Guardians Of The Galaxy #5

The Team
Writer Brian Micheal Bendis Artist Sara Pichelli

This is a title that has many readers are interested in due to the upcoming movie. What many do not expect, is something that will most likely not be featured in the film. The mystery element is the inclusion of Angela to the title. This character originally debuted in Spawn and has been causing much controversy, since it was announced that she was to be included in the Marvel Universe. Readers have been scratching their head where she is going to fit in this large pool of characters, finally it was revealed that she was to be featured in the Guardians Of The Galaxy. This is a big issue for the series as it changes the direction this comic book is headed going forward. This title is definitely going to be one to observe in the near future. it already has some stellar artwork and writing, so there is no reason to be afraid of the strange twist that this comic is taking.

The characters are beginning to establish their personalities much better in this issue. Rocket Raccoon is given some much needed attention in a scene with Iron Man. The intergalactic players have always been humorous and one step ahead of Tony Stark. Tony being featured as the rookie making all of the mistakes in the series is another stroke of genius. This issue begins to pay off some of the threads featured in the larger Marvel Universe. Those that are more heavily invested in some of the other books will get the most out of this issue. Another great inclusion in the installment was Mantis showing up in the issue. Some of the biggest problems many have had with this series thus far is how it lines up with continuity. This scene with a forgotten character gives more clues to what actually happened with the characters.

Sara Pichelli continues the work of her career in the book. Characters are once again incredibly good looking with some excellent facial expression. Many jokes in the series are launched because of her impressive comedic timing in the series. Another interesting facet of her artwork is the way she depicts some of her characters. The artist has a slight manga style mixed with modern comic book art that elevates her to one of the best storytellers in the industry. She can tell a very clean narrative with relative ease in the way that many artists cannot. Pichelli also handles some of the redesigns with characters being interpreted in a fresh way such as Angela exceptionally well. There is also a surprise character drawn at the end of the comic, the redesign is once again strikingly beautiful. Due to the way she draws these characters one has to wonder if she designed some of them herself.

Guardians Of The Galaxy is headed towards something interesting as the next phase of this universe is coming. This issue always takes a massive step forward into uncovering the secrets behind The Thanos Imperative. Fans of the title thus far should not be disappointed by this book.