Review: Guardians of the Galaxy #88/23/2019
Issue 8 starts onboard the Bowie with Moondragon and Groot attempting to get the truth out of Rocket. Rocket has been revealed to be incredibly ill and dying, but until now there has been no explanation for the change in team dynamic. Donny Cates gives us out answers at last here, as Rocket delves into the story of his past. He tells his remaining teammates how he was bred to be a creature of comfort on Halfworld, the insane asylum planet. He had a decent enough life, but was ultimately changed into the Rocket we know and love by way of mysterious scientific change. Rocket compares the change he underwent at the hands of his robot masters to that of early humanity at the hands of the Kree. He goes on to explain after Halfworld, he acted as a sort of space cop before joining the Guardians and earning a name with them.
Rocket’s illness comes down to an apparent side effect to his past transformation. His body is rejecting the foreign parts, he says. Rocket and Groot are well known these days for being a duo—one is hardly without the other. A recent change in the comics gave Groot the ability to speak English again, and this scene wouldn’t have been possible without it. The guardians have been mad at Rocket, and until now we didn’t know why. The two teammates have a loud blow out, Groot accusing Rocket of abandoning his family without so much as a goodbye, and Rocket admitting he just didn’t want his teammates to remember him ill and decrepit. It’s an emotional exchange, and my favorite in the issue. When we last left off in issue 7, The Universal Church of Truth had taken hostage most the new-found Guardians team: Gamora, Starlord, Beta Ray Bill, Phyla Vell, and Lockjaw (Side note, have I mentioned this is my favorite team lineup EVER?), all of whom except Peter Quill are under the influence of the Church. Leading the Church is none other than Starlord’s father come from the future, J’Son of Spartax. The Church travels through space in a great ship that seems to feed off the life forces of living, unconscious hostages trapped in containment tubes. As future-J’Son gives his villain monologue to his son and his brainwashed companions, Cates doesn’t forget to sprinkle in the humor, and we get a great Lockjaw/Cosmo scene in with the ominous ship tour. At the end of the tour, J’Son and the group arrive at a grand pedestal, atop which sits a cocoon. Usually when this type of cocoon shows up, it means the imminent rebirth of one Adam Warlock. Warlock’s history is long and complex, but in a sentence, he tends to become one of the more powerful beings in the galaxy, has had a few turns holding the Infinity Gauntlet, and has a second half that goes around doing evil nonsense. All this considered, it makes sense that Starlord would be a little concerned the Church and his father want to bring Adam Warlock back. He expresses this concern but is shut down. It’s not Adam Warlock the church is bringing back, J’Son reveals, and it’s not just the one cocoon: the ship is full of hundreds of them! Who, or what, do you think is in these cocoons? J’Son mentioned several times the goal of the church is to return to the future and “Destroy Death”, and I can’t help but take that literally. Earlier in Cate’s run of this series, the deceased Thanos was almost brought back to life by Hela, goddess of Death. Hela and Thanos have never interacted in the comics before, but he is famous for having a deep and long-lasting love for Lady Death, the personification of Death itself. While Lady Death and Hela are similar characters, they are very much separate entities. With J’Son leading the Church of Truth and claiming to be on a mission to put an end to Death, I can’t help but wonder if Cates is playing the long game here and plans on tying this storyline in to the last. Guardians of the Galaxy continues with issue #9, out September 18th!
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