Rocket Raccoon & Groot Steal The Galaxy (and the Internet)! Marvel Goes Prose Again

Marvel is making a big push to force the world (ie the internet) into full blown Guardians of the Galaxy mania.  I sure hope it works.  We've proven the worth of Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor to the public, but it's going to be a little tricky convincing them that Rocket is one badass genetic experiment and not just a cute little furball.  Not to mention the walking trees, the reality bending gauntlets, and various other cosmic oddities.  Last week the trailer hit, and the fanboys out there seemed properly teased.



Ooga Chakka Ooga Ooga Ooga Chakka!  Ice Pirates is alive and well and living in director James Gunn's heart.  Sure, that's pretty much 90% of what we saw at Comic Con last year with a few extra glimpses of Benicio Del Toro's Collector & Kieron Gillen's Nebula.  Still no Lee Pace Ronan, Rocket Raccoon Cooper voice, Vin Diesel Grooting, or real any real sense of the plot.  Just enough to get giddy.  And I am giddy.  Looks like I'm not alone.  Went to the comic shop two days after the trailer blasted the net, and they were all out of Guardians comics (with the exception of the recent Brian Michael Bendis trades, but let's be honest - they are lame).  What I'm really interested in are the two Annihilation maxi-series that Dan Abnett concocted a few years ago.  Cosmic Marvel never really interested me much as a kid, but thanks to Jonathan Hickman's recent work on Infinity, I'm quickly turning into a Thanos junkie.

Well you might have to shell out a Ben Franklin or two for the Annihilation Hardbacks (for now), but in July you'll get a chance to read that author's brand new Guardians of the Galaxy prose novel, Rocket Raccoon & Groot Steal The Galaxy.  In an interview with Newsarama, Abnett describes the book as "John Woo's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."  I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I think he's attempting a tone of kickassery plus goofy space adventure - you know, Rocket Raccoon folks, big guns to match those big doe eyes.  I'm down.  Marvel has been cranking out the Mega Event novel adaptations like Civil War and Breakout for a while, but it's nice to see them attempting something original with their licenses.  And hopefully this Guardians of the Galaxy media onslaught will result in a hit film.  I want the movie to be good, but I want even more for it to be successful.  If Guardians makes a buck we won't have to settle for Thor 3, Cap 4, Iron Man 5, Avengers 14, over and over and over again.  Let's see some of our favorite Wannabes - bring on Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Silver Surfer, Namor, The Peanut Butter Barbarian.  Let's get weird.  Let's show the world that Geek truly is the new Jock.  Let's vote for Rocket Raccoon in 2014.  If Marvel doesn't expand beyond spandex then the bubble will surly burst, and this golden age will crumble back into a sea of sports talk.  No one wants that, right?

--Brad

Comic Review: Star Trek Omnibus 2

    The second volume of IDW’s Star Trek comic omnibus series features the 17 issue run of Star Trek: Early Voyages written by Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett.  It is the story of Captain Pike and his crew, familiar to fans of the original series from the pilot episode, The Cage, and again in flashbacks during the two part episode The Menagerie, which recycled footage from that pilot. 

    The writers do a fine job of building the universe around those brief glimpses, bringing in various hinted at ideas, and taking some bold chances.  Like my recently reviewed Doctor McCoy Frontier Doctor, this captures the essence of what makes Trek cool for me.  Exploration, imagination, weird ideas, and interesting characters. 

    Sadly, the series seems to have been prematurely axed, ending on a cliffhanger, and with several interesting threads unexplored.  As the volume doesn’t contain any additional information, an introduction, postscript, or anything, I have no idea what happened.  I sure would love to see IDW get the writers back to do a mini-series or something to wrap up what they were planning.  But, it’s been about 15 years, so I doubt that’ll happen. 

    The art in the volume is mostly good, though the last couple issues take on an almost manga style, which I didn’t care for at all.  There are some especially cool worlds and ships.  And everything still feels Trek-like, even when it’s pretty wild. 

    For fans of the original series, especially those intrigued by Captain Pike’s era, this is a must.  Good writing, fair art, and exciting stories.  It’s just frustrating that it was cut off midstream. 

Star Trek Omnibus 2
Authors: Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett
Artists: Patrick Zircher, et al
Publisher: IDW
ISBN: 978-160010496-1
Pages: 436