Graphic Novel Review: Guardians of the Galaxy: Original Sin

Marvel’s spacefaring superheroes step up a gear in this latest collection

(Panini Books)

At last! Something happens.

Although writer Brian Michael Bendis has no problem in shaping realistic, well-rounded characters, he repeatedly fails to craft strong narratives, with his protagonists apparently more interested in conversation than action. All that finally changes in this fourth volume of Guardians, in which events move forwards substantially with various key developments.

The long unresolved issue of how Star Lord and Thanos escaped the “Cancerverse” in which they were trapped before the launch of this latest GotG series, and what happened to Nova Richard Rider, are finally answered, and these revelations have a dramatic effect on both the survivors and teammate Gamora…

Then new recruit Flash Thompson, aka Agent Venom, leads the team on a mission to the “Planet of the Symbiotes” which birthed the alien entity that gives him his powers, offering a new take on Venom’s origins and subsequent history since his debut as Spider-Man’s new black costume in the first Secret Wars back in 1985.

On top of these two major shifts in the Guardians’ status quo, there are plenty of other plot developments setting up narrative threads for the future, offering a satisfaction for the reader which has been lacking in previous collections.

It’s been a long road, but Bendis has got there in the end, and now the Guardians title is starting to live up to its potential as one of the strongest Marvel books in the line.