A recent issue, but why not: from 2016, Guardians of the Galaxy #7, written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Valerio Schiti, color art by Richard Isanove, and the cover for this version was Art Adams. The interiors are pretty good, but c'mon, Art Adams. And the Thing is in full Warlord of Mars territory on the cover, but inside it's jailbreak; as Ben and Rocket free a planet of slaves from the alien Badoon. The Badoon had been the bad guys in the future setting of the original Guardians of the Galaxy stories, and I'm not sure they've ever been portrayed as anything except monsters. (Even the Kree and Skrull have the occasional likable character!)
Ben seems to be really enjoying his time as a space hero (I was thinking of "Rocky Grimm, Space Ranger," there) and I think it does some good to get him away from the Fantastic Four every now and again. And Rocket seems to like having someone else around to knock stuff over and punch stuff, hard. When he giddily implores Ben for his catchphrase, okay, that's pretty cute. Rocket's made-up alien swears grate a bit for me: let the frakking raccoon frelling swear, drokk it.
Ben also meets, and is immediately smitten by, an alien woman; who for her part seems pretty impressed that Ben's going to free the entire planet. (Well, it looks like a big prison camp; not an entire planet of slaves...) He does shoot a Badoon in the back though, to save his new girl and some children; and I'm not sure that's in character for Ben. Then again, I'm not sure it isn't, since I know Ben took quite a dislike to some alien meanies like the Skrulls. Can't say I ever saw him plug a Skrull, though...
Huh. Shooting a guy in the back really isn't something he's known for, but war is war, and he had to save his girl so, it's okay. Rocket and Ben seems like a natural duo though.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Badoon, damn it's sure been a good long while since I've seen them in the pages of any comic recently.