Screen Time: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.2

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.2

Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, David Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Kurt Russell
Director: James Gunn

Runtime: 136 minutes

Certificate: 12A

Release Date: 28 April 2017 (UK) / 5 May 2017 (US)

Matt C: Daddy issues. It's a theme that's often central to many tales within the superhero genre, particularly in the cinematic renderings, where the protagonist is dealing with problems stemming from an absentee father or the shadow cast by a paternal legacy. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has a few of these characters kicking around - Tony Stark, Thor Odinson - and now Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) joins their ranks when he finally meets his dad, Ego (Kurt Russell), for a reunion that may very well lead to catastrophe in this sequel to the enormously popular 2014 film.

When the first Guardians Of The Galaxy movie was announced, many commentators assumed it was Marvel getting too big for its boots, using characters that had nowhere near the level of awareness the likes of Captain America and Iron Man enjoyed, the studio stepping out of their comfort zone of Earthbound shenanigans and into the cosmos. But even then Marvel seemed to know exactly what they were doing; the movie went on to make a huge impact at the box office, capturing the zeitgeist, with everyone leaving the cinema announcing "I am Groot". It was a bright, freewheeling, witty sci-fi movie that emboldened Marvel further, enabling them to forge ahead with their ambitious plans unabated.

Working The Boxes: MARVEL PREVIEW #7 / INCREDIBLE HULK #271

In Working The Boxes we highlight any recent back issue purchases we've found buried in comic boxes or discovered on eBay that we think are worthy of further attention.

Jo S: Linking to the imminent release of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, it feels like a good time to dig out a couple of issues which showcase the origins of my favourite wisecracking fuzzball space pilot, the irascible Rocket Raccoon.

Whilst the Guardians in their current form are a fairly recent entity, Rocket himself has been around since a year when my most vivid memory was spending a productive afternoon filling ice cream tubs with mud to find that the sweltering drought had turned them into bricks overnight. Older than a good number of the PCG, Rocket Raccoon first sauntered onto the pages of Marvel Preview #7 in the sweltering drought summer of 1976, swearing mildly and smoking a cigarette in classy detailed monochrome; suavely putting down the hero of the tale, Prince Wayfinder. The prince has landed on the mysterious Witch World, planet Hailailae, and is totally unprepared to meet animate trees which fight back and sassy rodents who backchat and refer to him as ‘old bean’.

From The Vaults: THOR #132

While we spend a great deal of time engrossed in the current crop of comic books, let us not forget those fantastic tales from the past that still sit in amongst our collections and are always worth revisiting...

THOR #132

Writer: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta

Marvel

Andrew B: We all know that Marvel's version of the God of Thunder has only to whirl his enchanted hammer Mjolnir around his head a few times in order to soar imperiously into the heavens. It took a while for Thor as a comic to join its eponymous hero in gaining similarly lofty heights, however.

Apart from the occasional appearance of evil Loki, the first three years' worth of Thor's adventures saw the Asgardian Avenger battle a distinctly unimpressive list of opponents. There was the Cobra and Mr Hyde, the Tomorrow Man, the Grey Gargoyle, small fry every one. No wonder Stan and Jack found the opening to launch a 'Tales Of Asgard' back-up feature. Thor only needed sixteen pages to trounce these guys.

Things began to improve with #114 in 1965 with the first appearance of the Absorbing Man, and by 1966 the book was taking off in a big way. Storylines were becoming more complex and requiring several issues to develop. Admittedly, this could be said of most of Marvel's output as the '60s really started to swing, but with Thor, the reader got the sense that Lee and Kirby had finally begun to see the full potential of the character.

And we're talking considerable potential. Potential of cosmic proportions.

From The Vaults: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1

While we spend a great deal of time engrossed in the current crop of comic books, let us not forget those fantastic tales from the past that still sit in amongst our collections and are always worth revisiting...

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1

Writer: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning

Art: Paul Pelletier, Rick Magyar & Nathan Fairbairn

Marvel

Matt C: It all seems so obvious now, but back then? Back then it was anything but.

In 2005, via a Drax The Destroyer miniseries and then an event book, Annihilation, writer Keith Giffen revitalised Marvel’s cosmic properties, bringing them back to the giddy heights last witnessed when Jim Starlin was doing his thing in Silver Surfer, Infinity Gauntlet and all the related series in the early ‘90s. It was then the turn of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning to take the baton, penning a new Nova series and a sequel event called Annihilation: Conquest. From that they spun out a second ongoing series, Guardians Of The Galaxy.

It took the name but this was an entirely different set of characters than the original team who debuted in 1969 and were based in the 31st century (making occasional trips to the 20th century for team-ups with likes of the Thing and Captain America). Peter Quill aka Starlord was the leader of this new, disparate band of heroes, his aim being to work proactively to prevent any other unstoppable incursions into the universe as witnessed in both Annihilation series, guilt over his perceived inaction driving him forwards. It’s essentially the same team as the movies, with the additions of Quasar and Warlock (Groot was relegated to twig-mode in the early stages), and this debut issue set the template for what was to come, arguably igniting the spark that transformed a movie that many deemed to be Marvel Studios’ riskiest gamble at that point into one of the most successful and beloved additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far.

From The Vaults: MARVEL PREVIEW #11

While we spend a great deal of time engrossed in the current crop of comic books, let us not forget those fantastic tales from the past that still sit in amongst our collections and are always worth revisiting...

MARVEL PREVIEW #11

Writer: Chris Claremont

Art: John Byrne & Terry Austin

Marvel

Rob N: 'All New! One Man Against a Galactic Empire!' screamed the exclamation mark heavy cover.

It was the summer of 1977 – a hot one, as I recall - and like every other 13 year-old boy I was getting rather too excited about a new science fiction film called Star Wars that hadn’t yet reached the rundown Flora Cinema in Helston, Cornwall (a place where films came to die after a long run in more respectable movie theatres the length and breadth of the UK). Everyone was suddenly in a Sci-Fi frenzy, as starships and blaster rays and old fashioned pulp storytelling had bludgeoned the rather more literary pretensions of the New Wave of SF which had dominated the scene since the late '60s. Just a few years ago a typical SF title might have been something like I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream, or Time Considered As A Helix Of Semi-Precious Stones or "Repent, Harlequin!" Said The Ticktockman, with narrative flourishes that matched the ambiguity of the titles.

But that was then, and now it was now, and by 1977 it was the return of Space Opera, harking back to the 1930s, '40s and '50s, when chiseled-jawed heroes (almost certainly American) piloting jet-fighter starships in combat with surprisingly humanoid looking aliens who were trying to carry off long-legged heroines with heaving bosoms. The pseudo-intellectual titles were soon to give way to Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica and Battle Beyond The Stars.

You get the idea.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY WEEK @ THE PCG

Matt C: Unless you've been skirting along the further reaches of the Outer Rim for the last month with no way to contact home then you're probably fully aware that over the next couple of weeks Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 debuts across the globe. And, if you're like us, you're probably massively excited to see this new chapter in the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe. Three years ago many saw the potential for the first Guardians Of The Galaxy to be the moment Marvel Studios' momentum would stutter, but not only did it deliver, it became one of the most loved additions to the multi-movie franchise. Predictions are that this latest film will do Avengers-level business at the box office and early word is that it's every bit as good as its predecessor.

So, in the the same vein as our 'Avengers Month' and our 'Captain America Month' from the last couple of years, we have a handful of articles ready to appear across the next week or so (we're compressing the timeline!) that involve us digging out some old Guardians-related comics to look at where the seeds of James Gunn's blockbusting movie series were originally sewn. Enjoy!