Superhero teams have been a staple of comics ever since comics began. One of the earliest was the Justice Society of America, although there have been way too many to name here.
One of the newest books is taking a different look at them – Guarding the Globe from Image Comics.
Here’s the comic’s description for the sixth issue, in stores as of Wednesday February 6: “As the hit miniseries comes to its conclusion, The Order finally make their move. The Guardians of the Globe find themselves up against the biggest threat they’ve faced to date, and not everyone will make it out unscathed. Also in this issue: The final fate of Robot and Monster Girl is revealed!”
Robert Kirkman, best known for The Walking Dead comic and television series, has created boatloads of new characters over the past few years. I like to call the place they inhabit the “Kirkman-verse” in his honor. Besides making Super Dinosaur and Thief of Thieves, the hundredth issue of his Invincible title just came out, something Dead accomplished a few months back. So Mr. Kirkman can be counted on to make interesting and unusual books. And I do love variety in my reading!
Kirkman’s the creator of the characters in Guarding, but writer/artist Phil Hester is actually scripting the title. Mr. Hester has written many wonderful characters over the years, including Green Hornet and Bionic Man most recently. He even untangled J. Michael Straczynski’s garbled continuity on Wonder Woman. He’s good at developing his own concepts and characters as well, so you should check out The Coffin and Firebreather, among others.
In this issue, we see galactic-level battling take place, but there’s more going on than meets the eye initially. The Guardians have to sort out just what’s really happening, and several of the heroes endure the consequences of resolving the situations. I was particularly moved by changes in Brit, a hero I’ve enjoyed reading about for years. Brit actually makes the bad guy question if his powers have failed him, something that really surprised me!
There’s a wonderful line where Brit, the team’s leader, says, “Sounds like a plan,” to which a member responds, “That’s our battle cry?” Nice bit of dialogue there for long-time comics fans!
Todd Nauck’s art is dynamic and strong, helping us enjoy the action while propelling us forward through Hester’s fast-paced script. Many of his pages (and even panels) would make wonderful posters!
What makes this comic stand out is that there are consequences to the heroes’ actions. Most titles have to make sure things are basically the same so someone who’s never read it before can pick it up if they want to. It’s a welcome change to see people have to move forward in new ways as we have to in real life instead of the “galactic reset button” fans see in comics and on television so much these days.
I was hoping this would continue as an ongoing book, but this is the conclusion to a six-issue miniseries. I want more, so be sure to buy Guarding the Globe so new stories can come our way!
Below you’ll see the cover from this issue:
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