Guardians of the Galaxy: New Guard, Vol. 3: Civil War II

Guardians of the Galaxy: New Guard

by Brian Michael Bendis

When things get rough on Earth, Captain Marvel calls in friends from out of town! Iron Man doesn't stand a chance against the Guardians, right? But the team's allegiances are split down the middle, and tensions have never been higher! And while they're busy on Earth, who's guarding the galaxy? As internal conflicts reach a boiling point, outsiders throw more fuel on the fire -and one member with deep roots on Earth will struggle to hold onto their galactic connections! Plus: Flashback to Flash Thompson's earliest days on the team! Would Venom endanger his new allies to save his idol, Spider-Man? Find out why Spidey is one of the reasons Rocket hates Earth! COLLECTING: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 11-14, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2016 (CIVIL WAR II) 1 (A STORY)

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Science Fiction, Fiction

136 pages, Paperback

First published February 15, 2017

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the better Civil War II tie-ins (I guess that'll happen when the same guy writes both books) but it still suffered a bit from standing-around-on-the-sidelines-while-all-the-major-stuff-happens-in-the-core-event-book syndrome (or SAOTSWATMSHITCEB Syndrome as it's known by absolutely nobody).

Still, the artwork was beautiful and Spidey makes an appearance, so it's not all bad.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Captain Marvel probably had enough heroes on her side that the Guardians of the Galaxy probably didn't need to travel light years to help out. It's mainly just a contrivance to get the GotG to Earth so they can blow up their ship and leave them stranded. Valerio Schitti and Kevin Maguire's art is gorgeous, but I'm definitely ready for the Bendis era of GotG to be over.

[Malum · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots and lots of problems with this one.

The guardians are asked to come back to Earth by Danvers to help fight Iron Man. They say "We will get both sides of the story" but once they land on Earth Danvers says "are you going to help me?" And they immediately say "Yeah, of course!". Wow, that is some flimsy motivation there.

How many times does Gamora have to get her ass handed to her (or at least nearly handed to her) before she loses her title of "Deadliest Woman in the Galaxy"? She got the crap kicked out of her at the beginning of this run, and now Danvers throws her around like a rag doll. If Danvers hadn't given up, she probably would have broken Gamora in half.

There is a lot of contrived nonsense to get the team to hate each other and to get rid of their ship.

There is an odd flashback to a spiderman-centric story at the end that has no real transition and is confusing and pointless.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

[Read as single issues]
Reviewing Brian Bendis' Guardians run is so difficult. It's been a while since I've read it, and all the issues tend to blend into one, which is why these volumes get three stars and very brief reviews.

This volume collects the four Civil War II tie-in issues, as well as the Free Comic Book Day story starring Thanos, and they're all...okay? The idea behind the Guardians coming back to help Carol in the war is decent, and the Thanos backdrop plays with a kind of dropped plot point from Civil War II, but the whole contrivance of this arc is basically just to launch a new Guardians banner so that Marvel can have some new Star-Lord, Groot, and Rocket series spinning out of it (more on that next volume). Did the Guardians really NEED to tie into Civil War II? We could have had like a year of other cosmic stories, and yet...we get this.

Still, you could read these issues without any words (not that Bendis would allow that) because Valerio Schiti's gorgeous visuals return, plus another issue by Kevin freaking Maguire too.

I am ready for this series to be over, please.

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty okayish volume and ties into the Civil war event and like starts off with Thanos attack and Rhodey falling then Guardians coming to earth to help their friend Carol and arguing baout which side is right and dealing with the battles. But the main thrust is when Gamora goes looking for Thanos to kill him and then its Gamora vs Carol and the breaking of guardians and a story set in the past where Agent Venom went to Skrull world to rescue Spider-man and why Rocket hates him!

Its a good collection of short stories and is one of the better tie ins to the events and I like the story with Flash and what he does plus the Gamora stuff was hard hitting though I wish Bendis focused more on that rather than the Carol and the war stuff which was mundane and boring.

Next up, the guardians are grounded on earth and how they deal with that!

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hrumph. Civil War 2 turns the team into assholes. They lie to each other on Earth. Ship is destroyed. No worries. It magically reappears next issue without explanation. WTF? Spider-man has unconscious adventure with team. Cause why? Dunno.

I've loved Bendis' Guardians but I kind of have to draw the line here. It just was not up to his usual standard.

[Judah Radd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This title is really losing me. This is all Civil War II tie-ins 😴😴😴😴 so... we’re off to a terrible start.

The Guardians have completely lost their Dan Abnett edge. It’s so saturday-morning-cartoons now. Everyone is quirky and snappy and belting out witty zingers, and that’s fun for a page and a half but it gets tiresome and boring really quickly. This needs to shape up. Anywaaay... not my fav.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Guardians, having just saved Angela from a prison planet, answer the call for help from Captain Marvel and head back towards Earth. Their role in Civil War II is very small, but it does lead to the destruction of their ship, leaving them stranded on Earth for the time being.
Some highlights:
1) Rocket, on the trip to Earth, delivers one of the most poignant observations about human life that I have EVER heard. He brings up that our leaders are elected in a broken system, our modes of transportation and populated areas create destruction of the environment and air we need to survive, and for being one of the least important galactic civilizations, Earthlings think so highly of themselves that we think we are the center of the galaxy. (You owe it to yourself to read just this part, if nothing else.)
2) Gamora shows her focused, determined side in a very violent way when she finds out that Thanos is on Earth. Her vengeance must be sated and she takes on Captain Marvel in a very good knock down, drag down fight, that seemingly has her leaving the Guardians for good.
3) A hilarious story about how Rocket's life is messed up because of Spider-Man. Contains Skrull stuff and would be hysterical to see those two interact in the movies. (Maybe Infinity War??)
This Volume doesn't seem to be that important in the overall scheme of things, but is well worth a read. Recommend.

[Andy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here we go, this volume was so random and all over the place. These poor characters cannot catch a break. Right when the team started to feel like, well, a team we get this volume that breaks them apart. It makes so sense, I legit met this specific group of characters only 12 issues ago and you are already doing the "team of characters with differences have internal turmoil and decide to part ways" storyline. I don't care.
Okay, in the first issue I won't lie, I was feeling the vibe of the cast find themselves on earth. This new setting bought out a lot of cool and funny aspects of the group. Knowing it was a crossover Marvel event I knew it would turn into trash soon enough.
Next thing we still haven't jumped off a cliff yet. The buildup was getting there as we see everybody getting ready for the fight... and then nothing. Literally, nothing happened, we go to the aftermath straight away, exciting. Losing the ship at least plants a seed of interest for the next volume, how will the guardians get off the earth? In all honesty, I hope not all of them find a way off.
While that let down came to a quick end the characters decide to have a shouting match. I might be reading but my ears were annoyed. Everybody is shouting and screaming at each other, whatever happened to people having normal conversations. I hate saying this because I love her so much but Gamora is way too dramatic and extra. Her character is like one of my all-time favorites in video games and the movies but in these comics, I CAN'T STAND HER. She is smart and clever while always being ready to fight for whats right, what happened to that Gamora? The whole thing is just annoying drama trying to pass itself as intriguing and full of tension.
Lastly, what in the world was that ending. Legit so confused with that finale to this awful volume already. The excitement levels have been raised off the roof since we get to learn more about Flash! Ugh. Literally what in the world was that. In addition, I always hate doing this but the art felt off to me, some of the characters faces seemed weird. The whole thing was off.
This volume was a mess just like I thought it would be. Marvel keeps its track record with its awful events. Let characters have their own thing going on. Stop disrupting storylines for big world events every 3 months. I feel bad for whoever spent money buying this volume, I'm so sorry. I can see there is only one more volume left, what could have possibly happened to this amazing series. Guess I might as well finish this whole thing, yikes.

[Annye Driscoll · Rating 1 out of 5]

Guardians of the Galaxy: New Guard: Civil War II has three-ish issues of Civil War II tie-in and an additional stand-alone issue at the end. So that equates to three issues of confusing, unintelligible, plot-hole-ridden event crap and an additional nonsensical issue which seems to pretend that the Civil War II never happened.

A huge plot element in this book is that Gamora, whose life mission is to find and kill her father, Thanos, finds out that Carol Danvers is holding the villain in a super-prison. Carol refuses Gamora access to him and the two have a huge fight. There’s some great action and some nice artwork for the fight and then…the conflict is dropped. The Civil War II tie-in issues are over and we’re on to the non-tie in issue, where Gamora is happy, healthy, and not driven mad by the desire for revenge.

I understand that this plot point with Gamora was probably answered in the main Civil War books and I just don’t remember. But we have a situation here where reading stories in trade paperback just doesn’t work. This book is not a story; it’s the framework of a story with the climax and resolution removed, with an extra little useless bit at the end. Does Marvel not realize that there are people who read their books in TPB form? Why did they even create this book – especially since they made it a pretty hardcover and then charged $25 for it!

I feel like this has been a recurring issue with me as I read through all of these trades – the Civil War II was not meant to be read this way. Does that mean people like me, who aren’t willing to spend $4 each on ten or so comics a week in order to read an entire event, are not supposed to read Marvel events at all?

Read more of my reviews (plus cat pics!) on Her Little Book Review.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume sees the Guardians of the Galaxy return to Earth to help Captain Marvel in her Civil War II dispute.

I wasn't overly keen on this, despite really enjoying the main Civil War II comic. It did make sense for the Guardians to be there but this tie-in didn't really add anything. On the one hand you kind of have to have read Civil War II to really understand what the dispute is yet much of this volume sees scenes from Civil War II copied almost exactly.

Out of the four issues included here, three of which are Civil War II, the first mostly see the team discuss getting involved which seems a little unnecessary given we know full well they end up going. Most of the second issue sees Civil War II from the Guardians point of view, which was fun but completely unnecessary. It's only in the third issue where we get anything new- Gamora goes after Thanos and even Captain Marvel isn't going to get in her way. I hated the fourth issue included here, a random and pretty rubbish flashback when I was desperate for the ongoing story to continue.

I did like the Guardians involvement with Civil War II and I suppose I probably would have enjoyed this more having not read the main story. But you would assume a lot of people would read both. The best bit was Rocket moaning about how rubbish Earth and humans are, making actually very profound statements about what we are doing to our planet and the way our politics work. That was for me one of the best comic book monologues I've ever read.

An underwhelming volume which once again sees the Guardians shoved into a Marvel event and once again results in a less enjoyable individual book.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very short. Really, not much happened in this volume. But I understand its importance in the grand scheme of things - the Civil War II ARC. However, if you're not already sure what's going on there, and if you don't read many of the other Marvel series... you'll be so very confused.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Guardians return to Earth to help Captain Marvel in a battle against Iron Man, entangling themselves into the Civil War II event.

So the motivation to return and help Carol was a little... thin. Because for the most part, they chalk it up to the fact that they were teammates at one point. But so was Tony! I feel like the choosing of sides with a bit arbitrary and it tainted the motivations of the team for me.

But once they get there, I liked how Bendis shows us the "behind the scenes" of the main battle within the main series. Where, in the main series, you only see the major "beats" of the story, here we can see what was happening right before and after the battle. Apparently the Guardians are now stranded, and will be until they can find a new ship. I'm sure this will lead to more titles, especially since Gamora now knows that Thanos is on Earth.

I'm eager to see where this goes, as having the Guardians on Earth has only happened sparingly in the past. Recommended for fans of GOTG.

[Benji Glaab · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I'm being generous with the 2🌟 rating. The free comic book day issue and the Spiderman issue that closes this out I could barely bring myself to read. Kinda skimmed tbh. The core of the book issues 11-13 we're decent, but if you aren't aiming to read any civil war II tie in this really is just a disruption to the overall story. I'm hoping the next volume can scale things down a bit and gain some traction.

This wasn't even entertaining it was just too fractious, and sloppy story telling. I will still continue on as I like the characters, and Bendis can write some decent humour.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good, mostly just fluff. Now back to the main story.

[mil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A relatively high three stars, I quite enjoyed this

[Pau Lethani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this comic stupidly cheap one day and decided to buy it but truth is this is a volume 3 and I haven't read the first ones. Still, it was a pretty good comic, I loved the drawing style and made me enjoy the Guardians of the Galaxy characters more than in the movies. I've also met and incredible bunch of new to me superheroes that I had never even heard of before. And jesus Captain Marvel looks hot in this comic! 😍 I'm not an expert in comics or in Marvel at all but from my humble opinion this was a very entertaining comic and definitely easy to understand even without reading the first ones.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

The second Civil War makes its presence known in this latest volume of the Guardians of the Galaxy from Brian Bendis and Valerio Schiti. Having just liberated an alien colony, the Guardians decide to take a trek to Earth at the request of former teammate Captain Marvel. Arriving home, they find themselves smack-dab in the middle of yet another superhuman war. The conflict leads to the destruction of the team's spacecraft and a splintering among the Guardians themselves upon being stranded on Earth. Overall, the volume is a hodgepodge of ancillary stories designed to make the popular movie team feel like a part if the main comic universe event. The tome opens with a reprint of the Free Comic Book Day issue, name-drops Carol Danver's new Alpha Flight squad, uses all of three pages for the Civil War battle, and concludes with an unnecessary Spider-Man flashback. Brian Bendis continues to rely on talking heads for his exposition, but fails to even get those to work for him in this tangled volume. Valerio Schiti does his best to capture the comic aspect of the characters, but that feels out of place in what should be a serious tone for the tale. Civil War II continues to make a mockery of the comic universe through an unnecessary movie tie-in sequel, and the Guardians of the Galaxy are just victims of that mistake.

[Rolando Marono · Rating 2 out of 5]

Como es costumbre de Marvel, tenemos un volumen de tie ins de un evento que a nadie le gustó y que además de eso, arruina la trama actual de cualquier serie porque tienen que parar las líneas argumentales para abordar el tema del evento correspondiente.
En el volumen anterior los Guardianes fueron invocados por la Capitana Marvel para que la ayuden a "poner en sus sentidos a Tony Stark" porque obviamente perdió la cordura y lo ideal es usar a un inhumano para predecir crímenes y arrestar a la gente antes de que cometa dichos crímenes. Los guardianes llegan y hay muchos diálogos. Un poco de desarrollo de personajes, algunas discusiones sobre quién está haciendo lo correcto, y finalmente, un conflicto entre héroes que sólo dura una página y le da la bienvenida a un conflicto entre los Guardianes y Carol para tratar de detener a Gamora de matar a Thanos.
Por último hay un capítulo sobre una aventura de Spiderman en el espacio que involucra más Skrulls y más diálogos repetitivos de Rocket Raccoon diciendo que odia la tierra.
Hay algunas páginas buenas con viñetas interesantes sobre la relación de los distintos Guardianes con la tierra. También hay un par de diálogos interesantes. Pero todo lo demás es completamente innecesario, lento y sin mucho sentido. Quizá lo único rescatable es el final del tomo que pone a los personajes en lugares interesantes para el siguiente volumen!

[Brylliams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the stars say: it was okay.

We pick up right where we left off last volume, with the team celebrating and being interrupted by Captain Marvel. She wants them to come to her aid on earth because of a "conflict" between her and Tony Stark.

What she's referring to are the first few issues of Civil War II.

The Guardians discuss if they really should go, and after voting (with Rocket in the minority), they leave for earth to become CM's backup against Stark.

I have to say that I'm with Rocket on this one. The Guardians should have stayed away and kept protecting the Galaxy while Earth figures out its own petty squabbles. I like the Guardians but this was a very disappointing collection, storywise.

I hope their next adventure on earth, because they are now stranded due to superpowered stupidity will be much better.

[Public Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty awesome... the Guardians show up in NYC for a big superhero throwdown as part of Civil War - the deuce! Then Gamora finds out that the Avengers captured Thanos and were holding him in custody - so she completely flips her shit. Great lady fight between Captain Marvel and Gamora. Then we get a choice little one-off where the gang rescues Spiderman from some Skrulls. It was a little disappointing that they never actually got to interact with Spidey - he's knocked out most of the time - but it was a nice way to put the spotlight on Flash's Venom. Like any good Guardians it always leaves me wanting more!

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Guardians play a seemingly minor role in the Civil War II event, basically sitting on the sidelines until the big Iron Man vs Captain Marvel clash. After the battle (which is highly perfunctory), we get to the interesting stuff. Gamora feels betrayed and enraged when learns that Thanos is on Earth and Quill kept that info from her. Drama! Gamora's actions to destroy Thanos basically lead to Civil War 2.2. It's probably the first really satisfying arc of this New Guard because it actually plays to the strengths/weaknesses of these Guardians.

[Brandon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some tie-ins to the awful Civil War II event, in which the Guardians show up on Earth for some reason and end up fighting on Captain Marvel's side, before they end up fighting Captain Marvel, and then end up fighting each other, because heroes fighting heroes wasn't a terrible enough plotline already.

Then there's a flashback issue involving Spider-Man for some reason.

I'm sure this is a good read if you love Bendis' GotG and you love Civil War II but let's be honest how many people fit into either of these categories, let alone both?

[Jean-Paul Lane Valley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The set-up feels like a forced way to get the Guardians to be a part of this crappy event, resulting in a very dry story that forces drama. However, the interactions between the Guardians are quite nice, and some of the stakes relating to them are interesting.

The biggest problems with this tie-in are related to the shitstorm that is 'Civil War II', specially how Bendis handles Danver's chatacter. What was Marvel thinking when they decided to put a character that has been targeted by internet bigots into an authoritarian and unfriendly role?

[Valerio Pastore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se questo è il miglior tie-in dell'insipida saga di cui non si sentiva il bisogno, è più per demerito delle altre testate. Civil War II aveva zero senso, date le premesse. I Guardiani sono giunti in aiuto della fazione di Capitan Marvel e del buon gusto del fumetto.
Per il resto, ancora una volta un litigio feroce tra i Guardiani a cose fatte, ancora una separazione, ma almeno qui nasce l'ultimo arco della run di bendis, Grounded, che apre alla mini di Rocket sulla Terra.
E, purtroppo, ancora una volta incombe l'ombra di Thanos (sbadiglio)...

[Scott Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bendis and Schitti do their usual quality work on this volume, but it suffers from "too-direct-tie-in-disease," by which I mean, we get lots of unresolved character moments but the main story is happening elsewhere--the Civil War II limited series--and we're left with a volume that is full of holes as a result. Hardly a complete plot to be seen. Ah well, it'll get better when the book gets back to itself.

[Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Maybe my problem is that I haven't read any of the other Civil War II comics so I wasn't fully understanding what was going on, but this volume didn't seem to have anything to really offer. Gamora finds out that they have Thanos and then instead of exploring that there was what seemed to be a filler issue more than anything. It was probably answered somewhere else, but it was frustrating for the most interesting part of it, for me, to be very brief.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concurrent with Civil War II, Captain Marvel asks the Guardians to come to Earth to back her up against Iron Man and the other heroes. The Guardians question whether they're on the wrong side. Gamora finds out Thanos is being held prisoner on Earth and goes after him. Entertaining, and decent art. Until the final issue in the collection, which is nonsense. Rocket complains about being stuck on Earth and then has a flashback which in no way justifies his opinion.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually a pretty decent tie-in to the lackluster Civil War II event but the last issue here was odd and misplaced. What makes it worth reading, besides the great Schiti artwork, is the fact that the Guardians are effected by some of the events in Civil War II and its a big deal. The team is a definite crossroads and Bendis is handling it well. Overall, a decent read that reads more like a Guardians book than a pointless tie-in.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jest duże wydawnicze wydarzenie, są i mniej lub bardziej wartościowe tytułu uzupełniające jakieś poboczne wątki. Tu dowiecie się dlaczego Strażnicy Galaktyki trafili na Ziemię i poznacie mniej więcej ich motywację, co do poparcia Kapitan Marvel w wojnie z Tonym Starkiem.

I jest to słabiutkie, zbędne i wtórne. Gdyby nie trafione miejscami relacje pomiędzy bohaterami - była by nędza. Widać, że Bendis już ma tym etapie dosyć tej franczyzy. Kończ waść...