Guardians of the Galaxy #4 // Review
The star sheriff has been tracking a series of anomalies across the immediate area. He hits the cannons every time to wipe out the threat. Every time he sees one of them, he hopes that it’ll be the last. Not that he would ever admit this to anyone else, of course. He’s tired, though. And the threat in question is something he has kind of a long history with. He’s an intelligent, spacefaring raccoon. He’s going to meet up with his old group in Guardians of the Galaxy #4. The writing team of Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly continue a series with artist Kev Walker and colorist Matt Hollingsworth.
Rocket Raccoon finally meets up with the rest of the team four issues into the series. He’s been busy dealing with the threat of the Groot. Naturally, he’s a bit upset about everything. Naturally, he’s not all too happy with the Guardians. (There’s a lot of that going around...even amongst the Guardians.) Things aren’t going to be pleasant and sociable when Rocket meets up with the old team, but they aren’t exactly going to be openly hostile, are they? Everything’s going to be fine, right? What could possibly go wrong?
Lanzing and Kelly haven’t been in any kind of a hurry to reveal everything that the old team has been up to. They’ve opened up the series after a major event that they’ve only gradually been revealing. It’s been fun getting to know what’s been going on, but it’s also felt just a bit slow. By the time the old team is completely back together and working as a team socially and professionally, the whole story is going to be coming to an end. It’s a fun approach to delivering the story, but it’s a bit frustrating.
Walker and Hollingsworth are given a great deal of space in which to deliver the big reveal on Rocket at the beginning of the issue. It’s cool and everything. The immensity and the wonder of the space that spacefaring heroes are moving through isn’t always given enough room on the page. It’s just such strange pacing for an issue that also has a number of other things that have to be done before the last panel. The opening series of pages look gorgeous. There’s some pretty heavy inking weighing down the wonder, but it’s really invigorating to see a sequence with more than one big splash page. Beyond that, drama and action are earnestly directed to the page with some considerable sense of style and intensity.
The series continues to gradually coalesce as the team is gradually drawn together. It’s fun to watch Lanzing and Kelly revealing aspects of events that scattered the team. There’s a sense of anticipation and build-up to the big climactic resolution, but it feels like it’s running the risk of totally falling apart by the time the story reaches its final issue.
