FF 4, Guardians of the Galaxy 0.1

FF 4
Fraction (w) and M. Allred (a) and L. Allred (c)

Boy, really pulled it out at the end there. This was a fun issue all the way through with a couple of developments happening with in the whole FF organization but largely the focus was on the Moloids newfound obsession with She-Hulk. I kind of love the conceit, especially given the Moloids recent love for regular type Hulk (not these Moloids specifically, but the Moloids Hulk went underground with for a little bit). I also like the way Fraction has them speak and interact. It's not really different from what Hickman did but I didn't have this blog then so WHATEVER, I can say what I want. I also appreciate that they instantly fall in love with She-Hulk and, upon hearing of her date, approach Bentley about finding ways to ruin it. That works on just about every level for me.

So most of the issue is that, with Bentley concocting junior super-villain schemes to try to break up the date between Jen and Wyatt Wingfoot and, as you might imagine, these schemes all go wrong and end up making the night more romantic for the two. It's a fun little issue with nothing too serious aside from Scott snapping at older member of the FF Alex Power as Alex questions the whole idea of the FF and of Scott's plan to attack Doom. The end of the issue gets serious too, as Bentley complains about how poorly the night went to an unseen interrogator. The interrogator reassures Bentley and promises to help him live up to his destiny, seemingly as a super-villain, before being revealed as Medusa, Sue's stand-in on the team. Dark things are afoot, dear reader, dark things indeed. It also makes us glance back at a scene earlier when she provokes the future Johnny Storm and causes him to leave. What game is Medusa playing? We'll just have to find out. Pretty solid issue. If you're looking for dark and gritty, it's not here. The majority of this issue was structured for fun with plot seeping in around the corners. Not a bad thing, but certainly not for every reader.

Guardians of the Galaxy 0.1
Bendis (w) and McNiven and Dell (a) and Ponsor (c)

Promising start to the series. It at least gives a background look into Star-Lord, the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy. I've read the most recent iteration of the series, featuring pretty much everyone on this new team (minus Iron Man), but I haven't read it for a couple years now so I don't remember as much as I'd like going in. Maybe that's good though, time to start fresh. I don't mind the backstory Bendis has crafted for Peter Quill, which seems to follow the story bits I like about Quill's history (there's no mention of a step-father or anything who tried to attack his mother, which Wikipedia claims there was at one point and I am FINE with that). I also like the addition of Iron Man to the team, though it already feels like Marvel time is getting pretty convoluted again, considering how prominent Iron Man is in Marvel books (and the fact that he's in deep space in two series and on Earth in any other). Whatever. Gotta just shake that one off. Anyway, I like that he's on the team because it fills the void left by Nova (in truth, I can't remember if Nova was officially ON the Guardians team in the recent run or if he just fought alongside them for a period or, FRANKLY, if he even did that. It's been a while since I read it, you guys). It's also a nice feature to have Iron Man be the guy who needs stuff explained to him, as opposed to the one doing the explaining. Could be interesting.

There's not a whole ton left to say because this issue was a 0.1, just giving us a little background before the full series starts. I like the art a lot and I don't expect that to change. I've been sold on McNiven for a couple years, since he popped up on my radar (particularly when he took over on Captain America). We don't really have a sense of how Bendis is going to write anyone aside from my Star-Lord and Iron Man for this book, nor a full sense of the dangers they'll face. The Badoon, the alien race that killed Star-Lord's mother, seems like fair game, as does Thanos, considering his history with the team and the fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe will likely tie Thanos and the Guardians together again to prepare for Avengers 2. I'll be interested to see how this book shapes up and how the team is represented before their major motion picture in 2014 (where it's recently been announced Chris Pratt, Andy from Parks and Recreation, will play Star-Lord. Pretty excited about that, interested to see how the character shapes out considering Pratt's normal style of character).