by Matt Puddy
For the second review this week we take a look at another member of the Guardians of the Galaxy – Peter Quill – also known as Star-Lord. Helming this title is Sam Humphries who you may remember from the female incarnation of X-Force or his co-writing on The Ultimates with Hickman. Now on this standalone title Humphries is exploring the life and styles of the original Han Solo (yes Star-Lord predates the scruff looking nerf herder!).
From the opening pages we see Peter Quill as a young boy following his time in the orphanage juxtaposed with him in space on the next page turn with his “toy” gun. The strange thing about this is that it almost mixes both the original back story and the more recently retconned history of Star-Lord. That said it doesn’t detract from how the story progresses. Plunging you straight into the middle of a fracas, we see Quill facing off once again with the Badoon, who are trying to collect the bounty on him. To ice the cake for them as well it appears that the Mandalay Gem was also hidden there, which appears to be why Quill was there too.
So what is an interstellar vagabond to do? Held captive in a cage with no weapon, no ridiculously expensive gem and having been knocked out with a large metal bar? You do the only natural thing. Escape, take the booty and hand a huge bagful of cash over to the orphanage like a true hero... or is he?
Having not really read a lot of Humphries work previously, I didn’t have any predisposed ideas of what it should be like. As a story it’s light and cheeky, with a definite tongue-in-cheek element to it. Whilst you aren’t dragged along by the story, it’s not sluggish either and fun to read. You really get behind Quill even up to the point where he turns tail a little.
Paco Medina is an artist who has been quite prolific for both DC and Marvel, getting quite a few titles under his belt. As an artistic style it fits right in my wheelhouse for the most part, with crisp clean lines, however it does occasionally look a little cartoony in some respects.
All in all this is a good little comic. With the new film starring Chris Pratt as Star-Lord merely weeks away, it’s a good little introduction to the character and his general demeanour for newcomers. I think that maybe the trailers have come across a little stronger perhaps, but that’s the difference between scriptwriting combined with acting and writing for a reading audience I guess.
If you have no idea who Star-Lord is and want to get an idea of what he’s like, then you aren’t going to go wrong by picking this comic up. Guardians Of The Galaxy fans will most likely enjoy this spotlight on the roguish leader too. If you like it and follow it then I reckon you will find yourself following quite a fun ride too!
Matt Puddy is looking forward to July 31st!
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