The first three stories tell us more about Groot, Rocket, and Gamora, and show why Nebula dislikes Gamora so much. For some reason, there are two filler stories, one from The Invincible Iron Man #55, and one from Strange Tales Featuring Warlock #181. These stories seem to have nothing to do with the Guardians (other than being in the same extended Marvel universe), so I was mystified why they were included.
Rocket gets a chance to play with the Hulk in a reprint of The Incredible Hulk #271, which was somewhat fun but pretty typical fare for for a Hulk comic. We learn that, at least in some of the comics, Groot actually knows how to speak in Tales to Astonish #13.
The final story in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Prelude, titled Guardians of the Galaxy #0.1, appears to be the first chapter in a prelude telling about Starlord’s parents and how they met. I found this story to be be well written and giving a few clues about his father which were not mentioned in the film.
The two styles of comic art—the traditional four-color process comics, and the newer CG-colored works—were somewhat odd to have in the same collection. I wish all the stories had been like the last one (though I did like the first story with Groot and Rocket).
I also thought it was a bad decision to include the two stories which had nothing to do with anything about Guardians. It seemed to me they were just included to pad the page count. Overall, I found this volume to be only average. Fans of the film might find Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Prelude interesting to read once or twice.
Release Date: July 8, 2014 (USA)
ISBNs: 0785154108 (9780785154105)
Publisher: Marvel
Language: English
MySF Rating: Three point zero stars
Family Friendliness: 90%
Alcohol/Drugs: 2 (some social drinking)
Language: 1 (some minor expletives)
Nudity: 0
Sexuality: 2 (plentiful scantily-clad heroines and anti-heroines)
Violence: 3 (a lot of fighting, Hulk smashes, some death)
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