Review: Guardians of the Galaxy: New Guard Vol. 1- Emperor Quill

Quick Summary

Pros: The action is fun at times. The artwork looks good in most places.

Cons: The story is very generic and uninteresting. The villains are lackluster and their stories leads to a disappointing conclusion to the action. The entire book undoes a lot of the progress made in previous story arcs.

Overall: The first entry in a new Guardians of the Galaxy series may be the worst Guardians of the Galaxy comic thus far. This book has an unappealing story, lackluster characters, and a return to the status quo that feels like a disservice to the comics that came before it. There are a few positives offered throughout this read but none of them are significant enough to cover for the book’s host of mistakes. This ends up being a book that may appeal to fans looking for some quick, cheap action but isn’t for anyone looking for something that feels special on its own.

Story

Guardians of the Galaxy: New Guard Vol. 1: Emperor Quill, by Brian Michael Bendis, is a generic clash between the Guardians of the Galaxy and a few instantly forgettable villains. The story in this book features a predictable return to the status quo accompanied by random bouts of meaningless fighting. The entire adventure feels pointless and doesn’t accomplish anything that feels noteworthy or memorable. The only real upside here is that the fighting is decent at times and may appeal to readers simply looking for some fun action. Overall though, this comic is disappointing and is not something any fan should rush out to read.

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Emperor Quill starts out with a spark of interest and quickly shows some potential. The comic has the individual members of the Guardians in non-traditional roles, presents a powerful enemy, and spotlights some major change-ups in the construction of the team.

However, this potential is spoiled rather quickly as the comic progresses. The interesting storyline teased at the volume’s beginning ends up being a generic battle between the Guardians and some random villains. Though the fighting has plenty of action and excitement, it feels very shallow and uninteresting all the way through. It barely provides anything in terms of character development or real progress, which makes the entire comic feel like a classic case of flash over substance.

It also doesn’t help that the villains in Emperor Quill are very disappointing. Both Hala and Yotat have interesting concepts and present a real threat to the Guardians. However, both of them are fueled by lackluster motives and are dealt with over the course of a couple pages. Hala was specifically disappointing because she was set up as a tremendous threat who was able to defeat Gamora in powerful battles; yet she is defeated by a trick from Kitty and a hit from the Thing. Neither villain adds much to this collection and their presence in this book feels forgettable at its absolute best.

This volume also completely undoes all of the interesting changes that were made at the conclusion of the previous volume (Review). Instead of exploring Peter’s new role as a head of state or seeing how the Guardians handle themselves without Gamora, this comic rushes things back to the status quo as quick as possible. It even appears that the cosmic alterations surrounding Gamora and Groot have been undone, which cheapens the cliffhanger ending of the previous book and makes this one feel even more generic than it would otherwise.

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Art

The artwork in Emperor Quill may be one of the volume’s best features. Valerio Schiti does a solid job in crafting a book where the action feels dynamic and the characters are expressive. This helps enhance the book’s focus on action, which is important because the action is the best element the story has to offer. Schiti’s work also is creative in its depictions of cosmic worlds and is detailed when it needs to be. There aren’t many places where this book stands out as something visually noteworthy, but there also aren’t many places where its stands out as something visually offensive. In the end, the artwork in this comic is positive and adds something to the book’s overall appeal.

Continuity

Guardians of the Galaxy: New Guard Vol. 1: Emperor Quill continues the story from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 5: Through the Looking Glass (Review).

The story here continues in Guardians of the Galaxy: New Guard Vol. 2: Wanted.

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

• The villains from this comic were originally introduced in the alternate reality of Battleworld during Guardians of Knowhere (Review). This is what Rocket is referring to when he mentions having a dream about one of the villains.
• The destruction of Hala took place in Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men- The Black Vortex (Review).