Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Movie Review (Geek Edition) - Guardians of the Galaxy (Part 2)

I love the Guardians movie simply because Marvel had now cleverly introduced the whole movie viewing public to the Marvel Cosmic Universe. Of course, some may argue that the Silver Surfer appeared in the Fantastic Four 2 - The Rise of the Silver Surfer back in 2007 but they managed to screw that up with the Cloudy Galactus.
Anyway, coming back to why I loved the GOTG movie - the introduction of the Marvel Cosmic Universe! From my previous post in Part 1, I had already mentioned the Nova Corps, of which I'm a fan. It's basically Marvel's version of the Green Lantern Corps. 

I am just stoked for the cosmic stories and characters like Quasar, Silver Surfer, the Brood, Starjammers, the Galadorian Spaceknights, etc.
Not only that, it also opens the door to many possibilities like the other members of the Guardians, including but not limited to (whom we have a high chance of seeing at least a couple of new additions to the GOTG's membership):
- Bug 
- Adam Warlock 
The following Guardian members will not be touched on in this post.
- Phyla Vell (Captain Marvel's daughter)
- Mantis 
- Moondragon (Drax's daughter)

Bug
1st appeared in Micronauts 01 (1979)
Originally introduced in one of my favourite but now defunct title from the 70's due to some licensing issue (much like ROM, Star Wars, etc.) - the Micronauts. A Galactic Warrior from the Microverse who was re-introduced back into the Marvel Universe recently in the 2007 Annihilation event.
Adam Warlock
1st appeared in Marvel Premiere 01 (1972)
I first came cross this enigmatic character in the same comic as when I first discovered Gamora - Fantasy Masterpieces 13 (see below). This character is too complex to summarize in 1 paragraph. Go read up on Adam Warlock stories.
Gamora
1st appeared in Strange Tales 180 (1975)
Also called "The deadliest woman in the whole galaxy". I remember I first read her in an Adam Warlock story in Fantasy Masterpieces 13 which featured 1 of my favourite heroes - the Silver Surfer. But the format of the book was the atypical 40 pages, which meant that there was an extra 20 pages of story in the back which featured a really weird looking character whom I have learnt to love over the years- Adam Warlock, arch-nemesis to Thanos (yes, THAT Thanos...). Adam Warlock, who had been the wielder of the Soul Gem for many years in the MU.
Drax the Destroyer
1st appeared in Iron Man 55 (1973) - the very same issue as Thanos' 1st appearance.

Created by a cosmic being called Kronos, after Arthur Douglas' family were brutally killed by the mad Titan - Thanos, with the specific purposed of destroying Thanos. Personally, I like the original Purple caped version (see above) a whole lot more than the half-naked tattooed version from the movie. 
Groot
1st appeared in Tales to Astonish 13 (1960)
In the 60s, before the advent of Superheroes, Marvel was quite big on Monsters, and Groot was one of those alien monsters who came from Planet X to abduct humans. However, in 2006's Annihilation: Conquest event (which I loved by the way), Groot was re-introduced as a hero.
Rocket Raccoon
I actually thought I had read Rocket's 1st Marvel appearance in Incredible Hulk 271 (1982), but apparently, he 1st appeared slightly earlier in Marvel Preview 07 (1976). Similar to Groot, Rocket was reintroduced to the Marvel Universe in the Annihilation: Conquest event.
Korath the Pursuer
1st appeared in Quasar 32 (March 1992)
Honestly, the 90s was a decade of a lot of crappy Marvel stories. I didn't really read that many Marvel comics in the 90s, and this was no exception. I hazard a guess that Marvel was trying to create another version of Ronan but updated. Guess it didn't work out too well as I read a lot of Avengers (except many of the stories from the 90s) stories and I can't recall reading about Korath at all.
Nebula
1st appeared in Avengers 257 (1985)
A space pirate/mercenary. In the comics, she claimed that she was Thanos' grand-daughter but in the movie, she was portrayed as Thanos' daughter & ruthless lieutenant.
Ronan the Accuser
1st appeared in Fantastic Four 65 (1967)
Originally, an enemy to Marvel's First Family - the Fantastic Four, and Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell, whom I also love. Hope he might return someday soon). As a Kree Emissary to Earth to exact vengeance for the destruction of a Kree Sentry (Sentry 459) in an earlier FF issue. 
Ronan can be categorised in the group of characters that can swing from being a good guy in 1 story and a bad guy in another (much like Magneto). In the Annihilation event, he joined forces with the heroes t repel Annihilus' invading forces from the Negative Zone. However, he is now married to the Inhuman Crystal (who was once Quicksilver's wife - Yup, THAT guy from Avengers.).
Starlord
1st appeared in Marvel Preview 04 (1976)
I haven't really read that many Starlord (Classic) stories before he became a Guardian. However, since the German Trooper gas-mask look, I have been following most of his (mis)adventures (see my GOTG review) only after the Annihilation event.
I must admit, the new movie version look is my least favourite. I liked the sleek classic look and the German Trooper gas-mask look.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Wow... so detailed and pictorial... I love the movie as well! Especially Groot! Hehehe