Writer – Dan Abnett
Artist – Gerardo Sandoval
Colours – Edgar Delgado
Letters – Clayton Cowles

Dan Abnett’s latest cosmic odyssey continues with a look at Vance Astro and his past as he floats through space after the destruction of the Guardians’ ship. We see the veteran in his earlier days as a young man eager to do good for his country by volunteering for a flight into space, knowing it will take hundreds of years but not realizing that by the time he reaches his destination, mankind will have already made it there ahead of him. After the flashback, Astro, Martinex and Starhawk are fighting for their lives against A-Sentience and then trying to discover just what it is that is going on. Meanwhile, Star-Lord, Charlie 27, Geena and Yondu are on their way to find the rest of the team when they run into Nova, the last surviving member of the Nova Corps while a member of the team who has been missing for some time finally returns. Abnett continues to bring the first team to bear the moniker Guardians of the Galaxy back to the masses and he is doing so with a fun and adventurous tale that makes long-time readers realize how much these heroes were missed and how good they could be again. Though Abnett has been introducing this particular future back to readers both new and old, with all sorts of characters both familiar and strange, he also finally answers a question that has been plaguing readers since the first issue. Sort of, that is. Not everything can be revealed as of yet for it keeps those reading the book coming back on a regular basis. Vance Astro’s past is quite interesting, seeing how he was in suspended animation for so long and then realizing that it really turned out to be unnecessary though there was no way of knowing that when he agreed on that fateful day. It might have been wasted time, time best spent doing what he does best but now he is awake and ready to make up for lost time. With some fantastic artwork by Gerardo Sandoval and Edgar Delgado, this book was definitely one of Marvel’s best at the time of its publication.

4 out of 5