Marvel NOW! Guardians of the Galaxy

I'd already been into several Marvel NOW! titles, but when Guardians of the Galaxy came out, I was really jazzed. I loved the Guardians of the Galaxy: War of Kings (2009-2010) and Legacy (2008) books, and was surprised at my own enthusiasm for the cosmic stories of Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, and the rest of this eccentric team of space warriors.  In issue # 0.1 we are introduced to Star Lord as a young Peter Quill, the love child of his earthly mother and a stranded visitor from Spartax. When his ship is finally repaired, Meredith Quill is left alone to raise Peter, the visitor unwilling to expose her to the dangerous war going on with the Badoon. When they showed up to kill peter and his mother a decade later, Peter discovered his true lineage, the son of Spartax royalty! 

Iron Man joins the Guardian's ranks as their newest member in an effort to expand his knowledge on other threats to his home planet. I was surprised and delighted by this development to no end. Killer! I really liked those first six issues of Marvel NOW! Iron Man, and though I miss the black & gold armor deco he only recently received, I was happy to see Tony show up in the mix- great idea!

Issue #0.1 was a great start, with some excellent artwork by penciller Steve McNiven, inker John Dell, and colorist Justin Ponsor, who followed up spectacularly on #1. Perhaps it was the stellar setting, but it reminded me a little of Battle of the Planets, with the angular space helmets and intense highlights.

In issue #1, we are introduced to Peter's father, King of the Spartax, who forbids Peter to return to Earth, claiming he is only trying to protect it. But the rebellious young Star Lord doesn't want to hear his father's disapproval of the Guardians, Peter's "broken friends".

Intercepting a Badoon ship headed for Earth, Tony Stark laments not having left the Avengers and Stark Industries behind sooner to seek his next fortune. I wasn't one hundred percent sure about Tony's new space armor at first, now enhanced with artificial intelligence named P.E.P.P.E.R., but it's really grown on me.

The Guardians of the Galaxy, in defiance of Peter's king father, show up to head off the Badoon's course for Earth, and Iron Man is knocked unconscious during the battle. Quill gathers him and the rest of the team up and follows the enemy to Earth, where Gamora hypothesizes his father actually intended him to go, a ploy to damn his quarrelsome offspring and his home planet! Riveting! I picked up issue #2 tonight, and to say the least, I'm pretty excited about it...!

More Later- Make It FUN!