bob_lot (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} bob_lot) wrote,@ 2005-10-28 22:41:00 |
|
The Guardians
Guardians
Written by Marc Sumerak
Art by Casey Jones
Guardians 1
Reach for the Stars Part 1
If you haven’t heard of this one, it was a miniseries that Marvel put out in 2003. It was supposed to be an ongoing, but it was made into a mini to see how it did. I’m assuming it hasn’t done well at all, because I’ve not heard of continuing it. Which is sad, because this series was really cool. I’m also assuming that this world is not based in the real Marvel Universe, but one in which there still exists the same aliens (Skrulls, Sh’iar, etc.) Trust me, this becomes important later.
It starts off “Then” which seems about ten years earlier, maybe fifteen, it’s hard to say. Vince and Nick Armstrong’s parents are fighting. Vince, the younger brother, goes to the window and sees a shooting star that landed not too far away. So he gathers his friends, the tomboyish Charlie, the wannabe doctor, Martin, and the leg brace wearing, Jimmy. Nick and the rest get into an argument, and he decides to leave, and runs right into a cloaked spaceship.
The group sees a doberman attack a small alien. They end up saving the alien, and introduce themselves as the Guardians, appointed protectors of the earth. The alien, Dre’kk, leaves, he gives the Guardians a triangular totem, and promises that he’ll be back if he needs help. Nick doesn’t think that anyone will believe them, but Nick knows they would because of the amulet. (Note, this is why I believe that this can’t be in the real Marvel Universe. Everyone sees aliens all the time any more.
Flash forward to now. Vince is in a therapy session, and everyone believes that he’s crazy. And to make matters better, it’s his birthday! Happy birthday, psycho boy!
Nick comes to pick up Vince. Apparently, Nick has a wife and a baby now. Good for him. Apparently, Nick is in therapy for beating the hell out of a TA. Dude, we’ve all wanted to just beat the hell out of one, but it’s really not proper. Nick doesn’t believe that the alien thing happened, he just believes that it was just a massive hallucination. Like those happen, really....
Nick leads Vince to his surprise party.... and it’s only Jimmy. Worst surprise party ever. Jimmy still believes in the incident. Good for him, crazy people need friends too.
Jimmy plays X-Box, and Nick leaves, Vince hangs out for a long while by himself. That’s when Charlie appears. Charlie reveals that she and Vince dated. But when Vince wouldn’t let go of the encounter, Charlie did and they broke up over it. Brad, the new boyfriend picks her up, and Vince launches the little amulet into the fire.
Meanwhile, in space, Dre’kk escapes from his enemies and tries to return to earth.
Over all, this issue was fantastic, and hooked me completely. It wasn’t promoted, but the concept was so solid, that I find myself eager to read the next issue. And since it’s next to me, it won’t be hard.
Guardians 2
Reach for the Stars Part 2
Martin, Jimmy, and Vince are a diner. Martin is pre-med now, and he’s become addicted to coffee. Not important to the part, but it happened. Turns out that Jimmy’s family is a military one. “The Yon family is built on proud military tradition” but Jimmy’s leg is bum, and he can’t go into the army. His father is disappointed in him. Vince reveals to his friends that he has given up on the encounter and nothing more than a dream. Though he doesn’t say it, Martin seems to be in disbelief as well. As he leaves, Vince gives the cook a note for Charlie.
In space, Dre’kk’s guards chase after him to earth.
On Earth, Vince works in an observatory. While there, he notices a ship enter the atmosphere, and runs off to find Charlie. While he’s talking to Charlie, Brad comes up and punches him, thinking he was attacking Charlie. No matter how much I like Vince, it’s hard to root against Brad. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just not Vince. Damn it when things are black and white!
Vince calls Nick and gets him to come see his younger brother.
Meanwhile, Brad and Charlie are at Passion Point and things are about to reach the obvious conclusion, when they see a spaceship, and Charlie realizes that Vince was right, and she has Brad take her home.
Turns out that Nick got the others together and they go with Charlie to the spot they first met Dre’kk. Only, Dre’kk isn’t there. Some big ol’ alien is there, and he’s got Vince by the throat. Things ain’t looking too good for Vince now.
This issue was a bit of a let down after last issue, but ti was still a solid issue.
The Guardians 3
Reach for the Stars part 3
Vince gets thrown into Nick, taking them both out. As the other three start to run, Jimmy’s leg gives out. Martin wants to go back to save him, but Charlie can’t do this. As Martin tries to save Jimmy, they end up looking down the barrel of a nasty looking gun. The alien drops down dead, and Dre’kk reveals himself as the reason why. Turns out that Dre’kk is looking for the Guardians, but he doesn’t recognize them all grown up. Turns out that Dre’kk wants the amulet, but whoops, it was destroyed back in issue 1. Uh oh!
Turns out that it was a information disc and not a medal like Dre’kk claimed. But Jimmy thinks he can get some information out of it. Because he could... y’know progam video games. Yeah, that sounds like a solid plan. No logical gaps there. But hey, if we’re forced to buy this, I guess I can. But it’s knocking the book down a bit.
Vince decides that since he’s partly responsible for this mess, he’ll go. Jimmy decides to stay with his friend and go into space as well. Martin refuses to let those two save the world without him, so he tags along and volunteers Charlie for the job. Nick isn’t going, his life is on earth, and he’s got a good one. Vince understands.
As they leave, Martin tells Charlie be brought her along to prove herself to everyone. With that, issue 3 comes to an end.
Another good issue, but the part about Jimmy being able to run alien tech marks this down for me. Like an entire point by the end of the issue. Just wait and see.
Guardians 4
Reach for the Stars 4
As Nick gets home, he sees a report about Charlie missing, and Brad is the chief suspect. If this was allowed to go on, expect this to be a bigger story. As it is, it’s not as cool as it might be.
Turns out, the space suits Dre’kk brought for the gang doesn’t fit. Mostly because it was meant for their younger selves. Oops.
Vince and Charlie share a moment, but Charlie says she’s happy with Brad, and that she and Vince can’t do anything, no matter how she may feel.
The Alliance captures the ship in a tractor beam. They trick the aliens onboard so that they could sneak onto the aliens’ ship. However, Jimmy forgot the information disc and went back for it. That’s when he was held up by an alien who makes the big mistake of giving up his advantage of having a gun. It’s a distance weapon, but he got too close to Jimmy who elbowed him down and took off.
However, he ran into the second alien, and as he’s about to be killed, Charlie takes them both out with a lead pipe. When they get back to the big ship, the other three had taken out another alien. Another alien in a battle suit showed up, and Martin took him down with a stun gun.
As Dre’kk contains the enemies, Jimmy gets into the battlesuit. They take off to take the fight to the Alliance, and yet in that final panel, I count two floating aliens. Who look a lot like the ones that Dre’kk contained. Could it be that the Guardians aren’t working for the good guys after all?
Guardians 5
Reach for the Stars part 5
Dre’kk sends the Guardians unto the main ship alone, so he could teleport them out later. They are supposed to surround a power source and teleport it back to the ship.
The Guardians end up teleported into a mess hall full of enemies. Dre’kk needs to improve that. Jimmy and his battle suit covers the exit, while the other three run on. “The Yon family is built on proud military tradition, remember?” So is this a sacrifice, or is Jimmy going to see them again? Guess we’ll see in a few pages.
The transmitters are blocked, leaving the kids on their own. As a door opens, Jimmy appears down cast. He thinks he killed some of the aliens and feels awful about it. They make it to the power source, but three more aliens arrive, two in battle suits and one who speaks English. They capture Vince, who tells the others to take the source and leave.
Dre’kk is ready to leave, but Jimmy won’t let him. He promises to kill Dre’kk if they don’t rescue Vince.
Meanwhile, in jail, Vince is being told about how awful his side is by a Skrull. The other blow a whole in the ship, and Vince sees his life flash before his eyes, and gets teleported onto the main ship. He’s ready to go home, but since they made the rescue, the Alliance would not be willing to just let them go. So they have to stay in space in order to make sure that the earth is safe.
Vince leaves a message to Nick about what’s going on with them. Nick drops the newspaper, hoping they get home soon, because Brad was arrested for the disappearance of Charlie. And here is the next logical fallacy. The paper reports that a alien body was found. Two things with this. One, that would be the top story, not Charlie. Secondly, wouldn’t you draw the connection between the alien and Charlie missing? It seems logical that you would assume the alien had something to do with Charlie.
The last page showed the Dre’kk had them steal an anti-matter detonator. He seems evil to me.... sadly, this is the last issue. There is no six.
Nice cliffhanger, but hello, there is more to this story. Too many plot holes, and we probably won’t see them finished.
Due to that, and the Jimmy being a genius with alien tech, this series only gets a 7.
But if you can get past all fo that, it’s a 9 easy. I recommend this more than GLA or Gravity. It’s something different, and it’s very good. I just want more, dang it!
Next time: The latest Hercules miniseries.
Guardians
Written by Marc Sumerak
Art by Casey Jones
Guardians 1
Reach for the Stars Part 1
If you haven’t heard of this one, it was a miniseries that Marvel put out in 2003. It was supposed to be an ongoing, but it was made into a mini to see how it did. I’m assuming it hasn’t done well at all, because I’ve not heard of continuing it. Which is sad, because this series was really cool. I’m also assuming that this world is not based in the real Marvel Universe, but one in which there still exists the same aliens (Skrulls, Sh’iar, etc.) Trust me, this becomes important later.
It starts off “Then” which seems about ten years earlier, maybe fifteen, it’s hard to say. Vince and Nick Armstrong’s parents are fighting. Vince, the younger brother, goes to the window and sees a shooting star that landed not too far away. So he gathers his friends, the tomboyish Charlie, the wannabe doctor, Martin, and the leg brace wearing, Jimmy. Nick and the rest get into an argument, and he decides to leave, and runs right into a cloaked spaceship.
The group sees a doberman attack a small alien. They end up saving the alien, and introduce themselves as the Guardians, appointed protectors of the earth. The alien, Dre’kk, leaves, he gives the Guardians a triangular totem, and promises that he’ll be back if he needs help. Nick doesn’t think that anyone will believe them, but Nick knows they would because of the amulet. (Note, this is why I believe that this can’t be in the real Marvel Universe. Everyone sees aliens all the time any more.
Flash forward to now. Vince is in a therapy session, and everyone believes that he’s crazy. And to make matters better, it’s his birthday! Happy birthday, psycho boy!
Nick comes to pick up Vince. Apparently, Nick has a wife and a baby now. Good for him. Apparently, Nick is in therapy for beating the hell out of a TA. Dude, we’ve all wanted to just beat the hell out of one, but it’s really not proper. Nick doesn’t believe that the alien thing happened, he just believes that it was just a massive hallucination. Like those happen, really....
Nick leads Vince to his surprise party.... and it’s only Jimmy. Worst surprise party ever. Jimmy still believes in the incident. Good for him, crazy people need friends too.
Jimmy plays X-Box, and Nick leaves, Vince hangs out for a long while by himself. That’s when Charlie appears. Charlie reveals that she and Vince dated. But when Vince wouldn’t let go of the encounter, Charlie did and they broke up over it. Brad, the new boyfriend picks her up, and Vince launches the little amulet into the fire.
Meanwhile, in space, Dre’kk escapes from his enemies and tries to return to earth.
Over all, this issue was fantastic, and hooked me completely. It wasn’t promoted, but the concept was so solid, that I find myself eager to read the next issue. And since it’s next to me, it won’t be hard.
Guardians 2
Reach for the Stars Part 2
Martin, Jimmy, and Vince are a diner. Martin is pre-med now, and he’s become addicted to coffee. Not important to the part, but it happened. Turns out that Jimmy’s family is a military one. “The Yon family is built on proud military tradition” but Jimmy’s leg is bum, and he can’t go into the army. His father is disappointed in him. Vince reveals to his friends that he has given up on the encounter and nothing more than a dream. Though he doesn’t say it, Martin seems to be in disbelief as well. As he leaves, Vince gives the cook a note for Charlie.
In space, Dre’kk’s guards chase after him to earth.
On Earth, Vince works in an observatory. While there, he notices a ship enter the atmosphere, and runs off to find Charlie. While he’s talking to Charlie, Brad comes up and punches him, thinking he was attacking Charlie. No matter how much I like Vince, it’s hard to root against Brad. He’s not a bad guy, he’s just not Vince. Damn it when things are black and white!
Vince calls Nick and gets him to come see his younger brother.
Meanwhile, Brad and Charlie are at Passion Point and things are about to reach the obvious conclusion, when they see a spaceship, and Charlie realizes that Vince was right, and she has Brad take her home.
Turns out that Nick got the others together and they go with Charlie to the spot they first met Dre’kk. Only, Dre’kk isn’t there. Some big ol’ alien is there, and he’s got Vince by the throat. Things ain’t looking too good for Vince now.
This issue was a bit of a let down after last issue, but ti was still a solid issue.
The Guardians 3
Reach for the Stars part 3
Vince gets thrown into Nick, taking them both out. As the other three start to run, Jimmy’s leg gives out. Martin wants to go back to save him, but Charlie can’t do this. As Martin tries to save Jimmy, they end up looking down the barrel of a nasty looking gun. The alien drops down dead, and Dre’kk reveals himself as the reason why. Turns out that Dre’kk is looking for the Guardians, but he doesn’t recognize them all grown up. Turns out that Dre’kk wants the amulet, but whoops, it was destroyed back in issue 1. Uh oh!
Turns out that it was a information disc and not a medal like Dre’kk claimed. But Jimmy thinks he can get some information out of it. Because he could... y’know progam video games. Yeah, that sounds like a solid plan. No logical gaps there. But hey, if we’re forced to buy this, I guess I can. But it’s knocking the book down a bit.
Vince decides that since he’s partly responsible for this mess, he’ll go. Jimmy decides to stay with his friend and go into space as well. Martin refuses to let those two save the world without him, so he tags along and volunteers Charlie for the job. Nick isn’t going, his life is on earth, and he’s got a good one. Vince understands.
As they leave, Martin tells Charlie be brought her along to prove herself to everyone. With that, issue 3 comes to an end.
Another good issue, but the part about Jimmy being able to run alien tech marks this down for me. Like an entire point by the end of the issue. Just wait and see.
Guardians 4
Reach for the Stars 4
As Nick gets home, he sees a report about Charlie missing, and Brad is the chief suspect. If this was allowed to go on, expect this to be a bigger story. As it is, it’s not as cool as it might be.
Turns out, the space suits Dre’kk brought for the gang doesn’t fit. Mostly because it was meant for their younger selves. Oops.
Vince and Charlie share a moment, but Charlie says she’s happy with Brad, and that she and Vince can’t do anything, no matter how she may feel.
The Alliance captures the ship in a tractor beam. They trick the aliens onboard so that they could sneak onto the aliens’ ship. However, Jimmy forgot the information disc and went back for it. That’s when he was held up by an alien who makes the big mistake of giving up his advantage of having a gun. It’s a distance weapon, but he got too close to Jimmy who elbowed him down and took off.
However, he ran into the second alien, and as he’s about to be killed, Charlie takes them both out with a lead pipe. When they get back to the big ship, the other three had taken out another alien. Another alien in a battle suit showed up, and Martin took him down with a stun gun.
As Dre’kk contains the enemies, Jimmy gets into the battlesuit. They take off to take the fight to the Alliance, and yet in that final panel, I count two floating aliens. Who look a lot like the ones that Dre’kk contained. Could it be that the Guardians aren’t working for the good guys after all?
Guardians 5
Reach for the Stars part 5
Dre’kk sends the Guardians unto the main ship alone, so he could teleport them out later. They are supposed to surround a power source and teleport it back to the ship.
The Guardians end up teleported into a mess hall full of enemies. Dre’kk needs to improve that. Jimmy and his battle suit covers the exit, while the other three run on. “The Yon family is built on proud military tradition, remember?” So is this a sacrifice, or is Jimmy going to see them again? Guess we’ll see in a few pages.
The transmitters are blocked, leaving the kids on their own. As a door opens, Jimmy appears down cast. He thinks he killed some of the aliens and feels awful about it. They make it to the power source, but three more aliens arrive, two in battle suits and one who speaks English. They capture Vince, who tells the others to take the source and leave.
Dre’kk is ready to leave, but Jimmy won’t let him. He promises to kill Dre’kk if they don’t rescue Vince.
Meanwhile, in jail, Vince is being told about how awful his side is by a Skrull. The other blow a whole in the ship, and Vince sees his life flash before his eyes, and gets teleported onto the main ship. He’s ready to go home, but since they made the rescue, the Alliance would not be willing to just let them go. So they have to stay in space in order to make sure that the earth is safe.
Vince leaves a message to Nick about what’s going on with them. Nick drops the newspaper, hoping they get home soon, because Brad was arrested for the disappearance of Charlie. And here is the next logical fallacy. The paper reports that a alien body was found. Two things with this. One, that would be the top story, not Charlie. Secondly, wouldn’t you draw the connection between the alien and Charlie missing? It seems logical that you would assume the alien had something to do with Charlie.
The last page showed the Dre’kk had them steal an anti-matter detonator. He seems evil to me.... sadly, this is the last issue. There is no six.
Nice cliffhanger, but hello, there is more to this story. Too many plot holes, and we probably won’t see them finished.
Due to that, and the Jimmy being a genius with alien tech, this series only gets a 7.
But if you can get past all fo that, it’s a 9 easy. I recommend this more than GLA or Gravity. It’s something different, and it’s very good. I just want more, dang it!
Next time: The latest Hercules miniseries.
