By Zack Quaintance — Look, I don’t mean to be one of those people who brag about being into stuff before it was cool, but I was into Al Ewing comics before it got cool. Specifically, I was into his special brand of cosmic comics madness as far back as 2015, after the end of Secret Wars destroyed the Marvel Universe (kind of but not really), and gave rise to a bunch of fresh starts in a new publishing initiative called All New, All Different Marvel.

At that time, writer Jonathan Hickman had bowed out of Marvel after authoring (with the help of his artist, colorist, and letterer collaborators, ‘natch) a cosmic Avengers odyssey that featured the highest of high concepts. There was a definite void for that sort of complex storytelling in the new initiative, and in came Al Ewing, writing a new book with an old title, The Ultimates. The Ultimates, which was illustrated first by Kenneth Rocafort and next by Travel Foreman, ran for two seasons and spanned a total of 22 issues. Throughout, it tackled the most existential of existential threats to the Marvel Universe, putting forth a team of problem-solvers (Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Blue Marvel, America, and Spectrum) that grappled with celestials, Galactus, and Thanos….and we as readers were not quite ready for it, not ready to give a largely unknown at the time writer like Ewing the rope to explore these big ideas, and the publisher at the time didn’t make The Ultimates a focal point book as it should have been.

So it withered. At the same time, Ewing was engaged in writing a totally bonkers, mostly Earth-based story with New Avengers, which later became U.S. Avengers. This was superhero comics at its most superhero comics-y, putting forth a team of wild heroes who took on matters such as giant American Kaijus run amuck. This book, too, didn’t quite find the audience it deserved. 

Since these books wrapped, however, much has changed for Al Ewing. With the advent of Immortal Hulk, he has more eyes on his work than ever, to the point that in one of the many comics group chats I occupy, this sentence was common all week — I don’t like Guardians of the Galaxy but I have to read this book because of Al Ewing. At the same time, he’s joined on the title by a fast-rising artist, Juann Cabal. Admittedly, I’ve only recently discovered Cabal’s work in the pages of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, so I can’t really claim cool points for that. But I can say that Cabal, who is colored here wonderfully by Federico Blee, is putting out some of the cleanest and most grandiose linework in all of superhero comics. He has a great sense for pacing his pages, which combines well with aesthetic flourishes that are used with restraint to highlight giant moments. There’s even a bit of experimentation in this issue depicting with a two-page spread a heist scene that is dependent on mental misdirection to work, and Cabal takes a welcome non-conventional approach, even if it felt to me like a sacrifice of clarity. I still respect the inclination (check it out for yourself below).

Anyway, the point I’ve been building to from the start of this review is that the new Ewing/Cabal title, Guardians of the Galaxy #1, experty combines the dual sensibilities from those underrated runs started back in 2015 — The Ultimates and New Avengers. The high-concept existential galactic threats are there, as this is a plot that deals with rebooted Gods from outdated Earth mythology, making the big bad here cosmic Zeus. At the same time, so is the raucous, let’s do every big idea pathos that fueled New Avengers (again, this is a story about rebooted Gods from outdated Earth mythology, ie cosmic Zeus).

What it all adds up to is good comics. Guardians of the Galaxy these days is a tricky franchise to guide. A few years back, the book was written by Brian Michael Bendis, whose run mostly made it the movie crew plus a grabbag of rudderless characters from then-neglected comics properties (Kitty Pryde was on the team, as was Ben Grimm and Venom...a trifecta of characters that Marvel Studios had lost the movie rights to). Then, Donny Cates used the book as an extension of a saga he’d started with his work on Thanos Wins. It was fun, but the Guardians felt tacked on.

It’s early, and it remains to be seen if Ewing can overcome the baggage of having a property so thoroughly overshadowed by its cinematic equivalent, and if he can convert his new fans/editorial support from Immortal Hulk to a marquee run on a trick franchise. But this first issue certainly makes me excited to see what comes next.

Overall: Guardians of the Galaxy #1 is the work of a creative team that is currently peaking. The work is strong, the swagger is there, and the comic book-specific ideas are flowing. It is an interesting start to a run on a property that has become one of the trickiest Big 2 books to write. 9.4/10

Guardians of the Galaxy #1
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Juann Cabal
Colorist: Federico Blee
Letterer: Cory PetitPublisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $4.99

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.