In the latest installment of THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY from Al Ewing, Juann Cabal, Federico Blee, VC’s Cory Petit – Nova takes his healing moments where and when he can, while things come to a head between Phyla-Vell and Moondragon. Oh yeah, and a bunch of angry Olympians are back.
Charlie Davis: God Allison I knew that we were headed toward something like this, but I didn’t think everyone would topple like dominos the moment they were all pushed up against one another. This issue gives us Rich and Quill and Gamora and that thread of Phyla and Moondragon’s issues reaching a boiling point has FINALLY been pulled. So much is boiling over now.
Allison Senecal: I say this book is my catnip pretty much every month but this month especially Guardians just took my heart out of my chest and gave it a few squeezes. The character balance in this book is simply phenomenal, but you know I’m always a fool for a sad Rich Rider and Phyla-Vell/Moondragon-heavy issue.
“Rocket Maaaaan…”
AS: I’m going to bounce right into this, because I’m not sure I’ve ever started screaming the way I did once I realized Rich was on comms with his therapist during the opening narration. It’s entirely responsible (both from the character and from Ewing) while not feeling heavy-handed. Heroes going to their trauma “ground zeroes” is a fairly common comics thing, but rarely do they do the healthy thing and have a mental health professional on the line the whole time. I don’t want to get into mean comparisons with the slap-dash Annihilation: Scourge non-event from 2019, but what a way to actually keep driving Rich forward and through his traumatic history.
CD: I am really impressed that that is a line they keep pulling on. Rich is coping, but he’s doing the healthy thing instead of spending more time self destructing. It’s really amazing to see Quill through the lens of Rich as well. There is so much warmth when he looks at Quill and thinks about Quill and there really is no way anyone can deny his feelings for him. But like everything else, even if you’re coping well, there is always someone or something ready to pull the rug out from under you. Gamora has been the opposite of Rich, coping badly and handling Quill’s death about as poorly as you can. It’s really Ewing illustrating the two ways this can go and over the same person even. Rich took a step to try and not react so poorly, all Gamora has been doing is reacting poorly. I feel like we’re about to see their two paths diverge even more.
AS: When Rich takes his helmet off later in the issue for his tete-a-tete with Pete, his face just ruins my life. What a warm &%$#ing human being. Even earlier though, he gets so contemplative when his doctor asks how he feels about Peter’s return. I know where I’d like to see Ewing go with this Rich-Pete-Gamora situation, and I hope he’s allowed to take it to those places especially considering Pete’s whole personal renaissance in Morinius.
Also, notice how much perspective Rich has gained since when he first started his therapy sessions. That flashback sequence a handful of issues ago where he’s screaming “It’s all up to me!” over and over. And now we’ve seen over the course of the series Rich regaining his desire for and love of camaraderie. This scene where he and Doc are discussing how he’s never alone (not now and not during the events of Annihilation), but he is definitely a hero is such a nice cap on that journey for him.
CD: I didn’t know a whole lot about Rich and his struggles before the issue where Ewing actually dove into everything, but I am so glad that this is a story about him healing even if the path to that is a little rough. That’s just how life is, and Ewing seems to be really good at exploring how you can fit all those pieces of the puzzle together in the best way you can and still move forward. Gamora is really the other side of the coin here and while she calls out Quill for leaving (which she absolutely should) she doesn’t stick around for long enough for anyone to actually let her know what’s happening. I have a feeling that maybe she wouldn’t really care either. I have exactly the same thoughts about you on how I’d like this all to shake out. Lets hope there is room to explore that even if it seems like a pretty big shake up is coming down the line. Speaking of a shake up…
Harold, They’re Fighting
AS: We’ve been waiting for a direct confrontation between Phyla and Heather for quite a bit now it seems, yeah? Besides a few snippy mid-action comments we still hadn’t really witnessed the fallout from the 2 Moon 2 Dragon amalgamation from #5. Well, we get it here. I love that the argument starts over Moondragon eavesdropping on the Gamora-Quill fight, something Moondragon fans know 616 Heather would absolutely do, just before we get Phyla calling her out for it. Her Heather would never. Heather promptly sucks her into their shared mindscape, which fairly obviously shows both us and Phyla that her wife is still in there, no matter her protestations to the contrary. I also get a kick out of (read: get extremely sad) Phyla saying the 616 universe doesn’t have true heroes, both because of 616 Phyla’s heroism and the conversation Rich just had earlier.
CD: This brings up a lot of what they have been poking around for some time now. Flaws are essentially what makes heroes, well, heroes. Sure 616 Heather had a darkness and felt pain and did things that maybe she wasn’t always the proudest of, but really there isn’t a reason that Phyla should be this up in arms and not even listening to Heather unless she is feeling extremely insecure with her place in all of this. It seems like a really bad max of missing her Heather, always being right and not being able to process guilt or upset in any way. It seems to me from everything we are beginning to learn, that this heroic universe of which Heather and Phyla hailed from maybe wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
AS: Yeah this Phyla is a stick in the mud, and really that world’s Heather kinda was too (though with a bit more compassion I think, considering her response to 616 Heather) before this mix-up. It really raises the spectre of 616 Phyla, quite literally when Heather says she remembers losing her. I always have to temper my “rah-rah”-ness in regards to alternate Phyla. Great aesthetic, love her suits, love the big bitch ponytail. But, this isn’t the Phyla we saw developed through a few different cosmic series for six years. I trust Ewing, but he does have a lot of work to do on Marvel’s behalf in regards to unburying this lesbian or at least her personality and personal history. And those two heart-breaking wedding band panels. Woof.
Phyla and Gamora seem to be on the same healing trajectory, or lack thereof. Likewise, Rich and Heather are on a very different heart-opening kind of journey.
CD: I can’t see this going any other way than each of the more damaged members of the team finally having a bit of a reckoning. Like it or not, Phyla is not the Phyla that went on a journey with Moondragon here and kind of like every character in need of repair before them, I think Ewing is on a mission to reunite both halves. I can’t really see this ending in any other way than 616 Phyla coming back and kind of melding with this Phyla. I think it would be for the best if Phyla had a bit of a moment just like Moondragon did in her highlight issue. Out of all the cast members, I feel like Phyla is the one who hasn’t really been given as much space. Maybe that’s because this is all part of a bigger plan or because the cast has so many people to focus on, but I am going to give Ewing the credit and say he has some plans for Phyla to make the two halves connect.
AS: Yeah like I said I trust Ewing. Phyla definitely still needs the most TLC. I trust him to find a balance even with the expanded cast coming in.
Pete?
CD: Man. I am still kinda blown away by all the cool stuff that’s happened surrounding Quill in this book. It seems like by introducing some more romantic elements with Rich, plugging his own trauma in and giving him an issue to really shine…this Quill couldn’t seem farther away from the MCU inspired Quill that we’ve had for ages. Ewing is walking a line here, but it’s really working for me. It gives Peter layers we haven’t seen in a long while and by giving him two tangly pasts but not sacrificing his integrity he’s, dare I say it, back to the Quill he used to be with some pretty rad updates.
AS: Yeah it’s all entirely additive, which still blows me away. Peter’s retained his core relationships- with Rich, with Gamora, with the Guardians, and now with the folks of Morinius. It’s just a big new direction to play with, and one that opens up all those possibilities with Rich, if the messaging from both Quill’s Morinius romances and the dangling conversation subtext here are to be believed. It makes a ton of sense for Rich too. We’ve seen this a bit with Krakoa (though not as much as I’d like) and the storytelling doors that open by just letting characters run with chemistry and their personal inevitabilities are infinite.
CD: I will admit that I was a little disappointed with Rich and Peter not connecting a bit more romantically given what Ewing has been dancing around with them, but at the same time I have to set aside my needs and give the story room to grow in that direction. I have to imagine if Ewing had his way, that we would have seen that happen already, but then I remember that we are dealing with a bunch of traumatized people and maybe they would not jump right into soft romantic kisses in the middle of the battlefield. EVEN THOUGH THAT’S WHAT I WANT. You’re right about Krakoa. All this subtext and implication, but very little actual follow through on the page. With two canon gay chatacters entering the fray soon, I am hoping we move past unbidden lusting. Not that they are going to have time really, considering the Olympian threats that have returned. What do you make of the expanding of the team that we are coming upon?
AS: Yeah I can handle being a bit patient here. Peter just came back so he’s a little unmoored. And so on and so forth. I just really can not find a single platonic-ass reason for that soft Rich face directed at Quill, but I. Can. Be. PATIENT. Thanks a lot, Mr. Cabal, for all the doe-eyed Nova content in this series.
We really should talk about the team expansion, huh? I think we could ignore it til we get there if Marvel hadn’t been doing so much marketing for it already. I’m into it besides the Booth covers [Ed. Note: So say we all]. I really can not imagine a worse room-reading than Marvel looking at the core audience for this Guardians team and going “Ah you know who’s perfect? Brett Booth.” At least it’s just covers. The roster itself I’m pumped for. I love Mantis and I absolutely adore the two Quasars. I’m hoping Ewing doesn’t just skim over Avril’s return and we get a really good double-dipping Quasar arc. I do worry about the character balance, but if anyone can deliver, it’s Ewing. Haha.
CD: I have to think this was all planned. Something big has to come after the whole God thing wraps up and since Empyre set this whole standard that Guardian’s has kinda been dipping its toes into, it only makes sense that he’s gonna be playing around in it. You’re super right about Booth though. We’ve made our point over on the site about why we are not covering the books he’s working on so it’s not worth wasting our brain cell’s chatting around him. There will be lots of new characters to dig into and I’m excited to see where we go with this.
AS: Me too, and there’s so much ground to cover and so many cool characters to dig into in Cosmic Marvel that at this point I’m totally fine with Ewing driving the bus carrying all of them, haha.
Marvelous Musings
- This is me, screenshotting every single soft Rich Rider face in this issue. What a man, what a man, what a man.
- Love that we can just assume everyone made it off the Bowie thanks to Noh-Varr and also how Ewing approaches comics, haha.
- God I am gonna miss Cabal a WHOLE LOT.
- I can’t wait for Billy and Teddy to be added into this whole mess.
Charlie Davis is the world’s premier Shatterstarologist, writer and co-host of The Match Club.
