Guardians of the Galaxy #2 Review

Written by: Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing
Art by: Kev Walker
Colors by: Matt Hollingsworth
Letters by: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover art by: Marco Checchetto
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: May 17, 2023

Guardians of the Galaxy #2 finds the gang dropping in on a territorial war to warn everyone to leave before Grootfall arrives to wipe everyone out.

Is It Good?

When last we left the Guardians, they barely managed to evacuate a frontier colony before Grootfall arrived to wipe out the entire planet. Besides the name and the extinction-sized appearance, no explanation was given as to the nature or origin of Grootfall. Now, Peter Quill and the rest of the Guardians clumsily intercede in a territorial war to warn both sides of the conflict to evacuate their region of space before Grootfall arrives. The negotiations end badly.

Overall, this is a good character-building issue to give readers a sense of the current mentality of each Guardian. Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, is continually searching for people to do the right thing and is continually disappointed. Drax is stoic and pensive. Gamora is willing to give Peter’s plan a chance but is prepared to enact a backup plan because she always presumes Peter’s plan won’t work. And on and on and on.

If you’re interested in getting to know the Guardians as people, Guardians of the Galaxy #2 is an effective comic.

Where Guardians of the Galaxy #2 falls short is in the plot. With some twists and swaps, issue #2 is basically a repeat of issue #1. Guardians arrive to warn people, but people don’t believe the Guardians, so Guardians leave under duress. In this case, Grootfall doesn’t make an appearance, and there’s the rougher rub.

Grootfall is the BIG wow moment of the first issue, but it’s only tangentially referenced, and no backstory is given to explain Grootfall. Instead, you get a redux of issue #1 with Quill spending most of the issue arguing with a large, talking lobster.

If not for solid character-building and amusing art by Kev Walker, this entire issue would be a complete waste of paper.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces

Guardians of the Galaxy #2 is filled with excellent character-building and great art, but the plot is essentially a repeat of the first issue, and the big wow moment from #1 (Grootfall) gets no development at all.