Review: Legendary Star-Lord Vol. 1- Face It, I Rule

Quick Summary

Pros: Star-Lord shines as a character throughout this volume. Character development is interesting and well-written. There are a number of humorous moments throughout the collection. The visuals look good and complement the story’s tone.

Cons: The overall narrative is a bit lackluster when it isn’t focused on Star-Lord.

Overall: This is an entertaining volume and a solid start to a new series. It highlights Star-Lord as a charming, yet flawed, human being whose adventures are filled with humor. Watching him overcome his flaws and connect with people around him is one of the volume’s most endearing aspects. Even when the overall plot falters and ends up being less memorable, Star-Lord himself is a joy. Those who like Star-Lord as a character should definitely check this book out.

Story

Legendary Star-Lord Vol. 1: Face It, I Rule, by Sam Humphries, is a fun trip full of humorous and exciting situations. It primarily centers around Star-Lord, whose personal development and dealings with others end up being the most entertaining elements of this collection. Plus, Star-Lord’s dialogue and antics are comedic and add a dose of humor to the entire read. The only problem is that the actual adventures and challenges Star-Lord faces are not that interesting. In this way, the collection is about characters and will appeal to those with an appreciation for these characters.

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The biggest success in Face It, I Rule is the character driven storytelling. Star-Lord’s personality drives this collection forward and will likely be the reason most readers derive enjoyment from this collection. Humphries does a good job in showcasing the humanity in this space-faring individual, something that can be seen through Star-Lord’s connection with the orphan children and his ability to resonate with strangers.

Going right along with this focus on Star-Lord is well-executed character development. Readers have a chance to see Star-Lord care for the people he would typically pass over, like the people in the orphanage. They also see him develop a more serious relationship with Kitty Pryde, something even Star-Lord admits is new to him. This level of development is fun to see and gives readers a reason to come back for more.

Though the character driven storytelling is well done, the narrative outside the characters is rather weak. Star-Lord’s conflict with his new sister and his conflict with Thanos are both underdeveloped and fail to do anything truly memorable. Some of the plotlines even feel stale by the end of this collection, as the “Star-Lord gets captured” plotline is used three times over the course of a few pages. The only plotline that seems significantly interesting is the mystery behind Mr. Knife, though this primarily builds potential for future volumes rather than adding to this one.

Alongside all of these positives and negative is the collection’s penchant for humor. Throughout this read, Star-Lord is constantly cracking jokes or simply finding himself in humorous situations. Even his newly acquired ship’s AI adds to the humor and ends up being one of the more charming new characters in this collection. The only problem here is that sometimes the humor can border on being too much, which may turn off some readers.

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Art

The artwork in Face It, I Rule is visually impressive and serves as a near-perfect complement to the story. Paco Medina’s pencils and Juan Vlasco’s inks look great and give characters and locations plenty of detail. They also give the entire collection a lighthearted and carefree vibe, something that works with Star-Lord’s laid back personality. This helps solidify the book’s tone and enhance the reading experience.

The artwork here also has a solid level of creativity that works well with the comic’s cosmic setting. This can be seen in depictions of the monster moon, alien races, and special space ships. Small details like these help solidify the otherworldliness of this comic, which suits it very well.

Continuity

Legendary Star-Lord Vol. 1: Face It, I Rule is the first volume in a new comic series. Though it does not directly follow any particular comic, it indirectly continues story elements from the Guardians of the Galaxy comic series.

The story here continues in Legendary Star-Lord Vol. 2: Rise Of The Black Vortex (Review).

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Star-Lord’s origin story is referenced a number of times. This origin story is detailed in Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1, which is collected in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1: Cosmic Avengers (Review).
• The destabilization of the Spartoi Empire happened throughout Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: Guardians Dissembled (Review).
• Star-Lord and Thanos were trapped in the Cancerverse at the conclusion of The Thanos Imperative (Review). Their escape from this dimension was detailed in issues #18-20 of Guardians of the Galaxy, which are collected in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4: Original Sin (Review).
• Star Lord’s relationship with Kitty Pryde began back in The Trial of Jean Grey.