Guardians of the Galaxy (2019) # 3

Cover Art: David Marquez

Published: May 2019
Original Price: $3.99

Title: "The Final Gauntlet, Part 3"
Writer: Donny Cates
Artist: Geoff Shaw
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Colorist: Marte Gracia
Senior Editor: Jordan D. White
Editor: Darren Shaw
Assistant Editor: Danny Khazem
Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski

SYNOPSIS
While Eros and his Dark Guardians hunt for Gamora, Hela and the Black Order arrive in the Negative Zone to confront Annihilus. He shows them the severed head of Thanos, which Hela takes after quickly defeating Annihilus in combat. The Dark Guardians chase a wounded Richard Rider, Nova and former lover of Gamora, to learn from him her location. Nova stands his ground until he is attacked by Wraith, who is ready to kill Rider. Cosmic Ghost Rider intervenes and tries to talk to Nova, attempting to reason with him and convince him to give up Gamora. Nova flies off, but Nebula has already figured out where he is going. Meanwhile, Star Lord finds himself relieved of command if his ship by Groot and the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, who intend to save Gamora from Eros. Star Lord protests but eventually gives in, revealing that Gamora has gone to Halfworld to find Rocket Raccoon.

ANNOTATIONS
Podcast Review: Inner Demons Episode 39 - "Cosmic Deadpool Destroys Drunk History"" (Click to Listen)

REVIEW
Cosmic Ghost Rider continues to have a diminishing role in this series despite the cover focus.

I'm going to go ahead and say it, this series has way too many damn characters running around. When the title characters only appear in the last few pages and several of them are still woefully undeveloped as anything other than names and costumes, that's a problem. Its something that Cates has struggled with before when writing an ensemble cast, going back to the Damnation miniseries. Characters get lost in the shuffle, are given no explanation besides the briefest of description, and outside of a few focus characters most are left to languish in the background. Here, any character not named Eros or Star Lord are used almost interchangeably. Wraith gets a solid introduction, but Cates relies a lot on assumptions that everyone knows about Nova and Gladiator.

Cosmic Ghost Rider gets the worst fate of all, as the cover promises a featured role for him that the comic fails to deliver. Castle is a victim of diminishing returns in this series, he's there for what should be a good reason but the amount of characters included are serving to push him further into the background. This isn't a Cosmic Ghost Rider series, of course, but I feel like he's been used as a major selling point for this series and that comes with expectations.

While Cates may be struggling with such a large cast, Geoff Shaw seems to be thriving. He has a serious eye for style and dramatic design that really serves this series well. The splash page reveal of Annihilus is amazing and he does similar striking work during Wraith's attack on Nova. Even Groot, a walking tree, has a wonderfully emotive scowl present on his face. Shaw is definitely the highlight of the issue and the series so far.

This issue is not bad by any means, its just too crowded. It would be nice if the focus and cast got narrowed down.

Grade: B-

Guardians of the Galaxy (2019) # 2

Cover Art: David Marquez

Published: April 2019
Original Price: $3.99

Title: "The Final Gauntlet, Part 2"
Writer: Donny Cates
Artist: Geoff Shaw
Letterer: VC's Cory Petit
Colorist: Marte Gracia
Senior Editor: Jordan D. White
Editor: Darren Shaw
Assistant Editor: Danny Khazem
Editor-in-Chief: C.B. Cebulski

SYNOPSIS
Aboard the space ship Milano, Star Lord speaks with his ex, Kitty Pryde, about the Black Order taking Thanos' body and Eros wanting to kill Gamora. He checks on two of his new crew members, Moondragon and Phyla-Vell, then hears sounds of a commotion coming from elsewhere on the ship. He finds Groot in a fight with Cosmic Ghost Rider, a fight that's only broken up when Moondragon intervenes. Castle wants to kill Gamora to prevent Thanos returning in her body while Groot and Beta Ray Bill want to help save her. Star Lord refuses to get involved and tells Castle to leave. Meanwhile, Hela and the Black Order interrogate the Collector about the whereabouts of Thanos' head, which he reveals is in the Negative Zone.

Later, aboard a Shi'ar ship, a scarred and paralyzed Eros has gathered his team of Dark Guardians, which includes Gladiator, Wraith, Nebula, and Cosmic Ghost Rider. Determined to find and kill Gamora, Eros asks Nebula how to find her. She replies that they need to find out from Richard Rider, Nova.

ANNOTATIONS
Eros and Cosmic Ghost Rider discovered Thanos' body and his will in Thanos Legacy # 1.

Podcast Review: Inner Demons Episode 39 - "Cosmic Deadpool Destroys Drunk History"" (Click to Listen)

REVIEW
Cosmic Ghost Rider's role as a Guardian of the Galaxy takes an unexpected turn in this second issue of the series.

Though I've not kept up in recent years, I was a fan of the Marvel cosmic line back in the Annihilation days, which is about where my knowledge of these characters begins and ends. That throws up the big BIG flaw in this comic, it assumes you know who all these characters are and whats happened to them recently, without so much as an explanation of any kind. I may know who Wraith and Gladiator are but I'm sure there's many who don't. Hell, I had no idea what was going on with Star Lord or why we should care about Moondragon or Phyla-Vell. Those two in particular get a real disservice, especially since they're meant to be main cast members.

It's not surprising that the character that comes out looking the best in this issue is Cosmic Ghost Rider, and it's his interactions with the other characters that make the best moments. His exchanges with Beta Ray Bill, Star Lord, and later Wraith are all very well written and come off as genuine character moments. I think Cates might be trying too hard with this series, filling it with a cadre of characters that barely get introductions, but Castle at least stands as a believable bridging element.

While I believe Cates may not be handling such a large cast effectively, Geoff Shaw doesn't have such a problem. He brings a real grit to these characters who usually see a much cleaner style applied to them. It goes without saying that his Cosmic Ghost Rider looks great, bit he also turns in some great work with Groot and Beta Ray Bill. The Nebula reveal near the end is appropriately and dramatically staged, and his work continues to be the real highlight of the series so far.

I guess I can't help but be disappointed, but that's only because my expectations for this series were so high. That doesn't make this a bad comic, far from it, just a bit of a perplexing one.

Grade: B-

Inner Demons Episode 39: "Cosmic Deadpool Destroys Drunk History"

Inner Demons returns to take a walk on the cosmic side as we check in on Frank Castle, the Cosmic Ghost Rider!  Not only does he get cursed at by a toddler in Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys Marvel History # 1, but he has to join up with the Dark Guardians to beat up Nova in Guardians of the Galaxy (2019) # 2 and 3!  That poor guy just can't catch a break!  Thankfully, he doesn't have to appear in Ghost Rider (1990) # 18, which features Danny Ketch beating up a priest.  Wait, what?

You can listen to the episode at the Vengeance Unbound page on blogspot, or you can download it from Stitcher, iTunes, or Google Podcasts.  You can also find us on Facebook, just search  for "Vengeance Unbound" and on Twitter under @InnerDemonsGR.  Thanks for listening!