Guardians Of The Galaxy Shift In New Comic Series

By now, most people are aware of the Guardians of the Galaxy, with their two solo films and culmination in last year’s Avengers: Infinity War (and this year’s Avengers: Endgame). For their new comic series, though,  everything is different. Writer Donny Cates and artist Geoff Shaw dazzle readers with outlandish storytelling, but in a good way. This isn’t your basic Guardians from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

That’s evident from the story, which runs completely separate from the films. Star-Lord and Groot are still on the team, but with Drax the Destroyer dead and Gamora turned bad, the two of them are alone. Of course, there is still Rocket Raccoon to wonder about, but we don’t talk about Rocket. Thanos is dead, decapitated by Gamora ironically enough. These events take place during the Infinity Wars comic series that came out during mid-2018.  As someone who has not read that series I can tell you it is not necessary to read that story before you dive into this new series.

(Warning. Some potential spoilers follow.)

With that said, Thanos is dead—or that is what you’re supposed to think. Eros, Thanos’ brother, invites every cosmic being to a meeting. From Kree to Skrull, we see a variety of characters across the Marvel Universe.  They are gathered to witness the last will and testament of the Mad Titan. We learn that Thanos is not dead at all. Before his demise his consciousness was uploaded and implanted into the mind of another. To sum it up, he is sending everyone on a wild goose chase to find the new Thanos.

Eros narrows down a list of who might be the new Thanos, the most obvious candidate being Gamora.

The chase for Gamora is on.

Where do Star Lord and Groot fit into this? While traveling to Knowhere, the space plane that doubles as their headquarters, the duo and reader find it has disappeared. What could have caused this? You’ll have to find out for yourself.

In the midst of this sprawling story, there are a few new team members making up the improved Guardians of the Galaxy. We have Beta Ray Bill, a friend of Thor who was worthy to pick up the latter’s hammer and was the original owner of the axe Stormbreaker.

The next character is Cosmic Ghost Rider—he’s Ghost Rider, but in space. Writer Donny Cates created this character, who has his own mini series before the events of this new run. With the last two characters including Moondragon and Phlya-Vell.  How will these characters interact with each other? Who has Thanos’ consciousness? Probably not Gamora, it would be too obvious.

This arc is called The Final Gauntlet within the relaunched Guardians of the Galaxy series, the first issue of six. The second issue hit the shelves on Feb. 20 and the third one will be out on March 20. Instead of waiting for Volume 3 to come out, since who knows how long that will take, head to your local comic book store and pick up this series. The writing and art are worth the four dollars you’ll spend.