In issue #7 Angela let loose and we finally see the Guardians enter the ‘Infinity’ crossover. In what seemed like forever for them to catch up, but we are finally going to see Star-Lord and his crew enter the world of Thanos’ playground, aka the destruction of Earth.
So that’s great. Clearly that means they are going to start shining a spotlight on the fact that somehow Thanos and Star-Lord were able to return from the Caververse unscathed right? Well, yes and no. While it was slightly addressed, they are able to pull it off in such a way that we’re still left wondering what happened and how they got back to the 616 universe.
In fact, it’s Gamora that calls Star-Lord out on it and goes on that they mourned his loss and how could he make any kind of a deal that would get them back to our Universe. His response was two fold. First was that if he had a realistic chance to take out Thanos doesn’t she think he would have? If for no other reason than for her? On the flip side, when he got frustrated he mentioned how many chances she had in the past to do the same thing, at which point she storms off, most likely to return at a key moment in one of the next two issues when they need help.
This entire messy conversation came up with them being made aware of Thanos having attacked the Earth and they are going to go and save it but Star-Lord insists that they need a plan first. It comes as Gamora leaves when they were contacted by Abigail Brand from The Peak asking for help to keep it out of Thanos’ hands. It’s a great way to do an Infinity tie-in issue while still keeping the book feel like it’s running just fine on it’s own.
I had my one issue with the artwork at the part where they go save Abigail. Abigail is drawn a lot like Gamora here. It almost felt like they were rescuing Gamora until they had Brand start talking. Now the talking here was great. There was some great back and forth between Brand and Star-Lord and if she and Beast weren’t still a couple I could almost suggest here that they might be setting up a new relationship here. With that not going to be the case, there was still some great dialogue here with both of them ripping on Racoon’s infamous catchphrases that we’re almost all sick of at this point. When things get to their worst they are saved at the last moment by a surprise intrusion from an unexpected ally.
Overall, I enjoyed the issue. There was some great dialogue between Star-Lord and Gomera and later with Brand. The action sequences were done well and for the most part the art was decent. However, I do have to say they need to explain how Thanos and Star-Lord got out of the Cancerverse and soon. Also they need to explain what happened to Richard Rider. Unless this is a major point to how Infinity comes to a close (which I doubt), there is no reason to keep dragging it out and not telling us what happened. I’m conflicted because while on the whole I enjoyed the issue, this doesn’t even feel like a build up and at this point it’s just not letting the readers know what happened for no apparent reason.
‘GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY’ #8
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Francesco Francavilla
