The Adventures of Captain Otter

When I heard about War of Kings last year, I was excited as hell.  It sounded like a great concept, and I’m a sucker for events.  The Vulcan vs. Black Bolt fight sounded like such a great match up, and considering how much I’ve been enjoying the other cosmic stuff I figured it was a sure win.  The Inhumans join/take over (hard to say exactly) the Kree and are on a collision course with the Shiar Empire, led by Cyclops’ little brother.  Did I mention the little brother was evil and insanely powerful?  I was hoping for battles that felt like parts of a war, and for the Inhumans to finally get some solid character development.  Instead, I’ve had mixed feelings about the event so far and feel things could have been done better.  The fights were alright, but I was hoping to see Black Bolt in more of them.  Each battle felt like a quick fight, and there was no emotion.  And in the middle two issues, the writers decided to focus on Lilandra.  Out of all the characters in the story, she is the least deserving of such attention.  This is Black Bolt vs. Vulcan, who cares about anyone else?  It’s not that I don’t like the character, far from it.  I just want to see more of the big two.  And Vulcan comes off as this boring megalomaniac.  We get it, he’s arrogant and evil.  He comes off as a simple character and a dull villain.  Meanwhile, the “hero” Black Bolt sits on the sidelines twiddling his thumbs.  At least issue 5 changed this, and we saw some fantastic stuff happen.  If you are waiting for the trades, all I’m going to say is that Black Bolt is making some big sacrifices and risks.  At the very least, the last issue has me ready for the final issue which comes out tomorrow.

With the war coming to an end, someone will be getting the inevitable solo series.  After Annihilation, we got Nova.  After Conquest, Guardians.  Who will get a chance for mainstream success?  My guess is Darkhawk.  Darkhawk was one of the many creations of the 90s that just didn’t work.  He was a teenager full of angst and rage who should have been taken down by some half-competent supervillain.  But in the past 6 months he’s been transformed into a pretty interesting character.  They’ve updated his power set and opened up alot of possibilities for the character.  In his miniseries, they’ve opened up alot of future possibilites.  My only hope is that he plays a role in the final issue as well.  If not, it will feel like he was included to perform one infarious act and was just on the outskirts of the event.  But who else could grab a series?  I love the Inhumans and the Kree, and if they manage to survive this mash up then I’d pick up their title in a second.  Ronan the Accuser is one of the most underrated characters in comics and deserves some more respect.  We’ll have to see how this thing ends though.  For all we know, no one could make it out of this thing alive…

For a while, cosmic Marvel has been pretty useless.  Sure, they had the Silver Surfer, but he can only do so much.  After the amazing Annihilation event, cosmic Marvel has been getting better and better.  Out of the two monthly cosmic titles, Guardians of the Galaxy really stands out as one of the best titles out there.  They’re a proactive team with the goal of stopping galactic disasters before they even start.  Its a good concept, and it works for five simple reasons.

1. A strong narrative with and undeniable sense of fun.

2. Rocket Raccoon.

3. Beautiful artwork by Paul Pelletier.

4. Rocket Raccoon.

5. Rocket Raccoon.

But enough about Rocket….for now.  The rest of the cast is pretty nifty too.  Ive read alot of Dan Abnett stuff, and he has a habit of making decent main characters/leaders that are usually overshadowed by amazing supporting characters.  The team’s leader, Starlord, is a pretty cool guy, but couldnt carry a series on his own when written like this.  The rest of the team, consists of Drax, Gamora, Adam Warlock, the new Quasar, Mantis, Groot and Major Victory.  If youve heard of any of these characters, Im just flat out impressed.  The characters hav pretty crazy origins, like Groot, who is some kind of terrifying tree monster from outer space.  Its actually a running joke in the series that no one knows who the guardians are.  But every character is likeable, and the writers certainly know how to tell a fun story.  One issue ends with Drax killing everyone.  Everyone dies.

Its hard to read Guardians without smiling.  Its probably the funniest title I’m reading, but still relies on good storytelling as the heart of the series.  Guardians even pokes fun at its own subject.  Rocket Raccoon openly admits to hating anything to do with time travel, which is just freaking complicated.  Jack Flag, who is a new recruit, hates cosmic stuff becuase its just completely ridiculous and in no way believable.

The series is only 13 issues in, so I  would suggest picking up the first trade before finding any issues after.  Right now, the Guardians are taking on both Vulcan and Black Bolt in the War or Kings, so they’ve got their hands full.  And in case youre wondering, Rocket Raccoon has already brought Gladiator down to his knees.  Never doubt a raccoon.