Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrations: Francesco Francavilla, Kevin Maguire, Ming Doyle, Michael Avon Oeming, Michael Del Mundo
Coloring: Justin Ponsor, Francesco Francavilla, Rain Beredo, Javier Rodriguez
Publisher: Standaard Uitgeverij
Guardians of the Galaxy #004 – Comic Book Review
With Thanos back alive and in one piece and the dubious escape of Peter Quill, Gamora is starting to doubt Peter’s bond with Thanos, or at least if they didn’t work together in order to escape the ‘deadzone’ they were in. Nonetheless, Peter denies her allegations but there is no time to ponder about such matters seeing the Earth has become a target, due to his father’s latest transgressions. It seems the Guardians of the Galaxy still have their work cut out of them, if they make it out of S.W.O.R.D.’s space station alive.
S.W.O.R.D.’s orbital station is under attack by Thanos’ goons and the only ones available to save the day are the Guardians of the Galaxy -1, as Gamora is thinking about Peter’s recent actions. While things look quite grim, Angela, the ‘angelic’ being they encountered last time, decides to help them out of this mess, all while Brand, the one that needed help, tries to contact the Avengers. Of course, things turn even more sour when more and more of Thanos’ troops flood the halls of the station, but of course, it wouldn’t be a superhero story if the heroes did not save the day.
After all of this, each of the Guardians seems to have gone his separate way to do some much needed soul-searching, except for Gamora, who teamed up with Angela to learn more about Thanos’ whereabouts. It’s clear both strong willed ladies have no issue with using force to gain the necessary intel, but most leads end up meaning practically nothing. Drax(,) has also gone to a place he is no longer welcome, and Groot ended up on an intergalactic farm. Now it’s simply a matter of when the Guardians will gather once again, or perhaps ‘if’ they will gather once more.
Overall the flow of this album is rather slow and a bit less coherent due to all of the different cast members doing their own thing. Nonetheless, it’s fun to see most characters out of their typical group roles and perhaps in a more vulnerable state. Brian Michael Bendis slows things down for this omnibus, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The illustrations of the different issues in this bundle vary a lot, seeing they go from the abstract style with which GotG #003 ended, where red, blue and purple-ish colors take to the foreground, to a more detailed realistic style, to dumb it down again by the end of this volume. Nonetheless, all styles have their merits and in the end they offer a fun change of pace.
Conclusion
Guardians of the Galaxy #004 is in many ways a tad less eventful than the previous issues, but even superheroes need some time off now and then. Overall, the story might slow down, but it’s clear certain issues will have to be resolved in the near future. A fun change of pace, but we’re waiting for things to explode again.
Guardians of the Galaxy #004 – Comic Book Review,
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