Guardians of the Galaxy by Jim Valentino Volume 1 by Jim Valentino

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 1-7 of Jim Valentino's run on Guardians of the Galaxy from the 1990s with the original team. The book also collects the four-part Korvac Quest which has the Guardians crossing over with the Fantastic Four, Thor, and Silver Surfer before concluding the story in their own annual.

The book gets a lot right. In general, Valentino makes the characters far more likable than when Steve Englehart was writing them in the 1970s. The first six issues comprise an epic story arc that has the Guardians hunting for Captain America's shield. The climax is interesting based on the nature of the final tests they face and the results, as well as Vance Astro giving an absolutely epic speech.

Issue 7's not that bad either. The art remain good and the story has a clever story telling method even though there's not a ton of substance to it.

The Korvac Quest is probably what makes this book three stars instead of four. It tells the story that Korvac when he apparently died, he sent his energy forward in time and the Guardians travel forward to stop it from reaching Baby Korvac. It's not bad, but it's not great. The Fantastic Four and Thor entries are okay (although with a Thor hammer wielder from the future), the Silver Surfer entry has some good ideas but feels pointless once you reach the end. Despite the title, the only portion of the Korvac Question actually written by Jim Valentino was the Guardians of the Galaxy Annual. While that story's not perfect, they do have to deal with some key dilemmas, and in terms of getting a desired result, it doesn't turn out well. It's a solid story, but taken as a whole, this four parter was disappointing.

Still, the strength of the first six issues do make me curious to check out more Guardians stuff from this author.



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