Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 Review

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #0.1

by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven

Oh my God. Tony Stark is the new Wolverine. He's in the Avengers, the New Avengers, and now freaking this? Oh my god, what next? Iron Man cereal?

Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 tells the origin story of Peter Quill, aka Star Lord, leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Being completely new to this property, I was pleasantly surprised by this issue. I was never a fan of the team, so I have no idea how much liberty Bendis is taking with this. However, this was a very good issue. It's akin to the first 8 minutes of "Up", as it quickly gets you acquainted with the characters. Over the course of 5 pages, Bendis tells a much better love story than Twilight. Bendis breaks your heart, rebuilds it, and breaks it again over the course of the entire issue, and that's amazing. I think this is thanks to the relatable and realistic characters being written. My only problem with the writing, is well... Tony Stark. He's everywhere. I mean, if they wanted to make the Guardians popular, couldn't they have used another big character? I mean, I would think Nova would be better on the team. 

Steve McNiven's art looks great. I dig the look he's going for here. He perfectly captures the adventurous feel of the book. It doesn't feel stiff like his Civil War work, and the colors aren't weird like his Nemesis stuff. McNiven does a great job with the emotional scenes, but sometimes his characters look a little too strange.

Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1 was a surprisingly great issue. I think the upcoming film should model at least part of it off of this absolutely awesome book.

STORY: 4.5/5

+ Tells a better love story than Twilight in 5 pages

+ Great characters
+ A great character introduction

- Iron Man doesn't belong here

ART: 4.5/5

+ Captures the adventurous feel

+ Does a good job with the more emotional scenes

- Characters sometimes  look weird

VERDICT: 4.5/5