Guardians of the Galaxy by Gerry Duggan Omnibus

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy (Collected Editions) #1-3

by Gerry Duggan

A new era of cosmic adventure begins - with the Guardians caught between the Collector and the Grandmaster! And that's bad news when Groot can't grow any bigger than baby-sized, Drax has sworn off violence, and Gamora is hiding something! Can the gang get it together before they find themselves in the middle of a war between the Nova Corps and the shadowy Fraternity of Raptors? Hydra's Secret Empire brings the Guardians back to Earth - but who will blast back off with them as their newest member? And the hunt for the Infinity Stones begins - a search that involves our ragtag renegades becoming...Novas?! But no Infinity quest can be complete without Adam Warlock!

COLLECTING: ALL-NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 1-12, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2017) 146-150, MATERIAL FROM FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2017 (ALL-NEW GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY)

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels

408 pages, Hardcover

First published October 9, 2018

Reviews

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to check this out because I like the movies... but reading this I remembered I don't actually like the movies.

I think fans of the movies will find quite a lot to enjoy here. The characters are pretty much the same and it's a lot of wacky space adventures.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

All-New Guardians (1-12). Duggan really takes the Guardians back to their origins by kicking the story off with an old-fashioned heist. It's actually a bit disappointing to see the Guardians backsliding so far from their more heroic exploits, but by the end of this first long arc there's a lot more going on, including hunts for infinity stones and fights with raptors.

Overall, these stories are full of great continuity, referencing the characters' histories and other powers of the universe in a way that makes them feel a part of the Marvel Cosmic Universe that kicked off with DNA's Guardians — something that Bendis' recent Guardians run really missed.

About half of these stories, the odd issues starting with #3, are backstory. Some of them are great, particularly the reveal about Gamora's motives in issue #3, an intriguing story backed up with wonderful art. Some of them just fill in backstory that was confusingly left out between volumes, such as Drax's sudden pacificity, which is explained in #7. The worst of these stories are skippable, while the best offer great context for the modern-day stories. (And thus it's astounding that they're not correctly ordered in the TPBs of Duggan's run, a great reason to by this instead.)

Overall, this volume of the Guardians isn't up to the creative greatness of DNA's definitive run, but it's lightyears ahead of Bendis' lackluster, overly-cross-overed run [4/5].

Infinity Quest (146-150). How do you get a #146 for Guardians of the Galaxy? You ridiculously mix in the 62 issues of the '90s series set in the far future with the modern-day team created by DNA a few decades later.

Anywho, this volume is the story of the Guardians in the Nova Corps, which sounds really charming because it blends together two of Marvel's biggest SF/space franchises, but which turns out to be a bit less exciting because those stupid helmets cover everyone's faces and because this just feels like an off-brand Green Lantern Corps.

Oh, there's some good stuff such as Rocket's quest for traitors in the Corps and the mysterious appearance of an Infinity Rock and the return of classic characters like Cosmo and Warlock. But the Nova parts are a bit on the dull side [3+/5].

[Jirka Navrátil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Celé je to zábavné a bavilo mě to. Navíc ten konec mě slušně nahypoval na event Infinity.

[Adam Spanos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so fun to read. I laughed out loud several times while reading this. The characters are really fun and seeing their interactions with one another and with others outside of the Guardians really makes this book amazing. Art fits a Guardians book and was really detailed!

[Daniel Kovacs Rezsuk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much setup, very little pay-off. Paper-thin plot that is stretched out to the absolute limit due to the cumbersome issue-to-issue storytelling. Tries to synergize with the James Gunn films with the humorous tone but it also tries to connect to old (pre-Bendis) Cosmic Marvel continuity, but does neither very well and brings very few new ideas to the table. It was a smooth read though and the art is neat. I just don't see the point of calling a comic book collection an omnibus when none of its half a dozen plot threads see a proper conclusion by the end. On to Infinity Wars, I guess.

[Elia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been mild on Duggan, I though his initial Deadpool run was okay with a couple of bright spots (vol. 3). I thought Guardians written by Duggan would be fun. It's mostly fun, it really feels like a spiritual successor to DnA's run from way back when, picking up some of the same threads. The first 12 issues are mostly a blast, trading off between present and past stories, but near the end and after the renumbering, they start to tie in a bigger infinity stone story and I mostly didn't care.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Guardians of the Galaxy reading and it was a goodie. It felt new and refreshing yet familiar which I found a good mix. The story starts off strong but does taper off towards the end leading into another series. But overall it was gripping and entertaining all the way through.

[Xroldx · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow I forgot to read this one between Bendis and Cates Guardian runs. Duggan does a good job of writing a cohesive Guardians story and the art is pretty good to. Too bad you need to read another Infinity event to know how the bigger story ends.

[Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duggan had fun with this, and it shows!

[Patrick Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good cosmic Marvel with enough of a nod to the MCU to satisfy fans of the films. The art is gorgeous

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfection.