue, but there are points in this book that are downright hideous. There are two artists listed in the credits (Walker and Carlos Magno), and I'm not sure who drew what, but whoever was responsible for the creature being passed off as Rocket Raccoon on the last few pages, completely dropped the ball. Cosmo is equally as ugly, while even the most presentable of other characters still suffer from a veritable lifelessness.
It's a shame Paul Pelletier has jumped ship to War of Kings. His pencils have the rare ability to play up the cosmic theatrics, while maintaining a tangible comedic underpinning. He is a hard act to follow, no doubt, but I hope Marvel can find a few artists to better suit Guardians basic tonality. Again, when dealing with multiple artists it is hard to spread around the blame, but there is no doubt that this issue marked a serious step back.
Yet if you can get past the artistic woes, Guardians #9 remains another outstanding installment of one of the most reliable titles on the shelf. I remain hopeful that War of Kings will bring more people on board, as there are still a large number of people missing out on Abnett and Lanning's best book.
Review Score: 7.6 Good
Along with Annihilation: Conquest