Duty, Sacrifice, and Himbos in Guardians of the Galaxy #2

Are you all ready for Allison Senecal and Charlie Davis to get into GoTG in another installment of Gimme Some Space?

Dad Bod Hercules joins the Guardians in their fight against the Hellenic Pantheon and their Black Hole Bomb, but will every hero be able to make it home? Allison and Charlie dive into this truly awesome issue by Al Ewing, Juan Cabal, Federico Blee and Cory Petit.

Allison Senecal: So here we are with Lesbian-Himbo Solidarity, Issue 2. Last we saw our favorite cosmic heroes, they were in varying states of distress. At least no one’s died yet. What, why are you looking at me that way? *checks notes* Oh.

This may be my favorite single issue of the year thus far. It’s just perfect.

Charlie Davis: Oh Allison. Don’t you know that death is simply the outcome of running around being a dumbass in space for half your life? Oh…and the byproduct of a really cutting heroic sacrifice. Uh…ANYWAY. This issue kind of has everything I’ve ever wanted from a GoTG book and have never EVER gotten. The team feels like a team and a family, the stakes feel high but we’re not steeped in dread while we follow our heroes. IT’S GOT A SPACE LESBIAN COMMUNE AREA AND SOME NOH-VAR FLIRTING. Oh and Hercules who I’ve not really read about but is real cute [Ed. Note: One of your editor’s favorite boys]. It’s just…very, very enjoyable.

Behind Every Good Woman is Another More Telepathic Woman

AS: When we jump back into the action here, Phyla-Vell is holding off not one, but three suped up Olympians all on her own. Well, not quite on her own, since her wife is giving her a telepathic boost (heightened reflexes and all that good stuff), but still! Nova is down for the count after getting punched in the stomach by Zeus in the last issue and the Nova Force is barely holding him together. Sad, but it’s ok because the interdimensional super-wives are keeping him safe. There’s that lesbian-himbo solidarity I mentioned. And I know we are both super into the concept of Phyla and Heather having a very homey telepathic meeting space??

CD: That was so tremendous!! I love that they have an interdimensional mind space here they can commune, but also where it’s very, very, homey. Ugh, I want more stuff like this and I hope it’s not the last place we see it. Having a little quiet moment doesn’t break up the tension or the action that’s happening. I know this Moondragon and Phyla are supposed to be perfect, but god dammit they are. Helping Rich out like this and committing themselves to be the heroes of the day. Damn. Al Ewing said gay rights.

AS: I think that’s another thing I LOVED about this. It could have easily become maudlin. Considering 616 Phyla’s death – and at that time her being one of very, very few prominent queer Marvel women – I almost expected it to, even though this is Ewing, who I mostly trust on these things. (Damn you, comics, for my trust issues.) Instead we get to the core of these versions of the characters and also a feel-good moment when they have full confidence in each other to make it out alive. Marvel said we can have a little more Violent But Good queer content, as a treat. Speaking of…

CD: Ugh were being fed so damn well. I’ll admit, one of my main reasons for picking this book up was the inclusion of not only Phyla-Vell because this version has an amazing new look, but because Noh-Var was gonna be here too. I love the low key way he’s written here, especially because he’s been so damn over the top the last few times he’s been in books [Ed. Note: He’s just here to help and seem slightly superior about it!]. He gets a moment with Herc here that has just the slightest hint of flirtation, but it seems like Ewing is really committed to making him seem competent, BECAUSE HE IS. I wanted to talk about Noh for a moment, but this moment also leads us into another main sticking point in this issue. Athena. Or at least what’s left of her.

Gods as Squads

AS: ATHENA. I love all the new Olympian designs to differing degrees here. We get to see them a bit more clearly than we did in the first issue. Hephaestus is creepy. He looks almost like one of his own automatons. Athena, however, is my clear favorite. She has a genuinely eldritch look now. The bleeding eye sockets were a nice touch in that she’s the goddess of wisdom, but with her newly augmented cosmic powers that likely means something much closer to the genuine cosmic awareness that we’ve seen several characters possess over the years. Possibly something even greater. She even briefly speaks to her own burgeoning madness. Looooooooooove it and love the fortune-telling spread from Cabal and Blee [Ed. Note: It was too good to pass up].

CD: It’s really mixing a whole lot of genres that maybe shouldn’t go together, but Ewing and Cabal make them work so well. It might seem weird to put the gods in space and make them evil, but I actually think this grounds the story. Everyone knows the gods, these ones have just gone off the rails. I LOVED Athena’s design and I loved Artemis too. I ALSO LOVED THE ARROW TO THE KNEE JOKE THAT WE GOT IN 2020. (AS: YES!!!!!!!) I don’t know where Ewing is going with this, but it’s like some sort of Greek space opera and hell yeah that’s what it should be.

AS: Based on the future tidbits that Athena gives us, I too am veryyyyyy curious where Ewing is going. She tells Herc they’ll meet again, and for a precog that seems too on the nose even with all of New Olympus blown to hell at the end. No way are all these gods dead, with this set-up. The Fool-Saint prediction is a bit obvious but we’ll get to Quill in a minute here. The Lovers I so desperately hope are Gamora and Rich, but it doesn’t say re-united so I’m leaning more towards Phyla/Heather being of even more central importance or something else. I did see Death is also in the cards, but that more generally signifies CHANGE, so it’s not as revealing.

CD: There are so many ways this plot can go, and I was genuinely taken aback by the way this issue concluded. Everyone was very much wrapped up in the super heroics and I thought everyone would get out and catch their breath but…

Quill.

Peter Quill and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

AS: Ah, Peter Quill. Have I ever had such a fraught relationship with a character who is so obviously a himbo? Early Star-Lord appearances were so pulpy and so few and far between that seemingly everyone (except Ewing, apparently) forgot them and his early origins were retconned away for his mid-aughts reintroduction. I loved Annihilation-era Quill. A good mix of jaunty space pirate, cosmic war veteran, and generally competent. Just post-Annihilation he was softened up a little, himbofied a bearable amount, and dealing with his own PTSD (much like his war buddy, Rich Rider). Then the MCU came along. Much jokes, very jokes, all the time jokes [Ed Note: With a side helping of yucks]. We were saddled with the mind-numbing version that Kate Pryde somehow fell for (another Peter, that’s how). Ewing seems to have settled into a happy medium version which I like QUITE a lot. And he’s seemingly brought back Peter’s secret alternate universe Master of the Sun origin, which – Interesting as hell to see where that goes.

CD: Even as someone who knows Peter ONLY from the movie, it only took one look at his old outfit to know that they had completely changed his persona after the movie came out. It’s sad really, because I REALLY like this Peter. He’s got a nobility about him and he’s not simply here for the quips or jokes. He’s seen some dark stuff and the moment when he realizes the automatons were people once…something kinda snaps in him. He gets to be a little bit of both of his personas here and I don’t know why everyone can’t balance that.

AS: *keening wail* Exactly. I reallyyyyyy love this Peter. Ewing gets him, but I’m also happy editorial doesn’t seem to have dampened any of this development. I think it may be due to the team make-up here. Noh can also come up with quips, but as you said before, Ewing understands how to balance Noh as well so. I have the feeling neither character will go off the rails. We get to have our cake and eat it too. God, and this finale. Phew. What a heart-wrenching sacrifice we get from Quill here. Even with the knowledge (for us as the reader, and for Quill himself) that he’ll come back. Him answering “yes” to both Zeus and his memory of the Master points to this eventuality. That doesn’t cheapen the end though. Masterful.

CD: And the end of this issue…the damn END OF THE ISSUE. I can’t remember that last time that I bought the impact of a death hook, line and sinker [Ed Note: Your faithful editor actually cried]. Peter sacrificing himself and Rocket’s reaction. Poor Rocket. The framing of this was perfect and Herc holding him back. Goodness.

AS: *SNIFFLE* Now they’re gonna have to go tell Gamora. AND RICH BECAUSE HE WAS COMATOSE. I have the feeling the next issue is gonna have us both so emo. Please, Mr. Ewing sir, be careful with our feelings. Or don’t. I love to cry.