This isn’t a Super Powers Team comic! I feel jipped!
Galactic Guardians #1
Marvel Comics/Marvel 3000 (July, 1994)
WRITER: Michael Gallagher
EDITOR: Craig Anderson
“Amid The Circling Doom!”
PENCILER: Kevin West
INKER: Steve Montano
COLORIST: Tom Vincent
LETTERER: Kenny Lopez
“Future History!” part 2
PENCILER: Yancy Labat
INKER: Scott Koblish
COLORIST: Lia Pelosi
LETTERER: Loretta Krol
It should be noted that this takes place not with the Guardians Of The Galaxy you know but in the Guardians comics from the 1990s, taking place in the year 3000 though I think this is now considered an alternate Marvel universe.
In the main story, something is attacking the Guardian’s computer, Mainframe, which also controls the planet below. Each of the Guardians has their own mission but the Skrull called Replica goes into the computer and finds some kind of biomass creature messing with the computer. Meanwhile Mainframe, formerly the hero Vision, teleports Wonder Man, now going by Hollywood, to Jupiter to ask for his help, which ticks Simon off because this was how Vision took him away from the Martian invasion of Earth that killed off the superheroes in this reality. While this goes on some creature named Saberback ends up on the bifrost bridge to Asgard. Mistaking Heimdall referring to himself as a “Guardian”, Saberback attacks him only to end up fighting Woden, Thor’s son.
Artwise, it’s the 90s. Storywise it’s all just exposition. “Hey, let’s show a bit of this character and yammer on about history for a few pages.” It’s not a very good introduction.
Speaking of history the back-up story, continued from Guardians Of The Galaxy #50 and continuing in Guardians Of The Galaxy Annual #4, neither of which I own, also involves history. Told by Uilig, the last Watcher, tells us that after the latest Sentinel raid, which killed both heroes and villains until Sub-Mariner stopped them in “a tale for another time”, Magneto convinced a bunch of mutants to finally just leave the planet, meaning they weren’t there when the Martian invasion happened. Finally finding a home, Apocalypse tried to enslave everyone but Magneto fought him to both their deaths. Leaving again (and Gallagher managed to sneak in one gag by naming one of the ships Nina and resembling a Federation vessel out of Star Trek–his second reference of the series in this comic after the first story) they found another planet after battling the Shi’Ar’s Guardian and only let go after Guardian snaps one of Wolverine’s claws. They name it Haven and make Wolverine their king, with his descendants becoming more and more violent while ascending to the throne. Meanwhile we see how the current holder of the Phoenix Force and Guardian Of The Galaxy Phoenix IX got his powers from Starhawk.
Again, it’s just a bunch of exposition, and that’s the problem with this comic. At least the main story had SOME action but most of it was also exposition. Overall this is not a good comic on its own and whether it worked as a miniseries and a spinoff to the Guardians Of The Galaxy comic of the time I can’t say, and this issue has not given me the interest to find out.
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