Storyline: Beyond Belief
Date: July 9th, 2008
Price: $2.99 US
Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Artist: Paul Pelletier

Synopsis: Beware the return of…Starhawk! First it was the recovery of a certain world-famous shield…and now the enigmatic Starhawk reigns death from above! How and why is this original Guardian of the Galaxy here in our reality, and what does his ominous arrival mean for our motley crew of freedom fighters?

Opinion:Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning keep cranking out the fun with their cosmic stories with Guardians of the Galaxy #3, where as the cover and the synopsis suggest, we get the return of Starhawk.  Who is Starhawk you might be asking?  Only the reason the original Guardians of the Galaxy formed!  This comic packs a formula mix of action and comedy with a small pinch of seriousness, which seems to be the status quo for these excellent writers.  Find out more about Starhawk and read my full review of Guardians of the Galaxy #3 after the jump!

Our ragtag group of guardians confronts the Universal Church of Truth’s enforcers: Cardinals.  These are soldiers of religion in gold armor who weild amazing power through what seems to be faith alone.  This concept is toyed with playfully by the characters, and we get many one-liners that make the pages where the battle takes place that much more fun to read.

At headquarters, Starhawk shows up and confuses the hell out of Mantis, though for some unknown reason Groot may have been aware prior to his appearance.  Either way, Starhawk’s all action as he does not speak and simply starts attacking Major Vistory brutally.  As Major Victory and Starhawk battle aborad Knowhere (the name of the refuge in space-time that works as the Guardians’ headquarters), the Cardinals wreak havok on the Guardians.   The team is split between fighting the Cardinals off while Adam Warlock tries to repair the anomaly on the dyson sphere.  The Cardinals prove to be too much for the team and take Warlock out of the game, leaving the repair of the anomaly and the creature it’s created to the remainder of the team, who just might have died in the process if not for one member’s painful and humbling sacrifice.  Meanwhile, Major Victory and Starhawk’s battle rages on until suddenly, Starhawk dissapears just as quick as he appeared without saying a word the entire time.

As the Guardians patch up and Knowehere goes to repair from what Starhawk did, we see the Cardinals reporting to the homeworld about their encounter with the Guardians.  What is revealed on this last page is interesting indeed.

Now where the hell did Starhawk come from?  A quick look at Wikipedia tells us that Starhawk has quite the convoluted back story.  Typical early 80’s plot confusion there.  I am interested to see where this goes.

I want to touch a bit on the art, as I have been complimenting the story-telling in every review (and it just keeps getting better).  Pelletier does an excellent job of capturing the differences in features between panels AND characters, and handles the sketching of all sorts of different characters with finesse.  This is a very versatile and talented artist.

Anyway, please pick up #1-3 and read it.  You won’t be dissapointed.

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