Guardians of the Galaxy #20 Review/Spoilers

[Drakeon]

So we will most likely never know why the cancerverse still exists and why it wasnt destroyed by Death.

Also how the Guardians could so easily enter and exit the verse in Assemble.

Just a few of the Gaping plot holes

[Lio_convoy]

No those questions weren't answered.

[TakoM]

So we will most likely never know why the cancerverse still exists and why it wasnt destroyed by Death.

Also how the Guardians could so easily enter and exit the verse in Assemble.

Just a few of the Gaping plot holes

It's full of plot holes(or one gigantic big one) e.g If Richard Raider is dead ? Why can Sam Alexander still access the Nova Force?
Some one mentioned it already Drax wasn't their either.
and I read it and spoiler:
spoilers:

That Richard Rider love Gamora is the best joke ever he was deeply in love with Namorita which he rescued shortly before he vanished. Which by the way also vanished mysteriously

end of spoilers
It seems Marvel let wrote this someone who has no clue of those characters.

[Mr MajestiK]

Richard Rider deserved better.

[nightw1ng]

While the story sucked, it basically leaves Richard Rider in the same place before the story was told: limbo.

He could still be stuck in the Cancerverse, having used up his Nova Force power and the cosmic cube to send the others home; he could have survived, been able to come back with the others, and decided to secretly retire; he could have somehow joined with the Nova Force, which somehow empowers Sam; he could have been sent back in time to assume the identity of Jesse Alexander and become Sam's father (like some people think); or he could be just plain dead.

Either way, we won't be getting any new stories from him for awhile. And now that Marvel is in corporate synergy mode, it's unlikely we'll see him get a starring role in the MCU, because of the way they're pushing Sam. (I also partly blame the fact that his name is Richard Rider, since I could see Disney balking at pushing a character whose name can be turned into "Dick" Rider.) The only hope is if James Gunn, who is a big of the DnA run of Guardians of the Galaxy, puts him into the next GotG film and he's able to build a fanbase that would influence Marvel to bring him back in the comics.

[THANOSRULES]

While the story sucked, it basically leaves Richard Rider in the same place before the story was told: limbo.

He could still be stuck in the Cancerverse, having used up his Nova Force power and the cosmic cube to send the others home; he could have survived, been able to come back with the others, and decided to secretly retire; he could have somehow joined with the Nova Force, which somehow empowers Sam; he could have been sent back in time to assume the identity of Jesse Alexander and become Sam's father (like some people think); or he could be just plain dead.

Either way, we won't be getting any new stories from him for awhile. And now that Marvel is in corporate synergy mode, it's unlikely we'll see him get a starring role in the MCU, because of the way they're pushing Sam. (I also partly blame the fact that his name is Richard Rider, since I could see Disney balking at pushing a character whose name can be turned into "Dick" Rider.) The only hope is if James Gunn, who is a big of the DnA run of Guardians of the Galaxy, puts him into the next GotG film and he's able to build a fanbase that would influence Marvel to bring him back in the comics.

Agreed.

What I don't get is the Nova series needs to answer this Nova Force question.. but its 2 years into the run. The book has no track record of providing answers to even questions it creates. The GOTG stuff is so clunky and awkward, fans really don't expect answers...they just swallow hard and accept its bad continuity (all the while googling at the great art and the name Bendis on the cover). The Loeb plotted Nova book refuses to answer any questions what so ever...and when it does , like "who are the Black Novas" we get a complete dodge.

I know stringing fans around is a fundamental portion of serial fiction...but you have to create the illusion, at least, that your going somewhere.

Its nice they attempted to answer a fan question of what took place in the cancerverse...it was a disappointing answer.. but I tip my hat they did it...however it leaves so much unresolved and makes everything clunky.

Just , if you want Rider...All I ask is don't be quiet about it...let marvel know...and we all know $ speaks volumes.

Gunn is an odd guy..there's no telling where he would go.

[jackolover]

****SPOILER ALERT*****



DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT ANY INFO ABOUT GOTG #20



So I just finished reading GOTG #20 and I have no idea what the hell just happened. The writing and art just aren't clear enough to really say whether Richard Rider lived or died. Quill assumes he died, but that's about it. It's kind of a frustrating resolution to the 3-issue arc.

Also his name was spelled "Ryder" and "Rider" throughout the book. The editor's really not paying much attention. Either way I'd be okay with, but man, pick one and stick with it.

I won't get into it any more than that for now.

I took this from the appreciation page.

Like others, I'm glad Rich's fate is uncertain, paving the way for future returns.

This was an Original Sin tie-in, and like the X-Men OS tie-ins, this wasn't precipitated by anyone being near the eye bomb. This was just a secret that needed to be told, and Bendis decided to slip it into his series, because the elephant in the room is Thanos, Starlord and Drax are out of the Cancerverse, and Rich didn't make it.

I can understand Rich still harboured an enduring love for Gamora though that relationship ended a while ago and Rich and Namorita took up later on. People can have affairs with one person, but still stay in love with an unattainable person for 10 years or more. I know from experience. And I can see why Starlord and Drax kept the secret from Gamora as a last wish of Novas. Bendis then made Gamora pounce on Starlord and force him to reveal what happened in the Cancerverse with Rich, leading to a very tragic ending for Gamora, who left the room at the end of the story to digest that the GOTG said they loved her, and that Rich was a secret lover. For a Universe marauding warrior like Gamora, whose secret lover just saved her father, this is like a big revelation for her to take in all at once.

I can only surmise that Thanos was drawn to be removed from the Cancerverse, because he lept at Rich at the same time Rich used his power, because Thanos and Rich were in contact when the blast occurred. No problem there.

What this conclusion does for Infinity is that it now places Thanos on the board, with his pack of desperados, and, it has nothing to do with Age of Ultron giving Starlord his revelation of memory, as happened in the last issue of that event. Age of Ultron was written by Bendis and GOTG was also written by Bendis, so the two stories about Starlords recollections of the Cancerverse are tied into each other, but just how that is, is still a mystery.

[Trident]

Not to disrupt the current conversation but I wanted to ask.....

How is this series going so far outside of this particular issue? I have been thinking about getting back into Marvel cosmic but I wasn't sure if I should go with a "point" character like Star Lord, Nova, or the Silver Surfer or if I should just start grabbing this series from the beginning?

[Superkreep]

Not to disrupt the current conversation but I wanted to ask.....

How is this series going so far outside of this particular issue? I have been thinking about getting back into Marvel cosmic but I wasn't sure if I should go with a "point" character like Star Lord, Nova, or the Silver Surfer or if I should just start grabbing this series from the beginning?

Surfer is the most well rounded and standalone title of the bunch. However, It's very retro so if your not into the aesthetic you may not dig it, otherwise it's a good cosmic-y read.

Star Lord was looking better than the actual GotG book for a while there, if for no other reason than it had a solid direction and mission statement, and I suppose it still does, it's just very "meh". The biggest issue with LSL is that like in Bendys' GotG, Humphries seems to be going out of his way to make Quill a full on goof ball that tries to be the funny "everyman" in space but it always falls flat. What Peter was in the movie works well because that was his origin story, he wasn't the leader he eventually became yet. It feels out of place in the Comics because Pete's been an authority figure since he made his return to comics back in the Thanos mini series. He was always witty and good for laughs but the balance between funny/proactive leader that he had in the previous run of GotG is gone. Despite these issues more significant cosmic stuff has happened in the first few issues of LSL then the entire Bendys GotG run thus far. There is at least an ATTEMPT at building to something bigger here for Pete and in turn the cosmic landscape. The X-men/Kitty Pryde connection is forced in this book BIG-TIME and really does nothing to elevate any of the characters, it just boils down to yet ANOTHER crossover that takes away from spotlighting lesser known characters.

The Bendys GotG book is FAR too focused on the Avengers/X-Men/Spider-Man/Spawn Guest stars that are forced into this series, the lack of ANY solid direction has to be the worst I've ever seen in a comic. The GotG used to stop major cosmic powers from subjugating entire worlds and preventing other dimensional threats from invading our universe, they were always outgunned and in WAY over their heads but they would find a way to win. Now they just seem like they want to get themselves captured every other issue because they're bored and have nothing else to do, sort of like a group of aimless teenagers. They literally haven't actually Guarded the Galaxy from ANYTHING yet. All they do is tell you about how awesome and cool they are but they never actually SHOW you how awesome they are. You just need to look at how much the costume Star Lord wears has changed from issue #1 to now to see how directionless and clueless the current creative team is when it comes to this book. They couldn’t get the main character right from the beginning so they just copied the movie’s version…which in itself is a take on the Annihilation version that the current creative team didn’t like in the first place, hence all the costume changes, ugh. Hold out for a better creative team this book is a product of corporate mandates now it sells because it’s been hyped to hell and back and has always had solid art and promotion. The guest star thing is really bad though, it shows you just how little time Bendys wanted to actually spend writing these characters. He once said what got him interested in writing this book was not the fact these were interesting and compelling characters it was that he’d be given the best artists at Marvel (and because the movie was coming of course) his lack of interest REALLY shows.

Nova is the most "disneyfied" book at Marvel in the sense that the motivation here is to get kids into a new super hero kid character "that is just like them" so they can slap him on lunchboxes and such. He's "an idiot" (not my words his creators words) with a generic do-gooder attitude that's hip and now...complete with backwards hat and skateboard in tow....LOL. The fact that he's supposed to be Latino is a freakin' RIOT! I'm Latino, I come from a single parent home...not even CLOSE Marvel.
This is just on the merits of the title as it stands now, not to mention that in an effort to push this new kid that is literally being rejected by readers at every turn they all but erased the previous Nova's very existence from the entire Marvel U, including film and television. Stay far away from this one, if you saw the classic Simpsons episode that featured "Poochie" the new "Itchy and Scratchy" character, you'll know what this book is all about.

[Trident]

Surfer is the most well rounded and standalone title of the bunch. However, It's very retro so if your not into the aesthetic you may not dig it, otherwise it's a good cosmic-y read.

Star Lord was looking better than the actual GotG book for a while there, if for no other reason than it had a solid direction and mission statement, and I suppose it still does, it's just very "meh". The biggest issue with LSL is that like in Bendys' GotG, Humphries seems to be going out of his way to make Quill a full on goof ball that tries to be the funny "everyman" in space but it always falls flat. What Peter was in the movie works well because that was his origin story, he wasn't the leader he eventually became yet. It feels out of place in the Comics because Pete's been an authority figure since he made his return to comics back in the Thanos mini series. He was always witty and good for laughs but the balance between funny/proactive leader that he had in the previous run of GotG is gone. Despite these issues more significant cosmic stuff has happened in the first few issues of LSL then the entire Bendys GotG run thus far. There is at least an ATTEMPT at building to something bigger here for Pete and in turn the cosmic landscape. The X-men/Kitty Pryde connection is forced in this book BIG-TIME and really does nothing to elevate any of the characters, it just boils down to yet ANOTHER crossover that takes away from spotlighting lesser known characters.

The Bendys GotG book is FAR too focused on the Avengers/X-Men/Spider-Man/Spawn Guest stars that are forced into this series, the lack of ANY solid direction has to be the worst I've ever seen in a comic. The GotG used to stop major cosmic powers from subjugating entire worlds and preventing other dimensional threats from invading our universe, they were always outgunned and in WAY over their heads but they would find a way to win. Now they just seem like they want to get themselves captured every other issue because they're bored and have nothing else to do, sort of like a group of aimless teenagers. They literally haven't actually Guarded the Galaxy from ANYTHING yet. All they do is tell you about how awesome and cool they are but they never actually SHOW you how awesome they are. You just need to look at how much the costume Star Lord wears has changed from issue #1 to now to see how directionless and clueless the current creative team is when it comes to this book. They couldn’t get the main character right from the beginning so they just copied the movie’s version…which in itself is a take on the Annihilation version that the current creative team didn’t like in the first place, hence all the costume changes, ugh. Hold out for a better creative team this book is a product of corporate mandates now it sells because it’s been hyped to hell and back and has always had solid art and promotion. The guest star thing is really bad though, it shows you just how little time Bendys wanted to actually spend writing these characters. He once said what got him interested in writing this book was not the fact these were interesting and compelling characters it was that he’d be given the best artists at Marvel (and because the movie was coming of course) his lack of interest REALLY shows.

Nova is the most "disneyfied" book at Marvel in the sense that the motivation here is to get kids into a new super hero kid character "that is just like them" so they can slap him on lunchboxes and such. He's "an idiot" (not my words his creators words) with a generic do-gooder attitude that's hip and now...complete with backwards hat and skateboard in tow....LOL. The fact that he's supposed to be Latino is a freakin' RIOT! I'm Latino, I come from a single parent home...not even CLOSE Marvel.
This is just on the merits of the title as it stands now, not to mention that in an effort to push this new kid that is literally being rejected by readers at every turn they all but erased the previous Nova's very existence from the entire Marvel U, including film and television. Stay far away from this one, if you saw the classic Simpsons episode that featured "Poochie" the new "Itchy and Scratchy" character, you'll know what this book is all about.

Very informative and thank you! Sounds like I'm better off grabbing some of the older stuff until there is a changing of guard in the marvel cosmic creative team....

[Park Slope Pixie]

Lord almighty, when did Gamora become so milquetoast?

Where's the "baddest gal in the universe"?

[Post Monster]

Lord almighty, when did Gamora become so milquetoast?

Where's the "baddest gal in the universe"?

Eaten by her crappy movie-verse equivalent I guess.

[Mr MajestiK]

Very informative and thank you! Sounds like I'm better off grabbing some of the older stuff until there is a changing of guard in the marvel cosmic creative team....

Are you familiar with Jim $tarlin's 1970's cosmic stuff?