Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3: We're Super Heroes

Guardians of the Galaxy (2020)

by Al Ewing (Writer), Brett Booth (Cover Art), Juann Cabal (Illustrator)

A new age of space starts here! They were soldiers, misfits, mercenaries, thieves and a family. They were heroes…but times have changed. The galaxy no longer needs heroes. It needs super heroes! Now, when the call goes forth — whether it’s from a stranded team of planetary explorers or Emperor Hulkling himself — the Guardians of the Galaxy answer! Now, as half the team defends the Kree/Skrull Throneworld against a deadlier threat than they’ve ever faced before, the other half investigates a terrifying sacrificial cult on a mysterious planet…with the power to plunge the universe into war! New headquarters! New costumes! New teammates! An all-new enemy you’ll have to see to believe! And a whole cosmos of trouble! Get on board, True Believer — it’s going to be the ride of your life! 

COLLECTING: Guardians Of The Galaxy (2020) 13-18

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Science Fiction, Superheroes, LGBT, Fiction

144 pages, Paperback

First published November 16, 2021

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Guardians become the Avengers of space. The Last Annihilation event comes in almost immediately. The event is fine. The tie-in issues were completely unneccesary as most of those just felt like more fighting with Mindless Ones. Ewing's best writing in this arc was the relationship between Nova, Star-Lord and Gamora.

Why do none of the men on this team wear shirts? Drax, Star-Lord and Hercules all run around bare-chested with jackets on. It's a very strange way to fight. Those jackets would be falling off and tangling up their arms with each punch.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts off with Guardians becoming the premier space superhero team with new members and jackets but when Doom comes in and fights them and SOS alerts on multiple fronts then the team has to check on it with whatever is happening on skrull home world and the arrival of Dormammu in this dimension and the way he comes through is interesting, can the Guardians save the galaxy one last time from this invasion? Also SWORD ties in somewhat i guess.

Its an okayish volume with loads of things happening but never gives proper attention to them, things happen and then are resolved and sometimes comes off as a mess and is very unlinear sometimes and the inclusion of Dr Doom and Magneto could have been exciting and Dormammu sort of becoming the new world devourer too but its swept under the rug so fast this is the example of a story that has so much potential but squanders it away suddenly for no rhyme and reason and is a disappointment thats why so maybe skip it. Or a one time read. The art was good and overall the run had a promise but never quite got the momentum.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fitting ending. I enjoyed every bit with Nova, Al Ewing KILLS writing him. But the rest...okay. I feel this was for sure rushed in the end and Ewing had another 2-3 arcs to tell.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final volume of Al Ewing's Guardians of the Galaxy is basically the Last Annihilation mini-event, pitting the entire universe against the might of Dormammu. Ewing's masterful plotting brings all of his characters (and some new ones, like Doctor Doom) into the fray and ensures that the story feels epic in scope even if it's nowhere near as large (issue-wise) as the previous Annihilations. And then it all ends, and that's it, and I'm sad, because I could have read this book forever.

New series artist Juan Frigeri pencils his heart out on all of these issues - I've really enjoyed him in a lot of his fill-in issues on other series and I was glad to see him get a starring role, so it's a shame that it's over so soon.

In fact, that's the sentiment for this entire volume, and the series as a whole. Excellent, but over too soon.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is pretty good, though I never really did buy that a planet-sized Dormammu was a real threat, especially with him grinning like a Jack-o'-Lantern in every issue. The art throughout is very strong and the interactions between the various characters (including Doctor Doom?) are presented well. This was a pretty good series all in all and it's too bad it's over.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collects Guardians of the Galaxy (2020) issues #13-18

I didn't love the first two volumes of Ewing's run on "Guardians," but this one was pretty good. Dr. Doom has a significant role to play, and I really enjoyed Nova's story arc. When Bendis was on the title, the first volume was called "Cosmic Avengers," and we see more of that theme here.

Final rating = 3.5 stars

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're Super Heroes offers a terrifically exciting conclusion to Al Ewing's Guardians of the Galaxy series. While not as introspective as the previous volume, it still digs a bit at the conflicts between the Guardian's numerous members. Notably, Nova is pissed that Doc Doom has been recruited to the team by Quill, who is working with vague cosmic knowledge.

So, Doctor Doom is key component of We're Super Heroes - alongside several other big name villains. The plot balloons to galactic proportions pretty quickly, and then is somehow resolved just as quickly. I was pleased that Ewing offered an explanation of Doom's behind-the-scenes meddling at the end, though mid-read, I could not have explained what was going on for the life of me.

But it looked great! Big action! Big threats! A random issue about the Hellfire Gala could have been dropped (Ewing sure tried hard to tie the Guardians in to the X-Men with this volume), but overall, I had a good time. Looking forward to the next iteration of the Guardians! I'm sure the team's make-up and backstories will, once again, change radically with a change of authors.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al Ewing não acertou em tudo que fez nos Guardiões da Galáxia. Mas algumas coisas que ele acertou foi dar um rumo melhor para personagens que em outras versões estavam "boiando" ou sem um propósito. Foi o caso da Serpente da Lua, que se fundiu com usa contraparte "benigna" e agora é uma terceira entidade, o Senhor das Estrelas se transformou de um cowboy espacial a um xamã elemental espacial, e assim por diante. Ewing também acabou transformando os Guardiões nos Vingadores Espaciais como eles forma criados pela dupla DnA para serem. Assim, esse terceiro volume, A Aniqueilação Final, é o coroamento de sua fase nos Guardiões da Galáxia, mostrando todo o potencial da equipe, agora incluindo Hulkling, Wiccano e pasmem, o Doutor Destino em suas fileiras para enfrentar Dormammu. A fase de Ewing se encerra sendo melhor que algumas que as antecederam, como a de Bendis e de Cates, que são muito mais incensados que ele. Além disso, palmas para a coragem de Ewing de tornar os Guardiões a equipe da Marvel com a maior diveridade sexual de personagem. Viva a diversidade!!!

[Tuni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah~ I didn't realize the series was ending until I read The End on the last page. So bittersweet.

These issues all lead up to the Last Annihilation finale. I think this volume had some good humorous moments, but was definitely more action heavy. The two pages in the last issue with Peter, Nova, and Gamora talking to one another while they set up the final attack? I live for them.

This series in whole definitely cemented my love or Ewing. If he writes it, I will read it.

[Public Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit of a let-down after the volume that precedes this one (tho, bonus points to me for actually finding two Guardians volumes that have anything to do with one another. I swear to gob, every Guardians volume I find is either 1, 2, or 3... and you have to be super lucky to find the right ones in the right order).

It starts off great. The gang gets in a fight with Doctor Doom - who apparently has the power to transfer his consciousness into whatever body he chooses. Next thing you know, he has swapped bodies with Prince Hulkling and he's really giving the Guardians what-for. Then something happens and he gets swapped into Rocket's body. Comedy gold. Bing bang boom, Starlord convinces Doom to join the team because something bad is coming. Nova is like "Screw that noise," but the team is like "Yo, chill." So he does.

Rich Rider is all tense about things not going his way so he tries to pick a fight with Magneto at a diplomatic space confab. They get all aggro and start tossing stuff around. Magneto smooshes Nova inside a couple of smashed-up space cars. Nova's like "whatever bro." Eventually, things calm down and they apologize to one another. It was one of my favorite scenes.

Then - spoiler - the bid bad of this story emerges. Turns out Dormammu is using Ego the Living Planet's head to launch an interdimensional invasion. He simultaneously attacks five planets at once. Then everything goes nuts and one part of the team is fighting in this part of the galaxy and another part of the team is fighting over in that part of the galaxy and I can barely keep up. But as in any superhero fight the main way everybody is fighting is by punching and smashing. It all turned into an unintelligible brouhaha of smashing and punching. Then Doom uses magic and presto you can imagine how it ends.

I feel like the gang has gotten a little too powerful now. Starlord is basically a god. So is Hercules of course. When everyone on the team has god-level abilities, you have to come up with ridiculous villain combinations like Dormammu using Ego's head to do an interdimensional whatnot for the stakes to be right - and it just gets a little out of hand.

I read the Guardians because I like the characters. I like hanging out with them when they're not smashing and punching. I get that they have to do that once in a while because they are superheroes and that is what superheroes do, but that is not the main attraction for me. This volume is like 60/40 smash/punch and 13 percent characters bouncing off each other. Swing and a miss.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

4
I really liked Ewing's Guardians of the Galaxy run. It added interesting new elements and real changes to character status quo. It was held back, it seemed to me, by crossovers, and it was cut short by the final storyline. There was a lot more that could have been explored with this iteration of these characters.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man I really wish there was more of Ewing on Guardians, I totally get why everyone was complaining about the run ending when it did now.

While not as good character development wise in this volume (and having some of its story beats tied up in a crossover) this volume ends with a literal bang, and tries it's best to hit the bullseye. Now that Guardians have reformed as space super heroes proper, they put out the fires of the cosmos. Special mention to Ewing getting the privilege to write a brilliant Doctor Doom, and have the guts to make him a member of the large team even if for a bit.

While the first few issues see the teams investigating a bizzare uprising, Star Lord and Nova get to visit SWORD, and I loved every second of Nova posturing like he's a 90s hero against Magento, clearly Ewing had fun there.
Once the actual "Last Annihilation" kicks off, the Guardians issues them selves are the meat, as Rocket and Doom's plan all coalesce into one giant team attack, a very nice headshot, and even some tantalizing crumbs for the future, god willing for Ewing or someone else to pick up.

Again, I wish this series was longer, it clearly was the best guardians stuff in my eyes since DnA, and I can only hope it comes back in some form in the next few years.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable culmination, it feels epic and brutal but keeps the joyful charm of the guardians. Dormammu is a planetary level threat and is treated as such, Doom is totally up to something and I’m excited to see what exactly that is and then the guardians all get some peace (for now).

If this run is about anything I’d say it’s about finding peace in yourself. We start with Starlord not being able to be happy in his own life and returning to the epic adventures of space. By the end everyone seems more content with themselves.

Drax is so funny in this!

[Alex Sarll]

The title could hardly be clearer in its claim that the Guardians are superheroes now, which to an extent is true – the first half of this at least is much more bright, shiny, direct stories than the previous 12 issues. But at the same time the team as re-founded has also become much more organised, dispersed - a sort of superhuman response team, of the sort which the galaxy (and indeed Earth) would probably find more useful than the usual superteam model, but doesn't often seem to get. Given the queering of the team, not least through Quill's menage last volume, it makes sense that while we may not see their ship the Bowie, it has been replaced with the Almond, plus the Tennant and Somerville as subsidiary vessels. Finally, after a year of rearranging the pieces, it feels like Ewing is doing the Guardians book he wanted.

Then, alas, the mystery of what's happened to Ego, the Living Planet is solved and - spoilers! - he's been possessed by Dormammu, unleashing a wave of space Mindless Ones as part of a mini-crossover called The Last Annihilation – whose title I really wish were a binding promise. Mindless Ones have always been, as the name suggests, pretty tedious adversaries. And coming on the tail of however many other Annihilations there were with hordes of mindless space bastards attacking Marvel space, plus plant-twats and symbiote nonsense doing the same within the past year...can we just stop now? Maybe space really is full of hegemonising swarm entities, but as main threats in stories they're very, very dull. Mercifully, they get shunted off centre stage after an issue or two, making way for all the far more interesting character stuff, not least Al getting to cut loose and write Doctor Doom at his most spectacularly hubristic. But lots of that was in one-shots whose ultimate destination, in terms of collected editions, is currently unclear. Hell, this book doesn't even seem to contain the very much Guardians-badged annual explaining the origin of the Prince of Power – no, not that one – which turns out to be a gloriously stupid He-Man riff ("He found himself searching for answers from the wizard Answeros, in his secret Cave of Answers on the legendary Mount Answeros") turning on how easily an Infinity Stone might be mistaken for a jellybean. Certainly they're not going to be in Volume 4 because there isn't one; after 12 issues of scene-setting, there were only these 6 more, and then cancellation. I don't know what went on there, or whether Al will get to pick up again for the inevitable relaunch circa the next film, but right now this doesn't feel like it went to plan at all.

[Lillian Francis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. And so much queer content.
Billy and Teddy
Hercules and Marvel Boy
Moondragon and Phyla
And Nova, Star Lord, and Gamora. Triad FTW. Argue with me that it's platonic love, I dare you. I will fight you.
Sad it's over.

FYI I read this in line with the Last Annihilation crossover issues, inc SWORD so it made more sense than reading without. I honestly didn't know what was going on in Cable Reloaded (why was Rocket wearing a suit?), but that's time travel for you.

[Jon Tully · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of the series and of Ewing; however, this volume was the victim of too many cross-story lines. If you hadn’t been keeping up with other cosmic-related events in SWORD, Iron Man, and X-Men, then you were lost.
It also made the plot jumpy in certain spots.
Pluses: like a large, expanded team (with three queer couples!)
Minuses: jumpiness and Dr. Doom being shoehorned in

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did.... did this suggest a Peter/Richard/Gamora throuple?

[EmBe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Irrtümlich habe ich die Kriktik einem anderen Comic zugeordnet, das habe ich nun korrigiert.
Die Guardians sind um neue alte Superhelden erweitert. Hercules kommt hinzu, auch Nova aka Richard Rider; eigentlich sind alle Bekannten irgendwie beteiligt.
Das ist ein Crossover, denn es mischt zuerst Dr. Doom mit, der glaubt es mit den Guardians aufnehmen zu können, und wird mit seinen eigenen Waffen geschlagen. So muss er mithelfen eine Gefahr abzuwehren, doch die Hälfte der Guardians traut ihm nicht ganz. Erst erscheinen die Progenitors aus dem Leerraum zwischen den Galaxien, dann wird auf einer Randwelt, eine neue dunkle Wesenheit beschworen. Diese Welt ist nichts weniger als der lebende Planet Ego, doch er dient nur als Hülle für einen Dämonen, die wahre Gefahr. Das erfordert eine umfangreiche Zusammenarbeit im Marvel-Comic-Universum, so dass die X-Men auch ihre Hilf anbieten. So ist das Crossover nahezu komplett. Es müssen sich alle abstimmen, einander vertrauen und Gegnerschaften hinten anstellen, bis der Dämon Dormammu besiegt werden kann.
Magie steht ganz klar im Mittelpunkt dieses Bandes. Deswegen würde ich von dieser Geschichte als Space Fantasy sprechen. Es gibt clevere Schachzüge und viele Schauplätze, gezeigt wird auch ein Kuss des schwulen Helden-Paares Hulkling und Wiccan. Für Abwechslung und Action sorgen die Macher reichlich. Die Superhelden-Werdung von Star-Lord im vierten Band hat mir nicht gefallen, muss mich damit aber wohl abfinden. Der fünfte Band hat mir wesentlich mehr Spaß gemacht als der vierte, so dass ich zur 4 Sternen neige.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picking up in a post-Empyre, post-Hellfire Gala galaxy, the Guardians are now more important than ever. Progenitors, members of the Cult of the Forgotten Flame, and a visit from Doctor Doom (who strangely enough joins the team temporarily!) are all a precursor to an invasion from Dormammu called The Last Annihilation!
When all is said and done, Doom is more powerful then ever, but the Guardians are more loved and respected than they have been in a very long time.
Apparently, this is the end of the current run of Guardians. I've enjoyed Guardians as a comic since its resurgence when the movies came out. BUT... I think their time as a force in the Marvel eye is coming to an end. Just my opinion, and not because of any decline in content... just a shift of focus.
Still... this is the best of recent years. Pick this one up. Recommend.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 5 out of 5]

While some aspects of this volume (especially Doctor Doom) can be considered to be quite silly, I felt it was all a great kind of silly totally in line with the humor of the comic throughout Ewing's run. It never got as grim and gritty as the Annihilation-era stuff, but it also wasn't beholden to the movies either. Ewing found a great balance for these characters that I really enjoyed.

With the Guardians formed as a proper interstellar superhero team instead of some sort of galactic police force, it has given them a lot more liberty to do their best to help people across the cosmos without needing to bow to any particular empire or superpower in their scope of coverage.

Things wrap up nicely for this run and I kind of wish it had been mapped out to go a little longer. But this is still a respectable run and I appreciate what Ewing has done.

[John Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Guardians of The Galaxy. A comic book team that NO ONE had heard of until the 1st movie kicked all of the ass at the box office.
Since the success of the movie there have been the inevitable deluge of comic series.
Some good. Taking the characters in new directions with plenty of action and drama.
Some...less....good. Durative twaddle that is an blatant cash grab.
This series by Al Ewing is great. Ewing has a masterful grasp of "space comics" and it shows as he brings out his A game.
In the 1st story arc the Guardians family is broken only to find rebirth in the 2nd with new members added.
In the 3rd we see The Guardians as a new official Peacekeeping Force.
This was a really fun run. With deep emotions and a lot of Galactic Ass Kickery.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Last Annihilation (#13-18). The last volume is a bit of a disappointment for any number of reasons. Primarily, it's gotten too big. That Ewing actually manages some crucial plot beats for a number of characters is astounding, because the cast is enormous. Then we get a crossover and we don't get the crossover issues. Again, it's amazing that Ewing manages to keep things coherent, but given the relatively small number of crossover issues it feels like a cash-grab for Marvel to force us to purchase The Last Annihilation to get the rest of the story (along with half these issues again). And with that crossover comes lots of dull fighting too. yawn. [3/5].

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is only just a four.

Clearly there is story here that takes place elsewhere in other books. That is always frustrating.

Nova is my stand out character here - by a fair bit too. Completely get his frustration with the 'reformed' super villains. There is a large cast (as there should be for any decent Guardians of the Galaxy book), not all get much of a chop. Bit of Quasar fan - not sure there is enough difference between Wendell and Avril to warrant the use of the nega bands.

Some of the art is really nice.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way too many characters. Nova whatever throwing a temper tantrum at my boy Magneto earned him an eternal spot on my shit list because I am forever and always in Magneto's corner. And making him a love interest for my babe of babes Gamora.... Absolutely not!! What a waste of my time reading this garbage cause it was a total doom spiral from the first volume. Curse my insatiable need for answers. Triple ugh.

[Willow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, I really enjoyed this series. And the Last Annihilation stuff was great too! A bit awkward not collecting the other books in the event here, but at this point I'm used to that kind of nonsense from Guardians/X-Men crossovers *cough*Black Vortex*cough*. Solid character work and engaging plots throughout, though I would've been happy with more time with these characters.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every issue ends with the same cliffhanger, throwing a new wrinkle into the mess, just a soup of energy powers and characters spouting exposition while punching. Subtlety and finesse aren't really here. Disappointing

[Jamil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent as always, shame it's ending

[Andres Pasten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Se siente acelerado el final, el cual requiere leer varios tie-in, de este extraño evento annihilation.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some fun superheroics but what a flat ending.

[Jonathan Pavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was alright, had some peaks, but it felt a bit disjointed at times and was expecting more after the last volume. Did like the addition of some characters though