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According to The Wrap, Kurt Russell is director Peter Gunn‘s top pick to play the role of Chris Pratt‘s father in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy 2.  The actor, who stars in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming film The Hateful Eight, has not yet read the script or been officially offered the role, but will reportedly engage in talks with […]

The All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe is here, but the event that was supposed to kick off the brand new publishing line Secret Wars is still in production. We’re here to take a look at the brand new books in the line and tell you if they are worth the money. It’s week seven of the All-New, All-Different Marvel […]

strong>Sam Humphries (Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex) and artist Javier Garron (Inferno, Cyclops) are getting all new and different to tell the origin of Star-Lord...or perhaps AN origin of Star-Lord, since the movie version's dad is still a mystery. But in the MU:

Cover for Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Alpha #1

Hitting stores next month is Marvel’s latest cross-over between the X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy: “The Black Vortex”, just 12 months after 2014’s “Trial of Jean Grey” which brought together these two Brian Bendis written teams for the first time.  For this event, Bendis is following the lead of Sam Humphries, writer of The Legendary Star-Lord, who is the “showrunner” for this event which sees the two teams cross paths thanks to a powerful artifact (the entitled Black Vortex). This event, which begins in an Alpha issue written by Humphries, then spreads to titles like All New X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Legendary Star-Lord, Nova, Captain Marvel, Cyclops and other series. Both creators joined the comics press today on a call to discuss the upcoming event, how it impacts each team going forward, and to elaborate on just how central the new-found relationship between Peter Quill and Kitty Pryde is within the pages of the event.

Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Alpha #1 Interior Art by Ed McGuinness

Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Alpha #1 Variant, Art by Alexander Lozano

“The Black Vortex” was born out of the regular Marvel retreats that occur among its key writers and editors, says Humphries: “This grew bigger and more exciting as we shared it with our colleagues at retreats and in Editorial…It became clear that this was an event-caliber story.” The writer stated that it was his hope to challenge the Guardians, the current “it” property at Marvel, on a level on which they hadn’t yet been. The Black Vortex, as an object, has been appearing in Humphries’ run on The Legendary Star-Lord, but expressed that this escalation called for a number of great writers to work on the concept and that scribes like Bendis, Kelly Sue DeConnick, and Gerry Duggan all stated their desire to be involved in the project, and that they each had their own unique take on the concept for their given titles. Humphries also mentioned that there are big Captain Marvel and Nova moments in the story, the latter hitting a rather funny note for the character.

Bendis also made mention of the artistic talent involved, from Ed McGuinness (who is the artist on Black Vortex Alpha #1) to All-New X-Men artist Andrea Sorrentino, who is freshly joining Marvel after an incredible stint on Green Arrow. Bendis says the cosmic landscape is what really drew them in: “The artists are given the freedom within the story to express themselves. This gave us an opportunity to give quite a handful of artists who were itching for their chance to let go cosmically their chance.”

And speaking specifically about Sorrentino, Bendis shared:

You just write your ass off and then you just let him do what he’s going to do because it’s almost indescribable what he does. You just get out of his way and let it happen…it’s so exciting when the pages come in. Every artist in the group is like that. When you go into an event – even when it’s an artist you’ve worked with – there’s something about how an artist will take the opportunity to draw bigger. After an intimate storyline, they feel when they’re drawing an event.

On the subject on Sorrentino, Bendis also stated that he and the artist already have their next project lined up and compared working with the artist to his acclaimed runs with Alex Maleev, David Mack and Bill Sienkiewicz.

All New X-Men #38 Interior Art by Andrea Sorrentino

The concept behind The Black Vortex itself is that when characters come into contact with it, they become cosmically empowered, in much the same way that Jean Grey became empowered by the Phoenix Force, and Norrin Radd obtained the Power Cosmic. With certain characters obtaining this power, they also were given new designs by McGuinness, speaking on that topic, Humphries said:

I’m convinced that Ed McGuinness found the Black Vortex when he was a teenager, and that’s why he’s such an amazing artist…He didn’t just come back with new costumes. He came back with new character twists and new powers…what he delivered was so compelling and intriguing that I ended up rewriting part of the outline to give it more focus…you want to get more in their mindset and see what kind of havoc they’re going to wreak on the cosmic landscape.

Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Alpha #1 Interior Art by Ed McGuinness

The impetus of the story, according to Humphries, is that Peter Quill’s father (Mr. Knife aka J’Son of Spartax), has been amassing a number of cosmic forces, and seeing himself as an “empire builder”. As a consequence of that, Quill, and his new love interest Kitty Pryde, are drawn into the power of the mysterious title object and call upon the X-Men for help. On this note Bendis said:

I don’t know if it’s the Claremont influence…but the X-Men every so often have to take an adventure that goes beyond their typical scope. But for a return trip, I didn’t want to do a “Trial of Jean Grey” sequel. I wanted to do something new if we were going to go back out there

Bendis stated that he wanted to be part of a story that had a big impact on the characters and both he and Humphries assured that not all the players in this event would land back in the place they started. Bendis particularly singled out one X-Man:

Hank McCoy is one of these characters that struggles with being the smartest man in the room, and this is a perfect example of a character that will altered because of his experience with the Black Vortex, this is something that will change the character dramatically.

Bendis also added that McCoy would obtain knowledge of a cosmic and universal nature.

According to the writers, “The Black Vortex” also leads right into Secret Wars, indicating that perhaps even bigger changes are on the horizon for Marvel’s heroes.

At this point, press questions were asked, the first among them being how the relationship between Kitty Pryde and Peter Quill affected the story given the positive reaction from fans, to which Bendis responded:

It doesn’t alter what we do with it. We have to tell the stories that the characters dictate to us, but when there’s a response like this it makes me happy…when you write relationship stuff, you’re revealing things about yourself in there…and when you put your ass out there a little bit, you want people to respond favorably to it and not go ‘Eww!’ That inspires us to go forward, but I don’t think we’d stop if we weren’t getting this response.

On whether the younger “All-New X-Men” will have a different reaction to the Black Vortex than their older counterparts, Bendis replied:

Jean Grey damn well knows what happens to her when she grows up. She knows EVERYTHING. But others are on a path – like Beast – of desperately looking for knowledge and power. And just because this power is offered, it doesn’t mean every character will have a horrible price to pay. Some will get a power up. So the X-Men are coming at it young and raw…there are also other characters, like Angel, who has his own experience with a dark power.

Guardians of the Galaxy 24 Interior Art by Valerio Schiti

The heavy Jim Starlin influence of McGuinness’ redesigns was brought up, to which Humphries responded that the artist was great fit for the task from the get-go and that McGuinness “knows the history of the cosmic stuff, and while that wasn’t something they specifically through at him (the Starlin-like look)…you could see the electricity jumping off those designs”.

Bendis also drew a very strong connection between both teams when asked about the challenges of bringing the two teams together:

There’s a connection of spirit there. They’re oddballs. Even the Guardians are the oddballs of the universe…these characters see themselves as outsiders looking in and unique. Sometimes it’s great to be unique, and sometimes it’s f***ing depressing to be unique.

He also admitted that getting the X-Men into space and on the same playground as the Guardians was the toughest task by far.

Finally the topic of possible mainstream response to their work was broached, particularly given the success of the Guardians of the Galaxy film this past year. Humphries said that he’s encountered readers who came to his work via the film, as well as the Rocket Raccoon and Guardians title, and that they liked “what they saw in the movie and they were ecstatic to find more that they could read without having to wait for the sequel.”

And Bendis was quick to mention that fans realize that the only place you’ll currently see the Guardians and X-Men cross-over is in the comics, and that adds an exciting element to what “The Black Vortex” offers, particularly for new readers and that it’s “exciting and an honor to be delivering that to readers who want it”.

Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex Alpha #1 releases on February 4th.

The below designs are all created by Ed McGuinness

Cosmically Enhanced Drax Design

Cosmically Enhanced Ronan Design

Cosmically Enhanced Beast Design

Cosmically Enhanced Gamora Design

Cosmically Enhanced Drax Design Close-Up

Cosmically Enhanced Nova Design

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Everyone’s a little puzzled by the strange choice of number on this issue, somewhere between a #0 traditional origin story and a #1 launch of what’s rumored to be a major contributor to the Marvel Universe this year and beyond in the lead up to the 2014 film release of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. If this issue is more than just an origin story for Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, then we can assume some of the elements of a wider arc of action for the series are already being drawn up in the narrative, however much of a prequel it may be to the galactic sweep ahead.

The long, sporadic, but often well-received publication history of GUARDIANS makes it ripe for a return, and whatever readers were expecting, they are bound to be struck by the energy of #0.1 and the disorienting sense that they are, in fact, looking at something refreshingly new. Writer Brian Michael Bendis is so well-versed in crafting origin stories that the surprise is not how well he knows how to introduce a character’s early days, but that he manages to do it so succinctly, given his history of expanding origin stories well into established story-lines (take, for example, his ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN which stretched Peter Parker’s transformation into Spider-Man to span 7 issues).

His experience handling origins has clearly given Bendis an edge in handling a short-form version while maintaining the humanizing qualities in his characters that he’s also known for. Steve McNiven’s pencils are easily a match, though, for Bendis’ writing skills in the sense that his pauses to convey motion, his almost minimalist panels, and nearly constant emphasis on facial expressions to express emotion give the reader instant recognition of the importance of key moments without creating drag. John Dell’s inks give the comic an even more fluid feeling with hardly a static line and Justin Ponsor’s choice of color sets a kind of tonal theme a reader might expect not only from Marvel Comics but from Marvel meets sci-fi: intense earthly sunlight and shadow blended with slick, luminous technology. Bendis has said that he read lots of sci-fi leading up to his work on GUARDIANS, looking for things that inspired him the most, but it’s a fair guess that the entire team have drawn from their own impressions of the best elements of an alluring sci-fi tale.

[Spoilers for issue #0.1 ahead!]

Trust Bendis to bring in quirky dialogue to contrast with ethereal galactic realities, one of those humanizing elements that renders his characters appealing. Peter’s mother bitching into a cell-phone opens the story, and the deluge of questions and commentary she launches at the space-ship crash victim from Spartax helps establish the conflicting world views that will no doubt impact Peter’s life. The rapidly-developing romance between the two, the predictable departure of a man on a mission in wartime still has a grounded feel due in part to Meredith’s satirical but emotional responses. When she’s told she can keep J’Son’s gun, she comments to herself (and the reader) “How romantic”. One of the simplest panels, and one that makes you forget that this is a story that’s been told before, is one in which Meredith, despondent at J’Son’s departure, says simply “Take me with you”. McNiven’s use of expression strikes home easily; she already has the look of someone abandoned, a victim, in her own way, of war.

Peter’s life with his mother “22 miles from anything and anyone” at age 10, reading comic books and ditching math homework, contains plenty of the formulaic elements (partly due to Bendis’ influence on comic tradition already) of the misunderstood kid soon-to-be-hero mythos, but again, Bendis and McNiven always manage to catch the reader’s attention and distract from easy identification of familiar elements. Racism, sexism, bullying all come to the fore within a few panels of introducing Peter’s school life. The eruption of violence is part of a wider pattern, of course, as the little wars that Peter fights, significant in human terms, mirror the bigger wars to come. The second half of issue #0.1, however, makes the first half seem like a pleasant diversion as the plot moves rapidly into unexpected violence and the trauma usually associated with hero origins. McNiven proves that he’s up to the challenge of presenting shocking violence in a painfully memorable way depicting the murder of Meredith by Badoon hitmen, forcing Peter into the role of a rifle-toting avenger.

Cue another hero motif, the discovery of a super-powered weapon, but rather than gloss over what comes next, Bendis settles in for a moment on Peter’s experiences waking up in a hospital, his bizarre narrative reconstructed by doctors and child psychologists into something banal: a gas-leak that destroyed his home and the alien gun a favorite “space-toy”. Readers are included in the brash hospital lights and the jarring conflict between realities yet again, all increasing a sense of Peter’s reality and giving readers an opportunity to understand his future actions by experiencing where he’s been before. But the psychologists do get one thing right: he’s an unfortunate and fortunate soul. He’s been left with nothing unless he chooses, as his older self reflects to Tony Stark, to “find a way off Planet Earth”.

The jump between the hospital scene with Peter, age 10, to Star-Lord, age 30 is visually transferred by McNiven repeating a nearly identical angled view of the mysterious space-gun, and rather ingeniously tied into a scene of immediate action by Bendis’ revelation that Quill is telling his own life-story to Tony Stark onboard a space-ship. It’s a light-speed jump into the thick of GUARDIANS territory, and a pay-off for devoted fans to “see” for the first time in this new incarnation, some of Star-Lord’s Guardians team, albeit in silent roles, as well as McNiven’s new design for their costumes. It’s interesting to note that Stark, apparently, has been questioning Quill’s motives for fighting the Badoon, and that readers, in turn have been included in this explanation of motivation. It’s “exactly” what Stark “wanted to know”, mirroring a reader’s need to understand, even in short form, what makes Quill tick. Stark is not only satisfied by this explanation, but he’s “all in”. It’s tempting to read this as a prod to fans, hinting that they, too, should be on board with the up and coming revelations of the comic now that they feel they know Quill pretty well.

Does it work? If there’s any swagger or attitude in the comic, it’s reserved for Stark (appropriately). The seriousness of Quill’s origin story, the moments that readers have not only been told, but experienced along with Meredith and Peter, are fairly difficult to dismiss as “just another sci-fi hero story”. Bendis’ writing makes such a dismissal not only difficult but uncomfortable to imagine, but in combination with McNiven’s artwork, the story is almost daring you not to care about an orphan on a cosmic vendetta.

Whatever liberties the creative team may take in bringing a new version of GUARDIANS to the page, the earnestness they convey reminds readers of one more feature of sci-fi hero stories: anything can happen next. That’s why it’s so important to get origin stories right, to get even a small amount of personal history pinned down for the hero to form the jumping off point into such vast potential. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #0.1, which makes it a little surprising that retailers may have ordered fewer than needed of this introductory issue. If the current GUARDIANS creative team brings as much craftsmanship to the rest of the series, you’ll be glad to have jumped in at #0.1 to get to know THIS version of Peter Quill and his world (and not to have to scramble for back issues later).

 Title: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #0.1/Publisher: Marvel Comics/Creative Team: Brian Michael Bendis, Writer, Steve McNiven, Penciler, John Dell, Inker, Justin Ponsor, Colors, VC’s Cory Petit, Letterer.

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.