Guardians of the Galaxy 2: Angela, by Brian Michael Bendis, 168 pages

 Guardians of the Galaxy 2: Angela, by Brian Michael Bendis, 168 pages

In this second in the GOTG series, StarLord is still mad at his Dad, the Earth is in some serious danger, and there's been some kind of disruption in the space time continuum (and of course, stupid Earthlings are responsible).  There is also a new character- Angela, from a place called Heven.  This is the stuff I love about comic books- there's a thread of a really interesting philosophical concept in every one of the good ones.  What if you grew up in a place where everyone had wings and flew around, and there was a mythical "other place" called Earth, where the creatures walked around on the ground and did all kinds of interesting things? It's like if we found out Heaven was a real, physical place- it would kind of blow your mind, right?  Yeah.  So, there's that.  Also, Gamora gets some action, which is cool.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers, by Brian Michael Bendis

 Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers, by Brian Michael Bendis, 136 pages

I totally read this once before, but when I went to read volume 2, I couldn't remember where we left off.  And the movie's coming out, and I love some Chris Pratt, so- worth a revisit during lunch.  Anyway: Peter Quill is StarLord- but he has rejected his position as next in line to the throne.  Instead, he's teamed up with a ragtag group of toughies, including Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot.  And Iron Man, for some reason.  It's pretty good- there's potential here that I hope goes somewhere.  And Bendis is pretty much a go-to Marvel man, in general- anything he writes is usually good.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers (v 1), by Brian Michael Bendis

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers (v 1), by Brian Michael Bendis, 136 pages

So this is going to be coming out as a movie in 2014- and I had never heard of it.  The story is actually really interesting- Peter Quill grows up as a boy without a dad- until the day that his mother is murdered by aliens who set out to kill him because it turns out that his dad is kind of a big deal among other aliens.  So he becomes Star-Lord, and somehow teams up with a cast of characters, one of which is Rocket Raccoon, a wise-cracking raccoon in a spacesuit, which was all I needed to know to enjoy it.  For some reason, Iron Man is along for the ride, which is fine.  This book is really more of exposition- letting you know who these characters are, what their motivations are, and setting the tone for an intergalactic war.  Definitely has potential as a movie.  (Oh, especially since I found out that Chris Pratt is going to be Star Lord! Always happy to see that guy working).