Guardians Of The Galaxy #4: Review

Jul 2023

?, Kev Walker

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Story Name:

The Star-Sheriff

Review & Comments

Rating:

Guardians Of The Galaxy #4 Review by Rob Johnson (July 21, 2023)

Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing provide the script again.

Some time since the previous Guardians series Rocket has gained a cyborg left eye and had a large chunk bitten out of his left ear.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Guardians Of The Galaxy #4 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

Grootfall is terrorising the planets of the Manifold Territories. Survivors from 12 worlds have settled on the planet Refuge protected by the Star-Sheriff from a series of Grootfall asteroids. Now another 1 approaches and he blasts it out of the sky with a really big gun. Which we see is a giant space-cannon tethered to the planet by a 'beanstalk'. The Sheriff leaves the cannon in a large robotic space suit/landing module and makes a fiery descent to the planet. As he climbs out of it to perch on its shoulder we see that he's Rocket Raccoon. He talks to the robot suit which responds in the manner of Groot.

A spaceship lands nearby and the Sheriff goes to welcome the newcomers. A motley group of aliens disembark. He tells them the 3 rules they must obey. 1) Don't mess with the railroads because they're vital to planetary defence. 2) Play nice with everyone else on Refuge. 3) If a Grootfall asteroid gets past him and his gun then evacuate the planet immediately. The head alien replies that they won't evacuate because they welcome Grootfall. The various intelligent species of the Galaxy continue to ruin it with their wars and greed. But soon "All will be Groot". (This echoes what the Groot-tree on the recovering planet Ra'thalamzi told Peter Quill last issue.) The cult have come here because this planet gets more Grootfall attacks than anywhere else (possibly only because most planets are destroyed by the 1st such attack).

Rocket leaves them and enters his base at the base of the beanstalk, which sits on a monorail track. He mourns the loss of the only being he called friend, Groot. And adds 1 to the long tally of Groots he has killed, and settles down to sleep.

But all too soon he's awakened by the alarm signalling another Grootfall. The cult hear it too and begin chanting, and their leader prepares a 'cigarette lighter'. Rocket in the Groot-robot/lander jets up towards the cannon again as the base moves along the monorail to get it in position to intercept the incoming asteroid. But their progress stops abruptly because the cultists have blown up the base and the line. Nearby settlers witness the disaster but hesitate to obey rule 3.

In the out-of-position cannon Rocket devises a last ditch plan. Her asks the Groot-bot to take him and anti-(Flora)Colossus shell to the approaching Groot-asteroid. He reminds himself that he wouldn't abandon his friend like he did before. This time they'll go out in a blaze of glory together. But at the last minute he ejects from the bot-suit which collides explosively with the asteroid.

But the Grootfall asteroid survives and crashlands on the planet as they usually do. Rocket is left floating in space (in an ordinary spacesuit). He discards his Sheriff's badge ...

... and is teleported on board the spacecraft of the Guardians Of The Galaxy. They've come to take him to the Groot they met last issue as the tree requested.

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