Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3

FX has been showing a slew of Marvel movies this summer. I've recently seen Eternals and I've got a couple other films coming up in my queue. Whatever the programming campaign by Disney is, it's really helping me to catch up on my superhero movie deficits. I just don't have the money to see these films new for the prices theaters are asking for these days.

My latest watch was the third, and perhaps final, entry in the Guardians of the Galaxy series. If you've been wanting to get all the details on the origin of Rocket Raccoon, this is the film you've been waiting for. The movie has some pretty heartbreaking moments and that's not just because of the ending which seems to wrap things up for the Guardians. It's also because of just how freaking tragic Rocket's origin story was.

I'm that sort of softie that I will absolutely hate a movie if a lovable animal is killed. So, YES- once I realized that we were finding out about how Rocket and his friends were early experiments of the High Evolutionary, I made sure to go to Wikipedia and find out who lives and who dies so that I wasn't stunned by the death of a furry friend. It's a good thing I did, because several adorable animals buy the farm in this film. But what really surprises me is that because of that treatment of animals, Vol. 3 actually won an award of praise from PETA! It must have been because director James Gunn used CGI animals instead of the real McCoy. 

As for James Gunn, I've seemingly made my peace with him. His scandal of dressing up as a pedophile priest really stung me because I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. I was pretty pissed off at him at first and it did factor in me not watching this 2023 film when it first came out. But I've learned that if I want to be an opponent of cancel culture, what I have to do is forgive. It's also a tenant of being a follower of Christ. I'm not perfect. FARRRRRRRR from it and I've got to practice the forgiveness I was given by Jesus on others. Even if I've never met them in person. James Gunn in his escapades was trying to be funny. It wasn't a good joke. But it's not worth holding a grudge against someone. He apologized and deserved a second chance.

I wouldn't say that Vol. 3 was a bad movie. I also can't say that its the weakest of the trilogy. But it is long. At exactly 150 minutes in length, I think we could have cut out about 20 minutes, which is pretty much the length of time the Guardians visit the Evolutionary's counter-Earth. What I was initially thinking was going to be the funniest part of the film just felt unnecessary to me. Based on the clip where Star Lord is trying to help Nebula open a car door, I was expecting much more of this movie to take place on our Earth and not a anthropomorphic duplicate created by the film's main antagonist.  The animal hybrids were pretty cool looking but I don't think we needed to see how they lived. I would have been totally fine with seeing these creatures walking about on the High Evolutionary's ship. 

As for the High Evolutionary, in comics, he's never been a character that appealed to me. But I thought actor Chukwudi Iwuji was great as the very unhinged bio-scientist. Another character that won me over in the film despite not being one I care much about in the books was Will Poulter as Adam Warlock. The British actor brought a naivety to the character for some much needed comic relief since Rocket spends about 2/3 of the movie in a coma. And I just love the Soviet era pooch with psychic powers, Cosmo. That dog stole every scene!

Although the film was very long, I didn't want the excitement to end. I really have grown to love these characters. As I don't have Disney+, I've never seen the Holiday Special. Maybe I will have that to look forward to this Christmas season. FX is showing streaming series such as Daredevil: Born Again. So maybe we'll get lucky! 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

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 #1

After the events of Annihilation, the Guardians of the Galaxy have decided to take a break from things. Only, another universal threat has manifested. This time, Zeus and several cybernetically enhanced Greek gods have turned Mount Olympus into a warship that can transverse time and space. In order to power it, Mount Olympus must terraform planets at a level of destruction on par with Galactus. Normally the Nova Corps would answer the call to action. However, what happened in Annihilation led to the the Corps' membership to dwindle down to just two!

Richard Ryder comes to the Guardians for help. Tired, wore out and still recovering from their part of the battle, the Guardians decline. Except, the decision eats at both Peter Quill and Rocket who both sneak away to join the small team of Nova Corps, plus Moondragon and an Captain Marvel from another universe to stop these Greek gods from destroying the universe!

Marvel.com claimed that this issue was a Thanksgiving set issue. While Peter Quill does make a turkey for his friends at the beginning of this issue, he doesn't wish anybody a Happy Thanksgiving or anything like that. There are a couple jokes about how the turkey looks weird, which is funny based on the odd stuff Gamora and the other Guardians are preparing for their cookout. After like 3 pages, the turkey is gone, Nova comes asking for help and the story picks up steam from there. So, is this a Thanksgiving comic? I'm gonna say 'No!'

First of all, Thanksgiving is never mentioned anywhere. This variant cover nor the regular cover shows a Turkey Day gathering or any sort. Other than Marvel.com listing this as part of their Thanksgiving reads, I don't see evidence of this issue being a holiday book. Even the Marvel Wiki is noticeably quiet on this plot point. Maybe I got some bad advice. If so, that makes me nervous as I recently bought 3 other issues suggested from that online article. What if those comics aren't really set during Thanksgiving either? I'm going feel like I wasted my money.

The good thing is that I enjoyed this issue. Al Ewing's opening salvo was very action packed. I really wouldn't mind getting my hands on the rest of this storyline. But I think I'd only get it if I could check it out at the library or if I could find the trades for super cheap.

Worth Consuming. But boy was I disappointed.

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.