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Guardians Of The Galaxy #7

Sep 2019
on-sale: Jul 24, 2019
Donny Cates, Cory Smith

Guardians Of The Galaxy #7 cover

Story Name:

Faithless (1 of 6)


Synopsis

Guardians Of The Galaxy #7 synopsis by Rob Johnson
Rating: 4 stars
We open with the Universal Church Of Truth's really large flagship Temple-Destroyer surrounded by debris plus most of the existing Nova Corpsmen (but not Richard Rider) and their ships. A voiceover by Moondragon reminds us that the Church was originally a cult run by Adam Warlock's evil half Magus, and their spaceships had engines powered by the faith of their believers. But she says it's all different now. The Nova Corps are confronted by the Patriarch of the Church who says he doesn't want any trouble, but the Corps want to board the ship. In response the Patriarch re-enters the ship which then makes a very loud noise and  translucent tentacles emerge which convince the Corpsmen to remove their helmets in the vacuum of space while saying "Have faith".

The Guardians Of The Galaxy are enjoying R&R on the sin-planet Dolo-Mayan. Peter Quill is in bed with Gamora. When he told her he loved her last issue he didn't think her reaction would be this enthusiastic! But duty now calls. Apparently Groot has won them a new ship which Pater intends to continue tradition by naming after another of his favourite actresses. But Gamora asks why it can't be a handsome *actor* this time? They are interrupted by Groot who says there's something Peter needs to see.

This something is a message from his father J'son of Spartax. He says that the destruction of the Nova Corps triggered an interstellar war, as part of which he's leading the Spartoi fleet against the Temple-Destroyer. He deems it a suicide mission so he's taking this last chance to apologise to his son for their past disagreements. The message ends with J'son telling Peter not to come here but run as far away as he can. And then "Have faith".

Quill of course does the exact opposite. And Moondragon's voiceover says the team followed him without hesitation. When they arrive at the Temple-Destroyer in their new spaceship, now named the Bowie, Star-Lord can't pick up any transmissions so he lays out a plan. Groot will stay on the ship with the engines running. Moondragon will stay with him to provide a psi-link to the away team. The Inhuman dog Lockjaw will teleport the others (itself, Star-Lord and Gamora plus Beta Ray Bill and Phyla-Vell) inside the big ship.

When they get there they see countless translucent tubes, all with many bodies inside them. The Patriarch greets them and says the Church is going to resurrect their messiah. Moondragon mentally tells the GOTG to get out now! But it's too late as the tendrils grab them all.

Back on the Bowie Heather Douglas spasms, and her voiceover tells us that she learned that this COUT is from the future, and their engines are powered by life not faith - they steal your will to live. In the present she starts to chant "Have faith" but pulls free and desperately tells Groot to run! He takes their ship away from there.

On the Temple-Destroyer we see that the tendrils work by inducing despair. But Patriarch gets them to let the Guardians go. He explains that Quill and friends have seen the dire future that the Church is trying to prevent. Their resurrected messiah is the only 1 who can kill their foe, Death. The Patriarch says he sent the message to bring Quill here, and drops his hood to reveal himself as the (possessed) J'son. Peter says no, but his teammates rise against him saying "Have faith".

The issue ends with Moondragon talking to Groot and someone else. The voiceover has been what she's been telling them. Now she says she's lost mental contact with others because they're too far away. It's up to the 3 of them to save the day. She speaks to the 3rd person saying that everyone on the team hates him but they need his help. We see that it's Rocket Raccoon hobbling around on medical support - he's dying so what's he got to lose.


 

Review / Commentaries


Guardians Of The Galaxy #7 Review by (August 2, 2019)
The cast list has at last dropped the Cosmic Ghost Rider in favour of Gamora.

On the surface the relationship between Emperor J'Son of Spartax and Starlord Peter Quill is simple. Prince J'son spent time on Earth and fathered a child with Meredith Quill. Then he went back home and became Emperor. The baby grew up to become Star-Lord. However the details have varied over time and the totality is difficult to combine into a coherent whole. Various authorities have carved it up into different histories for different versions of Peter and J'son, or introduced time-travel.
When Star-Lord 1st appeared in Marvel Preview #4 the idea that his father was a spaceman was unconfirmed, but Peter Quill's middle name was Jason. That story was set sometime in the future, and the next app in MPr#11 took it further into the future but introduced Quill to his father Emperor Jason of Sparta. Star-Lord had various other adventures but the Star-Lord Special Edition seemed to end that with he and his father flying off into the sunset. These stories had no definite connection with the main Marvel Universe.
Then the space-set 2000 Inhumans mini-series introduced young Prince Jason of Spartax who had a uniform and sentient spaceship rather like the original Star-Lord's. This series included a prediction that he would father Star-Lord on Earth.
But in 2004 Thanos #8 introduced an adult Star-Lord/Peter Quill into the Marvel Universe proper who went on to found the new Guardians Of The Galaxy. The 2016 Star-Lord limited series detailed his origin as a mix of the original and the Marvel movies version. But before that GOTG (2013) gave us *his* father J'son of Spartax whose relationship with his son was not as cordial as the original's.

Patriarch (J'son) at the end of this issue seems to be the same guy who caused the deaths of the Nova Corps at the beginning. He also says he deliberately sent the message to lure Star-Lord here, so presumably he was already converted then. Putting these things together means that he was converted to Patriarch before the Nova Corps incident, and he lied about that in the message. Presumably he was also the Patriarch in the Annual where he said that Star-Lord was the next target for the Universal Church Of Truth.

The Guardians left Rocket Raccoon on Halfworld in #4. Presumably they went back there after #6, as Groot promised, and persuaded him to come with them. We don't yet know why he's dying or why the team don't like him anymore.



> Guardians Of The Galaxy comic book info and issue index

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Main/1st Story Full Credits

Cory Smith
Cory Smith
David Curiel
David Marquez (Cover Penciler)
David Marquez (Cover Inker)
Dean White (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Cory Petit.
Editor: Darren Shan. Editor-in-chief: C. B. Cebulski.

Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Plus: Captain Marvel (Phyla-Vell), Jason of Spartax (J'son).

Thor

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