Synopsis / Summary / Plot
Guardians Of The Galaxy Annual #1 Synopsis by
Rob Johnson
Previously the Grootfall asteroids killed most of the Guardians Of The Galaxy and destroyed the area of space known as the Manifold Territories, finally killing the last 6 Guardians in #7. But then we learned that Groot had transformed the Territories back into his ancestral homeland of Grootspace and resurrected the 6. Together they worked towards completing the job that would resurrect the rest of the GOTG and all the others killed. But Peter Quill's half-sister, Empress Victoria of Spartax, put the project in jeopardy by leading the Spartoi armada to avenge the dead.
In the last issue of the series the GOTG fought the armada and stole the solar engine from the flagship, which Rocket Raccoon planned to turn into a sun at the heart of Grootspace. But Spartoi fire ruined the remote control he'd built so now he has to trigger it manually which will kill him. Drax the Destroyer stopped armada-bashing and broke an engine off a ship to use to get him to Rocket.
Now this Annual completes the story.
Star-Lord and sister Victoria continue a personal duel on the flagship. She accuses Peter of abandoning Spartax to 'join' Groot, consumer of worlds. (Technically he left Spartax long before that.) She also accuses him of wanting her throne. (Again, he gave that up when he left, long before she replaced him on it.)
Drax reaches Rocket and takes his place. He attaches the Raccoon to his engine and sends it back towards safety, swearing to ignite the sun himself. Back at the armada Gamora and Nebula complain that he's left them facing huge odds, but Mantis says that Drax knows what he's doing. He 'remembers' being Arthur Douglas, saxophonist. But then he was reborn as Drax, a soulless weapon of war. (It is unclear whether he's referring to his 1st rebirth way back in Iron Man #55 or this clone's birth in GOTG v5 #12.) But lately he's felt the music again (since Gamora and Mantis gave him Art's soul at the start of #10?). Now he pulls out 2 objects from a pouch he's had round his neck all series. (1 might be the mouthpiece of a saxophone and the other might be the retrieved soul.) Regretting that he won't be there to see his daughter Moondragon resurrected, he slams the 2 together and the sun ignites, seeming to have Drax playing the saxophone at its heart.
The 3 female Guardians witness it and Gamora renames him as the Creator as Rocket joins them. Peter points it out to Victoria and claims that they don't have to fight anymore, but she stabs him through the stomach. But then she sees flowers blooming all over the vegetable strands pervading Grootspace, and the 'dead' step out of them. We concentrate on Moondragon and other Guardians joining Gamora, Mantis, Nebula and Rocket.
Hercules, Noh-Varr and Phyla-Vell join Nebula in repairing broken spaceships while Quasar and Super-Skrull join Mantis in bringing the resurrected to safety where Gamora and Rocket wait with medical aid. Moondragon celebrates her father's success. On the flagship Victoria realises her error as she holds her dying brother in her arms. She orders her fleet to stand down.
Later Star-Lord is healed and everyone's celebrating. Except Rocket who's taking time out to be with his old pal Groot who's now returned to his former shape. He apologises for attacking the Grootfall asteroids (with the other Guardians) before he knew what they were really doing. Repairs and reconstruction continue. And we see the narrator of this series finishing the story he's been telling to children.