Comic Info
Comic Name: Guardians of the Galaxy (Volume 5)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Marcus To/Aaron Kuder
# of Issues: 5
Release Date: 2018
Guardians of the Galaxy (5) #146 Variant
Reprints Guardians of the Galaxy (5) #146-150 (January 2018-March 2018). The Guardians are members of the Nova Corps and trying to help the formation of a whole new team of galaxy peacekeepers. Unfortunately, the Nova Corps has been infiltrated by spies of the Fraternity of Raptors and the Guardians must discover who they are before it is too late. Meanwhile, Thanos has escaped and a quest for the Infinity Stones has begun!
Written by Gerry Duggan, All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3: Infinity Quest is a follow-up to All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2: Riders in the Sky. The collection commenced with the start of the Legacy event which reverted to the original Guardians of the Galaxy numbering beginning with Guardians of the Galaxy (1) #1 (June 1990). The issues feature art by Marcus To and Aaron Kudar and were also collected as part of the Guardians of the Galaxy by Gerry Duggan Omnibus.
The idea of “returning” to the original numbering was appealing to me. I was a big collector of the original Guardians and though I knew that the original Guardians weren’t coming back in this collection, it was nice to think of a longer run of the original series…but the whole Legacy thing was handled very strange since it didn’t really seem like an event. This collection pretty much just continues the storyline of All-New Guardians of the Galaxy for five more issues.
Guardians of the Galaxy (5) #150 Variant
The comic has been trying to get closer to the films with characters personas etc, but it still doesn’t feel like the movies, nor does it feel like the characters of the comics. In this volume both Richard Rider and Ant-Man take big roles in the storyline, and I don’t really associate either character to the team (though Nova did have a bigger part in the Guardians initial relaunch when Abbett and Lanning were writing).
The story also feels like a no-direction story. Throughout the issues the characters go on side missions that feel really tangential to the plot, but also don’t feel fleshed out enough itself. The attacks by Groot’s people and the Ultrons feel tacked on. It feels like too much ground was being covered. With the series ending at Guardians of the Galaxy #150, the story feels oddly open and unresolved. That isn’t uncommon, but it feels like a little more resolution is needed to call this a complete story.
Guardians of the Galaxy always holds a soft spot for me no matter what iteration they are in. It was a comic I loved growing up and even when they replaced all my favorite characters with a new team, it was still a team I was interested in. With the popularity of the Guardians of the Galaxy films remaining strong, the Guardians will carry on…someway. The Guardians of the Galaxy comic returned in 2019 with a new title and team line-up.
