BLOOD WORK: BETWEEN THE PANELS: LEGENDARY STAR LORD & THE BLACK VORTEX

In anticipation for the release of the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY movie, Marvel Comics launched the first Star-Lord comic book since 1996 and Peter Quill finally is given the chance to take center stage for the first time in his 40 years as a character for Marvel. THE LEGENDARY STAR-LORD debuted in July of 2014 and ran for 12 issues before being cancelled for Marvel's mega event SECRET WARS. It was largely a self contained story save for one massive crossover story arc titled THE BLACK VORTEX, which ran through nearly all of Marvel's cosmic books of 2015.

For the first time since the 1990's we readers had multiple Guardians of the Galaxy comic books to choose from, the regular Guardians of the Galaxy book, GUARDIANS 3000, a ROCKET RACCOON monthly, and the Legendary Star-Lord in addition to various one-shot specials. In terms of writing the best of these books, in my opinion, are Guardians 3000 and Legendary Star-Lord. Written in its entirety by SAM HUMPHRIES and penciled, for the majority of the issues, by PACO MEDINA with FREDDIE E. WILLIAMS filling in as the artist for three issues. As a result of this stable creative team the book feels consistent and it shines where it could very well have disappeared as just another book to cash in on the movie's success.

THE PLOT

When not gallivanting with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill, the scoundrel of the space ways, is treasure hunting, Indiana Jones style. He's stealing from evil and nefarious groups and painting a big ol' target on his back in the process. One mysterious individual has a particular axe to grind, a man named Mr. Knife. Knife hires a group of the galaxy's deadliest warriors, calling themselves the SLAUGHTER SQUAD, to track down and apprehend the notorious Star-Lord. While on the run from the SS, Peter and Kitty Pryde, the Earth X-Man known as SHADOWCAT, decide to take their relationship to the next level, namely her flying into space to pull his bacon out of the fire. But when Mr. Knife makes a deal with the son of THANOS and comes into possession of a universe ending weapon called THE BLACK VORTEX, it's going to take the universe's greatest heroes to save the galaxy.

Captain Marvel and the Black Vortex

THE GOOD

Consistency. After 1982 Peter Quill disappeared from comics having had only a handful of appearances, something like 10 or 12 issues. A sort of failed experiment of Marvel's. Then in 2004 the character was revived by writer KEITH GIFFEN and artist RON LIM as a jaded, cynical, partially cyberized individual in a supporting role. Then the story ANNIHILATION is released and the sequel ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST in which Giffen continues to develop his version of Star-Lord. And then writers DAN ABNETT and ANDY LANNING got a hold of Peter Quill, taking what Giffen had created, and ran with it. From 2004 to 2010 we had a well defined and three dimensional character that felt truly unique and special. And consistent. Peter Quill had never been better and it is this version of the character that I became a fan of. Star-Lord and the Guardians disappeared after that.

Then in 2013 the Guardians of the Galaxy came back... and they no longer resembled themselves in the slightest, neither visually nor in personality. Star-Lord, despite being the focal character of the book, was incredibly inconsistent from anything he ever was previously. For some unknown reason Marvel's writers chose to ignore the 6 years of Star-Lord's appearances. Then the movie comes along and give us yet another wildly different version of Peter Quill. As a personal preference I always felt that the comics should dictate the movies. Anymore it seems the opposite. In the case of Star-Lord the movie finally established some continuity of character. Sam Humphries's rendition is very much the Star-Lord from the film. Long story short, we finally have something recognizable as Star-Lord (albeit the Star-Lord from the film). He used to be a war-torn fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants hero. Now he's a class clown "bro."

The Slaughter Squad

Simplicity. This book was released simply to cash in on the success of the movie, hence Star-Lord being written and drawn like Chris Pratt. And it doesn't try to be anything more or less. In this it exceeds expectations. Each issue is short and fun. The writer doesn't come across as lazy or pretentious but rather someone doing the best they can with what they've got. Star-Lord's character doesn't really evolve from start to finish save finally committing to a woman. It's not complicated. And ultimately it weaves a fun and entertaining story. I don't feel pissed off after reading each issue like I did with another Guardians of the Galaxy book coming out at the same time as this one.

The Black Vortex

Going along with simple ideas that turn out wonderful, one of the main antagonists in the book is a group of villains called the Slaughter Squad. These guys are basically the anti-guardians of the galaxy. Since other writers pretty much ruined all the great cosmic characters out there, Humphries brings in a new group which he can make all his own and it works. Also he transforms the flat and drab character of King J'Son into an enjoyable character by merely giving him a mask and an alias. These simple approaches feel fresh and fun.

Star-Lord and Mr. Knife fighting over the Black Vortex

The Black Vortex. At first it appeared like this was going to be another shameless money grab from Marvel. I was apprehensive to say the least when I saw Brian Michael Bendis was involved. Luckily it is Sam Humphries who is the architect of this story and the person who writes the majority of the issues. The Black Vortex is what the whole Star-Lord book is building towards from issue one. The tie-in issues are good too for the most part. The Nova, Captain Marvel, and Guardians Team-Up issues are among my favorites for those entire books. The concept feels fresh too and different from the usual crossover event stories. This is easily my favorite event book of Marvel's for 2015.

Cosmic powered-up heroes!

THE BAD

Cosmic powered-up Drax

No resolution. After the Black Vortex story arc finishes there is one issue of fallout from the event and the issue neither includes Star-Lord nor any of the major players in the last story. The actual resolution occurs in another comic book. As a result this book feels a little incomplete. I'm guessing it was an editorial decision because this book for the majority of its run stood on its own. This book, along with 95% of Marvel's books ended due to the Secret Wars event. I have voiced my disgust with what Secret Wars has wrought in the past and this is just another casualty. This book's story is wrapped up in the regular Guardians of the Galaxy comic book, which, if you had been reading that book and not this book, would've felt like something from left field. In the end it leaves this book feeling incomplete and forces you to buy the other book, which was very disappointing storywise but had good art.

Cosmic powered-up Gamora

THE VERDICT

Cosmic powered-up Ronan

The Legendary Star-Lord was a twelve issue series that led up to the crossover event The Black Vortex which added ten more issues if you purchased them all. 22 issues in all make up this complete story and it is well worth it. This book was one of the stronger books to have come from Marvel in the last 2 years which is surprising given that this book was originally tossed out there to shamelessly cash in on the Guardians movie. I didn't talk about the art very much. Paco Medina has a very cartoony style which isn't amazing nor is it bad by any means. It's fun artwork which is perfect for this book's tone. The colors and inks are amazing. All in all this book was a wonderful surprise.