New Guardians of the Galaxy Comic Becomes Sci-Fi Western

Whenever a new Marvel movie is on the horizon, you can expect the comic book counterpart of a few characters to undergo a massive new status quo or start showing up in more comics as a guest character. (Sometimes both.) So it goes with the Guardians of the Galaxy: Al Ewing and Juan Frigeri’s run on the cosmic group of a-holes came to a close in 2021, but as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to hit theaters in May, the comic book Guardians are coming out of retirement for some new adventures.

Enter a new one Guardians of the Galaxy run from writing duo Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing (Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty) and artist Kev Walker (Predator, Timeless). The story picks up a year after a betrayal from one of the Guardians forced the team to split up, but they—in this case, Star-Lord, Gamora, Mantis, Nebula, and Drax, each with some fresh new redesigns—will find themselves brought back together due to a new phenomenon known simply as “Grootfall.” Just going from Walker’s variant coverit looks like the talking tree man will be getting his Galactus on in some form or fashion, which definitely isn’t good for the team or anyone caught in his path.

According to the solicit, Grooftall will “push the team to their breaking point,” and drive them to explore new worlds in the Manifold Territories, which takes the book towards a sci-fi Wild West bent. “Welcome to a whole new era for the Guardians of the Galaxy, riding like mad through an endless alien dust storm of sun-soaked tragedy, intense violence, and deeply dysfunctional heroes,” said Lanzing. “Peter Quill and what remains of his found family will have to fight like hell in a new western-fueled frontier to find a scrap of forgiveness.”

Walker, a longtime fan of the Guardians, said that the book would be “something very different” to the more space opera feel of previous Guardians runs. Kelly backed that up, stating that Walker’s “unique blend of realism and wild imagination” was the perfect fit for his and Lanzing’s plans for the new comic. “Together, we’re guiding the Guardians on a new trail—one that will make them look inwards, even as they face the threats over the next horizon.”

With the first arc being literally titled “Grootfall,” the only missing Guardian is Rocket. That’s likely not a coincidence, but the foul-mouthed rodent will eventually make his way to the team again. No matter the superhero team, Marvel’s heroes love to break up over misunderstandings or betrayals, and then come together to face a new threat, after which the cycle repeats itself. It’s doubtful that even going to a galaxy that’s not big enough for the two of us will change the publisher’s favorite story trope.

Guardians of the Galaxy #1 will release on April 12.

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