It’s time for the cosmic soooooul odyssey of Star-Lord, baby. Things get weird in the Twelve Houses for Peter Quill in this out of this world tale written by Al Ewing, art by Juann Cabal, colors by Federico Blee, and letter’s by Cory Petit.
Charlie Davis: Allison I think it’s so so fitting that you’re back just in time for one, an issue that we have both been looking forward to since the book started and two, for an issue that is very much about what you find when you find yourself gone from your life for…I don’t know…more than one hundred years? You probably didn’t take a personal space vacation while you were away, but it’s good to have you back!
Allison Senecal: Hello! Back after a brief one-month personal hiatus and damn, I missed yelling about this comic.This is all Star-Lord, baby. I don’t even know where to begin, it’s so juicy, and I’m saying this in regards to a character I haven’t particularly liked.
The Twelve Houses
CD: So the good news is! We were right about Peter not being dead. I know we speculated on what could be up with him, but Ewing has done so much with all the other characters that while he was a specter looming over the rest of the characters, Gamora, Rocket and Rich especially, we almost kind of forgot about him too. The book has been doing this incredible job of almost pushing us to move forward as well. Past Star-Lord. But it’s good for us, and Peter that we haven’t forgotten him even though it seems like he’s lived a thousand lifetimes while he’s been gone. Plunged into a realm hidden away from everyone and everything.
AS: Spiritual journey time for Peter Quill. Right away, I skimmed to the end real quick to see how many houses Pete was gonna hit in these gorgeous Cabal layouts. There sure are twelve of them- the twelve houses of the Zodiac. Twelve is a good number. It’s the astrological number of completion and perfection, what awaits you at the end of a metaphysical cycle. I love that the Master of the Sun even straight-up tells Peter to complete himself, a callback to Englehart’s brief time with the original Star-Lord in the pages of Marvel Preview. There though, it was him telling Peter to don the last part of his new costume. Here he’s telling him to complete himself.
CD: I know you and I talked about what it would actually take for Peter to have his character revamped so to speak, a bit of a clean slate, and really I am so glad that this issue delivered for you, especially. I’ve never known a time when Star-Lord wasn’t just the wholesale version shipped in from the MCU, but it seemed like over the years as more people worked on developing him he became this weird mix of MCU Star-Lord and very select elements from his past characterizations. He was a bit of an amalgam that didn’t have a lot of direction. I am so glad he got this. I am so glad, because Peter is a character that I can see myself getting really attached to if handled correctly. The text kind of makes it explicit that he’s never really known who he is so–he gets given a chance to figure that out.
AS: Yeah I’ve been pretty hard on Peter as a character, because I tend to find media synergy distasteful and his has been particularly messy. But, in fairness, he’s been pretty messy from the start. Marvel almost immediately erased his Englehart origins (just a lil’ human baby) and had his father (surprise!) turn out to be an alien. Englehart didn’t get a chance to realize his vision, because he and Marvel parted ways, but he’d initially conceptualized something similar to this, but longer term than what we got in this issue. Peter becoming less of a jerk and embracing the legacy of the Star-Lord. Of course, comics are no longer as patient as they used to be, so we got a single issue for Peter’s spiritual awakening and not a whole year’s worth.
I’m very curious as to whether or not Ewing has spoken to Englehart at all, beyond very lovingly homaging his work, because phew!
CD: I recommend going with your gut on this because I would be really surprised that it would hue this close and not be paying homage. Ewing is known for his careful consideration of everything that’s come before AND knowing when a character needs some TLC. It’s the recipe for success. Peter finds himself on Morinus and we are treated to a journey that is just as beautiful to look at as it is to read. The colors and Cabal’s art are the first things that stand out to me. He’s lending a voice to the book and to this issue specifically that really makes it feel like a journey. Like we are visiting another plane of existence. I could probably go on forever about it, but it’s really something special. Peter meets strangers that like him, are also seemingly on a journey for self discovery. Also I have to get this out.
Aradia HOT.
AS: Aradia VERY HOT. Love her whimsical celestial hair. Yeah this is just a breathtaking sequence. We get a cosmic turtle with a city on its back. Pirates. Bird-men. An ancient temple. So many cool little glimpses of other worlds. The constants are Mors and Aradia, as you said, his fellow spiritual travellers. And they help Peter figure out a very particular part of himself, if you know what I mean…
A Bi Bi Baby
CD: GOD. We kind of got a tease about Peter from Rich a bit earlier when we were in the middle of his issue, but this. This is canon baybay! Peter Quill is bi and it’s just really nice to see it on page. When we say this is Peter finding himself, we really mean that this Peter finding himself. I will admit, I got a little scared that so much time had past in the sequences that maybe Peter was really going to get a clean slate…like forget everything about himself, but there is a panel in which he is very specifically thinking about Gamora and turns down Mors and Aradia’s advances.
AS: Yeah, and while he does later decide to be with them, I don’t think he’s forgotten Gamora (or Rich…) and I hope that’s kind of where we’ll see the wheels turning in that Annihilation issue we’re getting in February. I really hope we get a firmly canon bi Rich soon, since we seem to be full-speed ahead on the queering of Marvel Cosmic at this point. I do kind of wonder if Peter will expect that trio to be the same dynamic as with Mors and Aradia, and if that’s where we’ll see some tension. Gamora will absolutely not dig that idea at this moment in time.
CD: Oh I would almost guarantee it, honestly. It really gives me hope for seeing the trio of Gamora, Quill and Rich actually together in the pages of the comic. Man. We really are just doing it out here, huh? One of the things about the layouts that I really loved in this issue were the very clear differences in Quill as time continued to march on. Cabal got to have some fun with his design while still keeping the core of what we have known him to be. It’s a really, really cool way to convey what’s going on with him without actually having to talk about it on page.
AS: Ah yeah that Ninth House spread specifically is so damn cool. I kinda want fauxhawk Peter now, I won’t lie. I think that’s the ticket to me liking him now.
Honey, I Shrunk the Pantheon
AS: Ok, so we gotta talk about how all this Olympian %$&# went down, because it blew me away. We never actually saw what happened during the explosion at the end of issue 2. Now we do, and it’s bonkers. The Element Gun basically sucked up all that divine cosmic power to recharge and every time Peter uses the gun in the Twelves Houses, part of their essence escapes, eventually allowing them to escape. JUST BEAUTIFUL AND WILD. I LOVE IT.
CD: Quill’s Element Gun is such a cool concept anyway and MAN this was such an awesome way to use it. I love that it’s Peter trying to have a hero moment at the end of issue 2 and just lucking on a way to actually contain the Gods. I love that for him, but also they are back. Which…we knew that they wouldn’t be gone forever. Cosmic space Gods seem way too up Ewing’s alley.
Also can we talk for a hot second how Quill’s reunion with the team is immediately dampened by it being thrust into King in Black…because. Bummer.
AS: We totally knew the Olympians weren’t gone for good. You don’t just open a comic series with that and then let it go nowhere, but just yeah what a cool concept for containing them. I’m already pumped to see them turn up again down the road.
Sigh, yeah, I had honestly entirely forgotten the next issue was a tie-in and I was like “OH SURELY the Olympians already popped out right behind Peter” but no. Just a giant Knull dragon. I trust Ewing to handle it and spin the team reunion along with symbiote-punching pitch perfectly, but still.
CD: Still indeed.
Marvelous Musings
- Englehart had even titled his initial Star-Lord story, “First House: Earth”, so this is such a nice little homage to literally everything about that first appearance.
- I play a tabletop RPG where we ALSO made Peter Quill bisexual. Great minds.
- Aradia is VERY pregnant in that one page, and also I gotta assume that baby is the “Rocky” Peter asks about. Wonder whomst he could be named after.
- GEEZ PETER
Charlie Davis is the world’s premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Match Club.
