Rocket and Groot: The Hunt for Star-Lord (Family Comic Friday)

A couple of years ago, writer and director James Gunn was removed from completing his Guardians of the Galaxy movie trilogy because of some past inappropriate posts and Halloween costumes. True, he did return after the cast and crew supported him, underwent therapy and made some apologies. However, if things had gone differently, I think I would have been able to make a great argument for who could have at least replaced Gunn as script writer for Guardians Vol. 3!

Rocket and Groot: The Hunt for Star-Lord sees the rascally duo get an alert that their cocky leader has been kidnapped and held for ransom. As Rocket and Groot follow the leads for the whereabouts of the missing Peter Quill, they reunite with their other Guardian teammates who join the search. Along the way, some iconic Guardians baddies along with a surprise villain or two will learn that nothing comes between a Guardian of the Galaxy and their search for their best friend. Except maybe for a bounty offering the promise of some much needed credits.

This 2023 chapter graphic novel from Scholastic was written by veteran comic writer Amanda Deibert. The author captured the quirks and voices of every character in this book perfectly. This story really felt like a never before told segment of the Guardians of the Galaxy cinematic trilogy. If Marvel decides to make a 4th Guardians film, this is who should write the script! And with a follow up adventure seeing Rocket and Groot trapped in with a mysterious stranger in a spooky forest, due to come out in September, I've already got a book on my Halloween to-read list!

The book is illustrated by cartoonist Cam Kendall, who is more well known for his work on board games. I liked his art style. I was also fooled by it. Kendall's style looks a lot like the work Skottie Young did on his 2014-15 Rocket Raccoon miniseries. I liked that work and I loved this one. 

The Hunt for Star-Lord is a fun-filled romp similar in many ways to the mad cap antics of Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and Scooby-Doo. There's fighting and laser weapons a plenty. A few threatening use of sharp objects. And an appearance by a Marvel UK character that in its 90s era heyday was considered 10 times more violent than Wolverine or the Punisher. COMBINED! Here, the character (of whose identity I dare not spoil), is more buffoonish than deadly. But he's still a little intimidating in appearance.

I did fear that when the Guardians arrived on planet Earth in their search for Star-Lord, that things were going to get a little preachy. Groot sees a lumberjack making timber out of his brethren and rightfully becomes incensed. That was all fine. It was the addition of the eco-protesters in the scene that could have made the scene become fodder for a bad ABC Afterschool Special. But Amanda Deibert keeps things balanced with quirky humor while also presenting a positive message of not wasting our precious resources for no reason at all.

Recommended by Amazon for readers ages 6-8. However I think those up to age 12 could really get a kick out of this graphic novel. The author and illustrator did fantastic jobs! Oh boy! How I can't wait for October to get here!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2

  The Guardians of the Galaxy; those madcap misfits that cruise the stars for fun and glory returned to the big screen today. All of the major players return as Peter Quill/ Star Lord (Chris Pratt) finally learns who his father is. Turns out, it's not the fanatical J'Son of the Spartax Empire but instead Ego, the Living Planet, played by veteran actor Kurt Russell. 
     Meanwhile, Rocket Raccoon, (baby) Groot, and the space pirate Yondu (Michael Rooker) find themselves in the middle of a mutiny sparked by the deadly Nebula (Karen Gillan). Will the daughter of Thanos get her revenge on her sister Gamora, portrayed by Star Trek's Zoe Saldana? While Rocket and friends get out of the mess they are in? And what is Ego's true motive behind his long overdue reunion with his son?

     Guardians Volume 2 was a fun ride but it doesn't quite match up to the original. The soundtrack filled with tons of 70s and 80s hits was just as good as in the first film. The humor was actually better than in the original (Dave Bautista's Drax was a real hoot!) and it's a visually stunning film. But the plot just wasn't as good as the first film. Thus, it's not another Empire Strikes Back.
      Sadly, with the very adorable and oh so marketable Baby Groot- this film actually comes really close to becoming another Return of the Jedi. But thankfully, it doesn't pander too much in that direct. But man, every young girl in the theatre just oohed and aahed with every scene that feature the lovable tree-being. You would have thought Orlando Bloom was Groot it was that much of a love fest...
      The first half of this film looked like it was going to be a sappy love story or film about father son bonding like the scene when Star Lord finally plays catch with his father. Yes- family is a big theme in this flick. But for a solid hour, I didn't have a clue where this was going and was really afraid this was going to be a dull interlude between the first film and the purported 'Epic' third act due in 2019. 
      Thankfully, the second act really cranks up the plot, action, and adventure. I don't want to give too much away about the plot, but if you are familiar with the character of Ego the Living Planet then you have a pretty good idea what's going to happen. So in other words, while exciting to watch, if you are a Marvel Comics expert, you know how everything is going to end and it's not something that will vest too much interested- meaning I wasn't on the edge of my seat wondering what's going to happen next.
       That being said- I do wonder how events of this film will pan out in next week's episode of Agents of SHIELD. 
       Also, if you've ever wondered if Stan Lee is Uatu the Watcher in all of the Marvel films, you get your definitive answer in two great cameo scenes. But believe me when I say if you blink you will miss at least 1 of them.
      Lastly, as we all know, this being a superhero feature, the kids are going to want to see this. Let me warn you- there's a couple of scenes in which Ego explains the birds and the bees to his son. Not graphic, but it could spark some 'Where do babies come from' conversations. The violence is pretty mild as is the language. But there are several penis jokes as well. So, if you have little ones, this could be an interesting car ride home.

     A very enjoyable movie that doesn't surpass the original. But at least it isn't a complete repeat of the first blockbuster either.

     Worth Consuming!

     Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Volume 2: Angela (Marvel NOW!)

  I've got to get my hands on the crossover event 'Infinity.' With completing volume 2 of Guardians, that will make it 4 'Infinity' tie-ins that I have read. If there's one thing I can tell you about that storyline is that I know Thanos is involved and he has his sights set on earth. Other than that, I am at a loss as to what that series really is about.

   Marvel's done a fantastic job getting just about every one of their series to tie-in together. The bullpen of the 2010s have built upon Lee and Kirby's philosophy established during the Marvel Age of Comics in the 1960s and exceeded that vision to the Nth degree. Events in this volume relate to important storylines in the various Marvel NOW! Avengers titles as well as Iron Man. I give major kudos to the editors at the House of Ideas for keeping all of these threads straight. I know I've would've made a few knots if that was all up to me.

  In this volume, the bounds of reality have continued to crack throughout the Marvel Universe. Star-Lord is plagued by a terrible vision of all his possible realities and now he seeks out his biggest enemy for answers. Meanwhile, the rest of the Guardians attempt to exercise some R & R  but when an Asgardian princess from an alternate universe that shouldn't exist attempts to kill Gamora, the most dangerous woman in the universe, it's back to business as usual. For the Guardians, that means rescuing SWORD from the clutches of Thanos' armies and eventually saving the earth from the Mad Titan himself.

    'Angela' sees the end of Iron Man's tenure with the team. But I suspect that with the appearance of the assassin of Asgard, the Guardians are going to have a new teammate albeit probably only for a short while. Having two deadly women on one team will make for some killer moments but eventually there's only going to be room for one alpha female.

   The art is dynamic and it matches the might of this action-packed volume. The array of variant covers is stunning as well. But I must say that as an EC Comics fan, I just adore the Weird Science variant covers the most.

   Now to get my hands on that Infinity book I mentioned earlier...

  Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
 

Rocket Raccoon and Groot: The Complete Collection

  This collection includes the first appearances of Rocket and Groot along with the Rocket Raccoon 4-issue miniseries, the Annihilators mini and a short-story sequel from Annihilators: Earthfall.

  Groot got his start in a 1960 issue of Tales to Astonish. In that story, Groot could say much more than " I am Groot" and was a bad  guy. It's classic Stan Lee and Dick Ayers sci-fi fun.

   Rocket was first known as Rocky Raccoon. He first appeared in a trippy story in 1976 about a Prince who lives in a Heavy Metal type universe were medieval meets technology. I think whoever did this book was on some serious drugs. The story ended with a cliffhanger that asked readers to write in if they wanted to see more. Since there isn't a follow-up chapter, I'm assuming readers didn't.

   But this wasn't the end of Rocket. He reappeared in an anniversary issue of Incredible Hulk. Here, the big green machine has been transported to the asylum planet of half-world. I had just read this story not 6 months ago, so I kinda just glanced over it. It's a good thing too since the Rocket Raccoon miniseries take place right after the events of the Hulk story. So, it was a good refresher.

  The Rocket miniseries was insane in more ways than one. Rocket is the chief of security on the planet Halfworld in which insane patients received therapeutic treatment by anthropomorphized animals. On the other half of the world, robots build toys to help keep the patients happy and calm. I had this miniseries on my wish list but having read this now, I probably wouldn't seek it out for my collection unless I found it for less than a buck an issue. It does feature some early work from Mike 'Hellboy' Mignola and it's visually stunning but this story was really weird (and maybe just a little too weird for me.)

   Annihilators was awesome. It was funny and full of action and contained great amounts of Easter Eggs. It takes place after the Peter Quill led Guardians of the Galaxy have disbanded. In that series, Rocket has no memory of life on Halfworld. This series attempts to rectify that retooling some of the events in the RR miniseries. I loved it and thought it was the best part of this collection.

   The Annihilators sequel was very funny too. It featured the media mogul Mojo and was a great parody of cartoons and action figures. The only problem with it was that it was a secondary feature and was way too short a tale.

Why Rocket and Groot have never been given their own monthly series is beyond me. They're a fantastic duo that work well together. They have crazy adventures and more importantly- they make me laugh. With Guardians being the darlings of the Marvel Universe, they probably won't get a series anytime soon. But hopefully EIC Axel Alonso will green light another miniseries soon.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Guardians of the Galaxy (Prelude to Annihilation Week)

Finally, I saw the 2014 film Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm not 100% sure why it's taken me this long. It's been a weird mash of financial shortfalls, injury, and surgeries that have culminated in me putting off seeing it and putting it off, and putting it off- until now. So, what changed?

  Recently at my local library, I found the Annihilation Omnibus. Having read it and granted a free PPV rental by DISH Network, I was finally inspired to check it out. More on this later. But first let's discuss the film.

  The movie begins with a young Peter Quill being abducted by aliens in 1988 after his mother dies of what is assumed to be cancer. We then jump 26-years to find an adult Quill now calling himself Star-Lord. When Quill finds a mysterious orb, he becomes the target of the Scavengers, a ragtag bunch of aliens who abducted Quill for some reason and now have a bounty for his capture, bounty hunters Rocket Raccoon and Groot, and Gamora, daughter of Thanos and associate of the crazed Ronan.

   After the group ends up in Nova Corps prison, they meet up with Drax the Destroyer whose got a blood lust against Ronan for killing his wife and child. With this fifth member, the line-up for the Guardians of the Galaxy is complete. Together they trek across the universe seeking to sell the stolen orb to the Collector. There, the Guardians learn that the orb contains another of the Infinity Gems and has the power to destroy worlds. When Ronan steals the orb, the team must race back to the Nova homeworld of Xandar to protect it and the rest of the galaxy from being destroyed by a now power-mad Ronan.
 
   With any superhero film that begins a franchise and an origin, the film starts off a little slow. It really isn't until the group finally all meet that it became an instant classic. Many consider lovable Groot, the living tree, to be the fan favorite of the film, but I really like Drax. He's very droll, but he's given some of the funniest lines. I felt like he stole the show though Groot does give the Destroyer a run for his money.

  Another element that stole this flick was its soundtrack. Peter has an old Sony Walkman that belts out some classic 70s tunes such as Blue Suede's 'Hooked on a Feeling.' It's these catchy songs that help make this cosmic odyssey seem more familiar and more like 'home.'

    One part of this film that I thought was hit or miss was the special effects. The home world of Xandar looked like Starfleet Academy's's wet dream. It was beautiful, but many of that's planet's residents looked fake. Some characters like Yondu, the Alpha-Centurian with the musical arrow, has blue skin. However, the skin looked like an FX computer tech just painted the image of actor Michael Rooker, in facial prosthetics, navy. I swear I was ready for him to move off screen quickly and his blue hue to follow him off screen. Zoe Saldana's green Gamora looked like that was her real skin tone but the pink-hued attendant to the Collector and many other characters looked like someone was playing around with the color on their computer monitor in order to get their desired effect and it just fell flat.

    There're lots of great Easter eggs in this film. The character of Yondu was a member of the original Guardians team from the year 3,000 (maybe this was his great-grandfather?) There's several minor characters in the background and zoo of the Collector (as well as a few baddies from previous Marvel Films.) Perhaps the biggest Easter Egg is that Thanos and his army are the same mystery characters from the first Avengers film. It's just another bit of evidence that though Marvel may not be following the comic books to an exact 'T' they do have an all-encompassing plan for their films and live-action series to help create a true live-action Marvel Universe.

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

(Wait a minute---- Didn't I say I was going to come back to Annihilation? About that- I was able to get my hands on a copy of the Annihilation Omnibus recently. In that massive 500-page plus tome, Star-Lord, Drax, Gamora, Thanos, Ronan, Nebula, Korath, and the Nova Corps play important roles. Since they were in that book as well as this film, I broke down and finally set aside time to watch GOG. 
    So, starting tomorrow I will begin a week-long review of the series Annihilation and its many prequels and companion pieces. 
     My friends, welcome to Annihilation Week.)