After the Guardians of the Galaxy expanded their ranks in the last issue and received full sanctions to protect the cosmos, readers were surprised by the sudden appearance of Victor von Doom. Guardians Of The Galaxy #14 is written by Al Ewing, published by Marvel Comics, with art by Juan Frigeri, colors by Federico Blee, and letters by VC’s Cory Petit.
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With the two simultaneous emergencies in the last issue, this issue still splits its time between two teams. After stopping the Progenitors’ attack and rescuing Emperor Hulkling, Nova’s team faces Victor von Doom, who is attempting to steal Hulkling’s Sword of Space. But Doom’s presence heralds something even bigger. On the other side of space, Phyla’s team finds a Skrull fire cult in the midst of a sacrifice. They foretell the coming of a deity.
While Doom was a huge surprise in the previous iteration, we have another surprise antagonist. And while I won’t reveal their identity, it does bring questions about how this figure is mixed up into all this. There is no doubt that the emergencies the two teams were called to have more to do with each other than it seems, but for now, we’re still left in the dark—a mystery for future issues to solve.
Nova’s team has their hands full with Victor von Doom, and his name absolutely precedes him. The Guardians are child’s play to Doom. Introducing this mightier-than-thou attitude to the typical snark from the Guardians of the Galaxy produces some fun dialogue. Ewing writes Doom well, and although the situations these characters get into while fighting is bizarre, it works well for all the characters involved. And Star-Lord does something completely out of left-field at the very end, but that’s just how Quill rolls.
While introductions aren’t essential for Doom and the surprise antagonist, given that the dialogue does this well enough, there are a few elements in the plot that are confusing without a lot of background. For example, there is some attempted explanation about the Skrull cult’s magic, but it’s not enough for first-time readers. Similarly, if you’re not familiar with Doom’s history, there are a few lines that will be sorely underappreciated.
Unsurprisingly, Guardians Of The Galaxy #14’s artwork is gorgeous. The character’s new costumes continue to be a wonderful change after the last arc. The characters themselves are emotive, and in combination with the dialogue, effortlessly create moments of desperation and fury.
Each panel pops off the page with a delightful palette of colors, especially the pages of Phyla’s team where cool colors clash with warm. In addition, some of the panel backgrounds take on a watercolor look, bringing an otherworldly feeling.
With the faster pace in this issue, the lettering keeps pace with easy-to-read dialogue bubbles that stay out of the way of all the action. The use of different colors and shapes to differentiate between characters and whether dialogue is in person or over comms only further supports the jump back and forth between the two teams in the plot.
While some of the dialogue may require background information on the two antagonists to appreciate fully, these two new characters are written just as well as the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, creating some fun back-and-forth dialogue. And, of course, the artwork is wonderful.
Guardians Of The Galaxy #14 is available now wherever comics are sold.
Guardians Of The Galaxy #14
TL;DR
While some of the dialogue may require background information on the two antagonists to appreciate fully, these two new characters are written just as well as the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, creating some fun back-and-forth dialogue. And, of course, the artwork is wonderful.
