Guardians of the Galaxy #9

Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
Artist: Brad Walker & Carlos Magno
Publisher: Marvel

Abnett and Lanning continue the cosmic joyride that has made Guardians of the Galaxy one of the most enjoyable reads each and every month. The current issue contains all of the elements that we have all come to expect from this comic: tight plotting, snappy dialogue, and great characterizations.

The issue opens with an extended scene depicting the seige of 42. For those who are not familiar with 42, it is an extradimensional prison in the Negative Zone, where Earth houses its super-criminals. It was the brainchild of Tony Stark, Reed Richards, and Hank Pym, and was designed to have portals linking it to every state in the Fifty-State Initiative. Of course, portals designed to allow access into the Negative Zone prison can be used to exit the Negative Zone as well - a fact that has not escaped the attention of Blastaar. Thus, the law of unintended consequences hangs like the Sword of Damocles over all of the Earth, as Blastaar's armies lay siege to the prison as the first step of his invasion off our world. Thanks, Tony. Thanks, Reed. Thanks, Hank. Do us all a favor and keep the rest of your "100 Ideas" for utopia to yourselves, okay?

One word of caution is necessary, and that concerns the artwork. The credits list Brad Walker (who did a great job last issue) and Carlos Magno as pencillers - but does not give us any indication as to who drew which pages. I had initially thought that fans who would mourn Pelletier's absence from these pages would have found some comfort in Brad Walker's pencils, and his first outing proved promising. I can only assume that the addition of Magno's pencils in this issue resulted in the lackluster quality of the art. In any event, while there are some genuinely beautiful scenes in this story, the artwork as a whole is far from the quality that Guardians fans have come to expect - and that this wonderful comic deserves.

I continue to enjoy this comic tremendously, and recommend it to anyone who loves good comic book writing.