With little over a month before Guardians Of The Galaxy hits theaters, Marvel is shining the spotlight on the films’ characters with two new ongoing series debuting next week: Skottie Young’s Rocket Raccoon and The Legendary Star-Lord.
Writer Sam Humphries is teaming up with the art team of penciler Paco Medina, inker Juan Vlasco, and colorist David Curiel to bring the solo adventures of Peter “Star-Lord” Quill to the page, and Humphries’ talent for stylish, large-scale science-fiction adventure makes him a strong choice to pen Marvel’s studly space rogue. The following preview of The Legendary Star-Lord #1 suggests that the series will incorporate scenes from Peter’s tragic childhood for pathos while he kicks alien ass in the present, with a tone firmly grounded in what Brian Michael Bendis is doing in the main Guardians Of The Galaxy title.
Medina, Vlasco, and Curiel did great work balancing grounded drama with high-flying space action when they collaborated on Nova, and their art in this preview showcases the sleek line work, atmospheric coloring, and expressive characters that make them one of Marvel’s most consistent art teams. Because this is a first issue tying into the movie, the publisher is loading up on variant covers, including the requisite Baby Marvel cover from Skottie Young, and six covers from Marvel’s current “Young Guns” artists: Mahmud Asrar, Nick Bradshaw, David Marquez, Sara Pichelli, Valerio Schiti, and Ryan Stegman. Sure, it’s overkill, but it’s very pretty overkill.