Review: Guardians Team-Up Vol. 1- Guardians Assemble
Quick Summary
Pros: The Gamora and Rocket Racoon chapters are alright. There are a couple of visually pleasing chapters.
Cons: The Guardians/Avengers chapter is generic and disappointing. The Black Vortex crossover chapter is unnecessary and lacks the context necessary to jump into. The Pet Avengers stories do not even feature the Guardians of the Galaxy at all and aren’t even team-ups. The art in unappealing in a few chapters.
Overall: Besides a few brief moments of compelling storytelling, this is a very disappointing volume. It tells a variety of stories that are either unappealing, overwhelmingly average, or that simply don’t make sense in this particular context. The positives here are far outweighed by the negatives and, in most cases, are simply not worth seeking out. This book may appeal to readers looking for some cheap action from the Guardians of the Galaxy and various other Marvel characters but isn’t likely to appeal to most readers.
Story
Guardians of the Galaxy Team-Up Vol. 1: Guardians Assemble collects a couple of standalone stories that range in quality from just mediocre to just plain bad. The volume starts out with a two-chapter story arc that is so generic it fails to elicit any genuine excitement and goes on to tell multiple stories that feel as if they shouldn’t have even been included in this collection. The best chapters here manage to raise some excitement and show off the appeal of the individual characters, however, these chapters are in the minority and are not good enough to save the volume as a whole. All in all, it is hard to recommend this particular book as even its positives are not worth going out of the way to read.
(spoilers start here)
Guardians Assemble starts out what may be the most generic crossover between the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy possible. This is a story that allows members from both teams to make appearances but gives no one a chance to stand out as an individual. On top of this, this arc’s villains are as uninspired as they come and the threat they present dissolves with little to no effort. The only real draw to this portion of the book is a few decent jokes and the occasional burst of action, however, beyond this, this is a poor story altogether.
The book’s second story is better in terms of quality but does not fit well in this collection. It takes place in the middle of a completely separate and much larger comic crossover-event. However, the way it is presented here gives absolutely no context behind the event or what is happening here. Thus, anyone reading this without reading The Black Vortex (Review) first will be completely lost.
The third and fourth stories in Guardians Assemble actually see the quality rise to mediocre levels. The third story is a fun encounter between Gamora and She-Hulk that allows both characters to show off their skills. Meanwhile, the fourth story is an encounter between Rocket Racoon and the Pet Avengers that has some entertaining humor and a few charming moments. Neither story does anything specifically remarkable but neither manage to offend.
The final story here is a collection of short stories featuring the Pet Avengers. Though these stories are alright on their own and even manage to be cute at times, their inclusion here feels completely unnecessary. They don’t involve the Guardians of the Galaxy at all and don’t even involve team-ups. Why this was included in this collection completely baffles me and makes these stories feel very out of place.
(spoilers end here)
Art
The quality of the artwork in Guardians Assemble fairs better than the quality of the storytelling. The first issue, by Arthur Adams, is a well-detailed adventure with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers. Though the story fails to let these characters stand out as individuals, the artwork here is able to slightly pick up the slack by finding the charm these characters have on their own. Other artistic highlights in this volume include a beautifully stylized take on Gamora and She-Hulk from Otto Schmidt and a cartoonish take on Rocket and the Pet Avengers that suits this more lighthearted story.
Unfortunately, there are a few chapters that bring the visual quality of the book down a few pegs. The second chapter is a bit lackluster and feels cluttered rather and detailed. Meanwhile, the third chapter features a weird contrast between stylized background scenes and faces that end up in the uncanny valley. These artistic low points lower the overall quality of the book’s visuals and leave them mixed rather than universally appealing.
Continuity
Guardians Team-Up Vol. 1: Guardians Assemble continues some story elements from the Guardians of the Galaxy series but mostly stands on its own.
The story here continues in Guardians Team-Up Vol. 2: Unlikely Story.
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- The new Avengers roster was mostly constructed back in Avengers Vol. 1: Avengers World (Review).
- The Kree-Skrull war is mentioned here. This story is told in Avengers: Kree/Skrull War.
- The third chapter in this collection is a tie-in to the Black Vortex (Review) event.
- A reference is made to a recent adventure with the Pet Avengers. This adventure is detailed in Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers.