Welcome, True Believers, to another edition of Marvel Must-Read Mondays! This week we are showcasing one of my absolute favorite Marvel Cosmic mini-
series: Annihilation: Conquest – Starlord #1-4!
Spinning out of Marvel’s massive sequel to the Marvel Cosmic-centric Annihilation event, Annihilation: Conquest – in which the technologically superior Phalanx take control of the Kree Empire after the devastation wrought by Annihilus’ Annihilation Wave – Starlord #1-4 finds Peter Quill (aka “Starlord”) being nursed back to health on Aladon Prime after a deadly Phalanx invasion.
Quill is then brought before Admiral Galen-Kor – a Kree Intelligence officer – and tasked with leading a group of expendable heroes into Phalanx-controlled space to permanently inhibit the Phalanx’s manufacturing of contagion packages they are spreading across the galaxy. Peter is joined by Bug, Mantis, Captain Universe, Rocket Raccoon and a sentient tree named Groot. What follows is perfect Marvel Cosmic goodness full of laugh-out-loud banter, sci-fi shootouts, and rollicking space action with a lot of heart: writer Keith Giffen and artists Timothy Green II, Victor Olazaba, Nathan Fairbairn and Rus Wooton knock it out of the freaking park.
There’s a lot to love here, so much so that the majority of this sci-fi suicide squad would go on to become the much-beloved modern incarnation of the Guardians of the Galaxy under the masterful eyes of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning – and would in turn be immortalized on the big screen in Marvel’s pitch-perfect superhero space-opera, Guardians of the Galaxy.
Actually, a lot of that film can be traced to this Starlord mini-series: Groot and Rocket’s relationship – as well as Groot’s sacrifice and eventual return as a twig – and Peter’s over-confident, talkative, Han Solo-esque personality are all a part of Starlord #1-4.
Not to mention Starlord’s now-iconic mask. That thing is AWESOME.
Pick up a copy of the Starlord mini-series today – I guarantee you’ll enjoy it. And it wouldn’t hurt to pick up Guardians of the Galaxy by Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, The Complete Collection Vols. 1 & 2 – they make a perfect follow up.
That’s it for today – be sure to let us know what you think with #MarvelMRM!
