Legendary Star-Lord #1 Review: Tell Thanos I Don’t Have The Gem With Me …

If someone told you there was a comic book that starred a character who reminded you a little of Han Solo mixed with some of the spirit of the Cowboy Bebop crew, you’d probably be all over that, right?

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No one is suggesting we put Legendary Star-Lord #1 up on that kind of pedestal, but writer Sam Humphries and artists Paco Medina and Juan Vlasco certainly have the “rogue with a heart of gold” thing going full blast. It’s a pretty radical departure from the way the Star-Lord character was originally conceived — he was more of a cosmic cop at first — but it certainly aligns correctly with what we’ve seen of Chris Pratt’s movie portrayal so far.

Even though Star-Lord laughs in the face of danger, it’s not all fun and games here. The serious parts are flashbacks that tell us about Peter Quill’s past, and his vow to make things better … in space.

We also learn more about his cool element gun (it’s encoded to his DNA), his ongoing beef with Thanos (to be settled in less than two weeks, comic book time) and some surprising news from the alien side of his family.

And he has time to do some ultra-long distance flirting to boot. Because that’s how space cowboys roll.

SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!

After the opening flashback that establishes that Quill’s human mother died when he was young, we zip to the present and find Quill already in the middle of trouble. This particular trouble comes in the form of his old pals the Badoon, who appear to be hunting for something called the Mandalay Gem at a space orphanage. Hey, there are orphans in space too.

Star-Lord engages in some witty repartee after being captured, makes a holo-call to Kitty Pryde to hit on her and find out if a threatened attack on Earth is underway (it’s not) and demonstrates why his boots are as formidable as his element gun. Quill gets the gem, then makes up a story about fencing it so he can give the orphanage a bunch of money.

It’s kind of a heavy-handed way to drive home the fact that he identifies with those kids, but if you don’t mind the clichés, it’s not a bad yarn. Unlike his buddy Rocket Racoon, whose solo series also debuted this week, it’s entirely a solo tale, with nary a Guardians of the Galaxy appearance to be had.

Just before the issue ends, we get the “sister I never knew I had” thrown in. The second issue apparently deals with a family feud, and it’ll be interesting to see if that ends up as the focus until Quill gets to Thanos.

The art by Medina and Vlasco isn’t super distinctive, but it serves the story well. Medina does nice work with facial expressions, both human and alien. That’s a helpful trait for the places where Star-Lord hangs out.

Favorite moment: Kitty deflects Star-Lord’s virtual advances, reasoning that “I just have bad luck with Peters.” That’s what she said!

Final thought: Was Quill’s internal monologue about how you need to be family to use his element gun some foreshadowing of Captain Victoria using it against him? Because it sure seems like it could be.