Rocket Raccoon 2, Legendary Star-Lord 2

Rocket Raccoon 2
Young (w and a) and Beaulieu (c) and Eckleberry (l)

After handing himself in, Rocket is put in and subsequently, with the help of the Groot shard he smuggled in, breaks out of one of the highest security prisons available. On the way out, he finds and takes with him fellow inmate Macho Gomez, a criminal he put in prison originally but who will actually have transport available once they get out. Though Macho does not like Rocket, he wants to get out of prison and he wants to see his own boss Funtzel, with whom Rocket wants a meeting, destroy the raccoon. As they escape and set out, to the chagrin of the other raccoon-like life form, they're accosted by the fleet of Rocket's ex-girlfriends.

This book is unrepentantly and unabashedly fun, something you rarely see in mainstream comics these days. I would say that something like SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN is the closest you'll get to this level of humor and excitement and weird plot turns and so on, but even that is a little more entrenched in the giant established Marvel Universe. There's only so much you can do with a group of characters who live in a continuity-based universe and are acting in the one major city on which that universe focuses. Rocket, on the other hand, has a whole unexplored galaxy to play in with completely different rules and freedoms. He's only tied to things insofar as he's a functioning part of this universe (now more than ever) but everything else Young is having him play with is fair game. It's exciting and lawless and fun and Young is taking full advantage.

Total Score: 5/5


Legendary Star-Lord 2
Humphries (w) and Medina (p) and Vlasco (i) and Curiel (c) and Caramagna (l)

Star-Lord has just found out he has a sister (well, half-sister) who works on behalf of the Spartax Empire. Though he's captured by her in an attempt to collect a giant bounty on his head from a Mr. Knife, they manage to come to a middle ground where each can understand where the other comes from. Star-Lord is, you know, Star-Lord, we pretty much know his deal, and half-sister Victoria wants to collect the bounty in order to help the destabilized innocents of the Spartax Empire since Star-Lord threw things into chaos by exposing J-Son's crimes. They work out a plan wherein Victoria turns Star-Lord over to one of Knife's lieutenants but the two end up duping him and cashing in even more credits from all of the accounts Knife holds. Though it paints a bigger target on Star-Lord and Victoria, it gives her the money to really help the Spartax and at least leaves her feeling amicable towards her half-brother. Meanwhile, though, Mr. Knife isn't so pleased.

Boy, it sure was clever of me to review ROCKET RACCOON first, though my typical alphabetical listings skewed the other way at first glance. I'm glad that I did that one first because I almost wish this book, already, was more like that one. This one is embroiling Peter in the same sort of anti-Spartax fight he seems to be constantly fighting in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. Some of that is fine, sure, and he certainly has more personal vendettas than someone like Rocket in his established history already, but I'd love this series to come in with a bang as we see this wild card roguish chaotic good sort of dude tramping around the galaxy and pretty much Han Soloing or Mal Reynoldsing. Instead, we get right into the politics and the daddy issues we've been seeing so much of in GUARDIANS. This seems the perfect place to break away from that a little and, particularly on the coat-tails of Chris Pratt's charming portrayal of the character, give us that sort of character for this universe. That's not to say it's not coming, certainly, but to get so invested in a sort of standard story when you have such a galaxy of opportunity, like in ROCKET RACCOON, seems like a waste. This issue isn't awful by any stretch, I just feel it's a missed chance to really explode with fun and excitement but it ends up feeling a little boilerplate.

Total Score: 3/5

Rocket Raccoon 1, Legendary Star-Lord 1

Rocket Raccoon 1
S. Young (w and a) and Beaulieu (c) and Eckleberry (l)

Rocket Raccoon, gun-toting rogue and last of his species, takes a date to a wrestling match between his friend Groot and another powerful alien. However, things take a turn for the worse when Rocket and the girl are caught on the kiss-cam and the arena's jumbotrons immediately begin to out Rocket as a wanted criminal. He's forced to flee through the sewers with guards in hot pursuit, leaving his date behind and picking up a splinter of the nearly destroyed Groot from which the tree will once again grow. He tries to call for help to Star-Lord and his fellow Guardians but they're a little busy on their own, though Peter is able to discern why Rocket's a wanted raccoon. There are plenty of cases of murder open on him, which Rocket contests, believing any murders he's committed were done on the down low or with the rightful conviction of the law. It gives him pause, wondering if rumors he heard about another of his kind looking just like him might not be true. Thinking about it, he turns himself in to the authorities, hoping to bring out another like him. Meanwhile, the many ex-girlfriends of Rocket, who set up his new date in the first place, continue their own quest to stop the wiliest Guardian.

Skottie Young, who in recent days has been known for his Marvel babies variant covers (which are all fantastic), returns to Marvel for a full ongoing, one that he both writes and draws. This first issue, I'd say, is a phenomenal success for him, hitting its mark exactly where it wanted to hit. It's an incredibly fun and frantic book with plenty of genuine humor and action to match Young's art. It's very clearly a book that knows what it is right out of the gate and is more than happy to embrace that, even going so far as to include fun sound effects (like Rocket's dropping his gun when surrendering himself to the authorities with the apropos "mmmmmmmm DROP") and plenty of censored swearing. There are books where, as readers of this blog know, I'd be hesitant to accept things like that (or those oft-maligned and dreaded "funny introduction captions") but that's always because they don't work with the book they appear in. Here, Young very clearly establishes a fun/funny book that isn't trying to toe a line or keep its foot in the door for a dark or gritty series. The only falter of the book in my opinion is that the plot gets a little muddied in the first issue with tons of different settings and perhaps a little too much exposition to kick things off. Regardless, don't let that dissuade you from at least picking this book up and feeling out whether it's for you or not. I think you'll know in the first five pages or so if it's your kind of book. Also kind of nice, as much as I do love those baby variants, to see Young get to spread his wings again and draw people and aliens of all size and shape and age, not to mention backgrounds and settings.

Total Score: 5/5


Legendary Star-Lord 1
Humphries (w) and Medina (p) and Vlasco (i) and Curiel (c) and Caramagna (l)

Star-Lord finds himself face-to-face with the Badoon as he and the aliens both try to steal the Mandalay gem, an incredibly powerful artifact, from the walls of the orphanage in which it's been hidden. The woman in charge of the orphanage had previously though Star-Lord was there to help protect them from the Badoon but begins to realize he's maybe only there for the gem himself, putting him at odds with everyone in the room. The Badoon knock him out and take the gem themselves, but Quill has a few tricks up his sleeve, or rather in his boots. He calls home briefly to flirt with Kitty Pryde (seems to be no other reason for the call) and then uses his rocket boots to break his way out of his cell, recovering his element gun (tuned only to his DNA so only he and those related to him can use it), and breaking his way out of the ship with the gem. He returns to the orphanage with a bag of cash, telling the woman in charge that he fenced the gem, worried that it would continue to draw unwanted attention to the orphanage and giving the profits to her. He leaves, revealing that he actually just gave over his own savings and kept the gem. Unfortunately, he immediately runs into more trouble as a member of the royal Spartax guard shows up with a gaggle of other guards and claiming that she, as the daughter to J-Son, must apprehend him on behalf of the former emperor. Star-Lord is shocked to find he has a sister.

I KNOW, my summaries always seem to run long. However, in this one, there's kind of a reason for that. This issue kicks off with a bit too much exposition for my tastes (and maybe a bit too many exclamation points, truth told) as Humphries really wants to get the audience caught up with just about everything that's been happening with Star-Lord. There is a sense of the sort of movie-ization of Star-Lord here as he begins to take on a very distinct persona and look, one that seems to match Chris Pratt in the trailers for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy. It's one of those times where comic fans are reminded that this beloved entertainment is, in fact, a business and businesses set out to make money. Tying to a major motion picture release certainly is a key way to do that, especially in the wake of so many previous successes for Marvel going that route. I'll give Humphries credit for not going too overboard or getting too cynical in the attempt to tie to the movie and perhaps tying to the movie will work wonders for this book and for the GUARDIANS brand as a whole (bit early to tell) but right now it's a little too hard to tell. Still, the book didn't really blow me away and I couldn't help but be a little colored by the similarities (even insofar as Quill stealing a powerful artifact, losing said artifact to an enemy, and blasting his way with his boots and gun to freedom from said enemy) to just the trailers of the upcoming film. Okay, so maybe it was a little cynical.

Total Score: 3/5

Guardians of the Galaxy 14, Thunderbolts 25

Guardians of the Galaxy 14
Bendis (w) and Bradshaw w/Masters, Nauck, and Wong (a) and Ponsor w/Keith (c) and Petit (l)

The Guardians are being picked off one-by-one and separated. Rocket, Groot, and Starlord are attacked in the ship by Spartax warships while Gamora is chased down elsewhere by the assassin who had previously tried to capture her and while Drax and Venom (??) shop for new weapons on Knowhere. All Guardians are captured, leaving Venom behind on Knowhere and leaving Starlord to have an uncomfortable talk with his dad, who promises that they'll all be dealt with and that no one is coming to save them just as Captain Marvel takes to space. Also featured in this double-sized anniversary issue are stories from legendary GUARDIANS scribes Andy Lanning (who "writes" a story about Groot's origin. Hint: he is Groot) and Dan Abnett, who tells a tale set a thousand years in the future about the future Guardians of the Galaxy needing to go back in time to stop some stuff happening that would ruin their future.

Story
The best way to describe this story is abrupt. For thirteen issues, the Guardians have been wreaking havoc and staying a step ahead of the Spartax Empire and fighting the good fight through the galaxy. Until they weren't. Just today. No hand wrapping around them, no strategy employed to cut their engines and leave them defenseless. Just...caught. I legitimately had to wonder if I had missed an issue where something happened that allowed them to be caught or that explained why Venom was there. Turns out: NOPE, the last issue was still in the midst of that crappy TRIAL OF JEAN GREY crossover and so everything happening here IS still as abrupt as it seems. It feels like we're missing an issue and it's KIND OF an important issue we've missed? Like, we can still catch up, I suppose, but there's a lot of "I guess this is happening now?" feeling to the book. 3/5

Character
Peter Quill has some insomnia and thinks about why and thinks about what women he has crushes on and what ones he doesn't and ugggggh. Then Drax and Venom go and banter at a weapons seller showing that Drax doesn't know the word "cool" and uggggggh. Look, I have some problems here as ever. Also, Venom acts very nearly goofy out in space which, you know, granted it's a pretty big deal to him but Flash is a decorated vet and one who has to maintain control over his symbiote all the time. Maybe he wouldn't be so goofy all the time? 2/5

Writing
A bit of back-and-forth here but everyone's separated and there's too much abrupt story happening for it to really hurt anything. The opening ongoing narration from Quill is as close to that as it gets and it it GRATING though the case can be made that it's just a mind drifting while it does anything but sleep. Putting aside the strange character problems and the abrupt story, there's nothing particularly wrong with the writing, though it's kind of like grading a student's paper with a bad or non-existent thesis: it doesn't matter if the support is great or in-depth or whatever, there's no way it can be proving what it sets out to prove because a bad thesis means there's nothing there to prove (yeah, I've graded some PAPERS, yo). 3/5

Art
I was a little nervous about Bradshaw on this issue. He's clearly a pretty good artist but I've seen him most recently on one of the INHUMAN titles that Fraction wrote prior to Soule's entrance on INHUMANS and it upset me in the way that Medusa looked so feminized in that kind of "big eyes, soft features, bursting breasts (horrifying, that wording) etc." way. No such issues here though the armored Gamora is the only female until the last page reveal of Captain Marvel. Still, good work across the board this time out. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Seriously, were we missing an issue?

Total score: 3/5


Thunderbolts 25
Soule (w) and Diaz (a) and Silva (c) and Sabino (l)

The woman who arrived on the boat at the end of the last issue, Helen, was part of the team Ross sent out but only insofar as she was the researcher who told them about the artifact and was then left behind. They have a thing. Anyway, the sea monsters aren't quite done attacking and they start to pull apart the ship. Ghost Rider manages to get them to shore by using his chain to pull the ship away. However, Leader whispers an incantation that makes his demonic fire go out before he himself can get off the ship and he's ripped apart by the monsters while everyone else looks on. The other T-Bolts push on but their guide Cordoba reveals to Leader that he knows he's responsible for Ghost Rider's death. Leader admits it but also reveals that he knows Cordoba's men are in the woods following them. They form an alliance for all of two minutes before Leader outs him to his team, causing them all to flee. The rest continue to the temple, where Red Hulk demands Leader wait outside (with guard Deadpool) and guide them over the walkie. He quickly betrays them and Elektra and Punisher end up in a death trap themselves.

Story
Tons going on here, enough that I kept wanting to shorten the summary and couldn't figure out where to do it. In fact, I should have PROBABLY gone deeper than I did but GUYS, read the book instead. There's so much happening and it's largely really interesting. The Ghost Rider twist was something unexpected and sharp, brutal and efficient enough to be jarring without feeling like a hook. The Leader has some great moments as his long con continues to play out at the expense of the team. Plenty happening but without ever getting too absurd or too abrupt. 5/5

Character
Everyone has a couple of good looks here but the main focus is on Leader and his sudden but inevitable betrayals. It's crafty and it's clever and it's hard, thanks to his movements with Cordoba, to figure out what his angles are, which is exactly how we should be seeing Leader since he's smarter than all people ever, more or less, so we should never know his true motives. It's the kind of sharp characterization that drove Hickman's SECRET WARRIORS series and others like it. 5/5

Writing
Thanks in large part to the characterization of Leader and the way that he drives the plot here, the tone is always a little bit uncomfortable, which is perfect. You're never supposed to know exactly how to feel about what's happening. The abruptness of Ghost Rider's death, the turn on Leader by Cordoba and the turn on Cordoba by Leader, all of it keeps the reader off-guard and it keeps the tone from settling in to something either too fun or too serious and it instead sticks into this strange "how should I feel?" place that fits everything Soule wants to do. 5/5

Art
The art looks maybe a little more cartoony than it has been but it steps it up to make sure things are tense as the big moments occur, like Ghost Rider being ripped apart or the fall of Punisher and Elektra and their caress as the walls close in on them (slower than haunted house spiked walls but not as slow as evil scientist spiked walls). Overall it fits the tone and feel of the book pretty nicely. 5/5

Miscellaneous
I like the cover on this one but it's the first time in quite some time that I haven't absolutely loved the cover on a THUNDERBOLTS issue. Sigh. All good things, I suppose. Strange that the 25th issue of THUNDERBOLTS, a far riskier book than something with X-MEN in the name written by one of the biggest names in comics over the past decade doesn't get a celebration.

Total score: 5/5

Guardians of the Galaxy 11, Miracleman 2, Thunderbolts 21

Guardians of the Galaxy 11
Bendis (w) and Pichelli (a) and Ponsor (c)

The Guardians of the Galaxy are still on the search for Thanos and still hunted by J-Son for defying his orders to stay clear of Earth. This doesn't stop Peter Quill from going to all of his favorite seedy places either hoping they won't look in some place so obvious or hoping to get into a fight, depending on who you ask. He, of course, ends up being drugged by a Skrull bounty hunter and carried away. The Skrull doesn't get far, though, as Gamora and Angela happen to be nearby and see the female Skrull coming out of the bar with Quill. The two stop her and Angela, to the chagrin of Gamora, beheads her. They all return to the ship to find that Rocket has bugged a Badoon frequency and they hear talk of a recent council meeting that ended with the Shi'ar vowing to take Jean Grey from Earth and put her on trial for her crimes as the Phoenix. The Guardians decide to stop it and, as we saw in the last ALL-NEW X-MEN, arrive just a few moments too late.

One of my problems with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (and, in truth, Bendis as a whole on occasion) is that it sometimes feels like it wants to wholly disregard the rest of the Marvel Universe, both from the past and in the present. There's a debate about whether a writer in comics should be bound by a character's often long and complicated chronology or if that writer should tell the story worth telling with the character, even if it conflicts with something in the history. I tend to believe more in the latter because I think times change and these characters are ridiculously old in some cases. However, I think some deference should be paid to the character itself. For example, I think Peter Quill did have that wry sense of humor back in his past but he was a bit more serious and a bit more of a true leader type, reluctant as he may be to accept it. This one seems like a full-on goof with an occasional Mal Reynolds-like flair for the dramatic. I think part of his change to flippancy is the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie, which has cast Chris Pratt, known best for his comedic turn as Andy in Parks and Recreation, in the role of Peter Quill. Still, it paints a different picture of Quill in the comics than what we'd seen before, seemingly changing his character to something it wasn't. In terms of the present-day incongruities, J-Son betrayed the council in INFINITY and, I guess I took it as assumed, the council knew of his betrayal. Captain Marvel and the Avengers knew for sure, I suppose it's possible that Captain America, learning the news, wouldn't have told anyone else in the council? It...seems unlikely. Yet here they are, their whole council reconvened and not mentioning it with J-Son flippant as his son for no real reason. Perhaps this, and other Bendis books, are meant to only be read as one series, telling the story he set out to tell with the characters with which he set out to tell it. Maybe they read perfectly fluidly by themselves. But when you're part of a bigger universe like this, you at least have to play by the rules of that universe a bit, not just when they're helpful to you (the Shi'ar must punish Jean Grey for her crimes as the Phoenix).

Miracleman 2
Moore (w) and Leach (a) and Oliff (c) and Anglo (w and a)

A couple more collected stories from WARRIOR as we see the first meeting between Mike Moran and Johnny Bates since Moran's memory of Marvelman returned. Johnny Bates, of course, was Kid Marvelman back in the early days but now, claiming to have lost his powers in the explosion that killed Young Marvelman, he's a normal human who owns an incredibly successful tech company. He invites Mike and Liz to his offices to talk but Mike quickly realizes things aren't as they seem. He asks Liz to leave and accuses Johnny of still having his powers and of lying for some nefarious purpose, which is certainly the case as Johnny reveals that he kept his powers after the explosion and now found himself the most powerful being on Earth at 16 and with no one to stop him. He, of course, is now a sociopath who wants only to rule and to destroy and his powers are stronger and he's more experienced than Marvelman. He annihilates Marvelman in combat and turns to face London as he wonders what to do next.

It's certainly an enticing story, one with an equal parts tragic and terrible villain for Marvelman's return to the modern era (safe and sound in good old 1982). It's a classic superhero story as the superhero gains his powers (or, in this case, regains) and finds himself pitted against an ultimate foe, someone seemingly better than him in every way and who has a personal connection to our hero. Most interestingly, this book reads like a modern comic more than most other books from the early '80s, without too much over explaining and with art that would fit into today's pantheon as well as any other era's. For someone who is solely a modern day reader, you may find the narration captions a bit overkill (though there are still some books that employ narrative captions today, they're far and few between. The biggest example I can think of from current Marvel is UNCANNY AVENGERS but even that one varies in how often it uses them, issue-to-issue) but that doesn't take anything away from the writing. Good book, certainly worth checking out and comparing to the books of then and now. Or just reading it because it's pretty good.

Thunderbolts 21
Soule (w) and Barberi (a) and Silva w/ Campbell and Mason (c)

The majority of the Thunderbolts are in Hell with Ghost Rider while Elektra and Punisher await their return with something resembling patience. In Hell, Ghost Rider tries to find a personal hell, a hell crafted specifically by a demon to ensure maximum punishment and pain to a single inhabitant, because those are easier to return to Earth from. However, their search for the perfect hell draws the notice and ire of Mephisto, who had since claimed Red Hulk as his own personal plaything. Unfortunately for Mephisto, he's no longer ruler of Hell and can't really enforce his ownership over the hell mark on Red Hulk's chest. This leads Leader to an idea: make an actual deal with the actual devil to get them out of Hell and put Mercy in it in exchange for dethroning the new ruler of Hell, who, of course, turns out to be Guido, formerly of X-Factor. Meanwhile, Elektra and Punisher go on an assassin journey as Elektra gets a job while the others are out of town. As Punisher begins to question how Elektra can know that she's assassinating people who deserve it, the entire house they're staking out is abruptly and violently destroyed. Mercy appears to Elektra, fresh off destroying the house, and demands to know where Red Hulk and Leader are.

Another good issue as the Thunderbolts are separated and have plenty to deal with on their plates. There's a nice moment for Leader as he gets to exercise his brain a bit constructing a legally binding contract with the devil. It's also an interesting juncture for the reader as we have to wonder whether he's putting things in there that will hurt Red Hulk or, say, Deadpool, who wants his own secret request added into the contract. Meanwhile, Ghost Rider chats with Venom about the purpose of the team and seems into the idea, leading to the probable induction of a new teammate. It's all made even more compelling as the Thunderbolts realize that Guido is the new ruler of Hell and they'll have to kill someone who's been a pretty good guy in the past in order to get what they want and fulfill their promise to Mephisto. As if that weren't enough to entertain, Elektra and Punisher, the two potentially least powerful members of the team (or, at least, most human, somehow), have to face down Mercy while the Thunderbolts in Hell get their business together. Should be a fun time because this book is constantly a fun time.

Fearless Defenders 12, Guardians of the Galaxy 9

Fearless Defenders 12
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

The Fearless Defenders, upon defeating their Caroline Le Fey-gathered adversaries a few issues ago, captured Enchantress, Ruby Thursday, and Quicksand and were able to gain from them the whereabouts of Le Fey's final plan, which they of course then proceed to crash. As a fight breaks out between the Defenders and the Doom Maidens, Annabelle pleads to Valkyrie to come and join the fight, hot off a fight of their own which made Valkyrie feel like she was losing herself to Annabelle. They talk about it a bit and decide to revisit it later as Valkyrie takes the forefront, leading the other Defenders into battle and eventually overrunning the Doom Maidens and Le Fey, who steps into the energy pit they had managed to open which was supposed to bring something much worse. Misty has new recruit Frankie Raye AKA Nova (but not that one) siphon off the energy of the pit, saving the world from its destruction. Of course, that was only one of Le Fey's plans; it was really secondary to the success of her first plan, bringing back her mother, Morgan Le Fey.

This issue has all of the makings of a huge rush job. I've talked a lot about this series being one that was ultimately hampered by tie-ins to events, eating up what must have been right around half of the total issues. Tie-ins can absolutely still be useful to a series in terms of building character or, in some cases, still showing a good segment of plot. In this case, I think any kind of plot we got during a tie-in was shoehorned in and we really only got character from Annabelle, Valkyrie, and a little bit Hippolyta. By and large, the size of this team and the number of plots it had to run through made it very difficult to devote any real time to establishing characters other than the focal point of this series, which was very clearly the Annabelle-Valkyrie relationship. Now, as the series ends and we get the hurried last issue, plot starts leaking out all over the place and everything has to very suddenly come to a head. The story feels rushed and fairly forced; again, not a surprise considering it's just off of its INFINITY tie-in, which was kind of just off it's hugely unnecessary AGE OF ULTRON tie-in. I'm surprised Dani Moonstar didn't get them wrapped into BATTLE OF THE ATOM. I think this is a book that Marvel wanted to succeed but panicked a bit when it wasn't fiscally succeeding and forced it to try to sell with the bigger books while not allowing the story the room to grow on its own. Ultimately a lost opportunity. I've seen a lot of comic pros on Twitter calling this series truly remarkable and something that will change comics but I never once got that sense. I would say the last DEFENDERS series (headlined by Matt Fraction and the Dodsons and, eventually, Jamie McKelvie) had a bigger impact on comics as a whole and was really Fraction's Marvel-launching point for trying out the sorts of new things that he gets to play with regularly elsewhere. Overall, FEARLESS DEFENDERS feels like it will be the smallest of footnotes, more a horrible excuse for not giving female-led books a chance than seen as something that changed comics.

Guardians of the Galaxy 9
Bendis (w) and Francavilla (a and c)

The GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY INFINITY tie-in concludes as Peter and Rocket, alongside Abigail Brand, are saved by the sudden re-appearance of Angela, crashing into the PEAK and giving the others a chance to regroup and push forward in the hopes of bringing down Thanos' blockade around Earth and granting the Avengers access to the planet. The downside of this issue is that we already know they get through because shifting comic production schedules means that INFINITY has officially ended and yet, here's this story that's integral to the ending. Angela holds Thanos' troops at bay while the others move on but she's pretty quickly overrun herself before being rescued by Drax and Groot. Aboard the PEAK, Peter manages to lower the shield around Earth and let the Avengers back in but he, Rocket, and Brand are set upon by more of Thanos' guard and rescued at the last second by Gamora, who regrets the way she left. They flee the PEAK together and Brand, despite her love for the ship, blows it up behind them.

As I said before, the stakes were somewhat lowered here by the fact that we already knew that they'd successfully lower the shields and let the Avengers back onto Earth, since we already saw the Avengers back on Earth. The drama, then, comes from the idea that the Guardians might not all make it out of this or that Angela might not make it out or whatever other drama you can glean from it. Perhaps you can't glean that much because the writing is so overly quippy and back-and-forth that it might give you something of a headache instead of building a sense of tension. There's also a growing sense of Peter as the ultimate love interest, which is something that Bendis puts into every single of his books and it's equally annoying everywhere he does it. He's done it with Hawkeye in AVENGERS, he's done it with Cyclops in UNCANNY X-MEN (and, to a lesser extent, Scott in ALL-NEW X-MEN), and now it's happening all over again as Quill takes center stage for a possible love triangle here. Woo. It's a little hard for me to shake the image of Bendis writing this dialogue, this hilarious back-and-forth in the middle of intense action scenes, and flipping down his sunglasses, smirking at how cool he's being. It's not an easy thing to shake and it's maybe a bit unfair but boy is that sentiment there the more I read this. Can't win 'em all, right?