As They Became Movie Stars: Brian Michael Bendis’s Guardians Of The Galaxy

Reading Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning’s Guardians Of The Galaxy a few weeks ago yielded an epiphany of sorts.  I realized, or rather remembered, I shouldn’t look for comics that feel like James Gunn’s oh-so-perfect film.  Rather, I should embrace the Guardians as they are in the comics which will always be a different animal.  That’s how it works.  The comics inspire the films but each is unique unto itself, shaped by the vision of its creators.  I’d never went backwards before, from the movie to the comics, and I guess I wasn’t ready for the differences when encountered from this direction.  But I fell in love with Abnett and Lanning’s Guardians, no matter how different they were from Gunn’s, because they were great characters involved in exceptional stories.  Naturally I couldn’t wait to meet their next incarnation, Brian Michael Bendis’s take on the team!

The Great Chris Debate: In Praise of Chris Pratt

As superhero movies have become a larger and larger part of our popular culture, a question has vexed fans and scholars alike.  Which of the cinematic superhero Chrises is the greatest Chris of all??  Now, three incredible blogs and four intrepid bloggers have banded together to try and definitively answer this daunting question.  Nancy and Kathleen of Graphic Novelty², Kalie of Just Dread-full, and yours truly are going to get to the bottom of this.  So fasten your seatbelts as we spend the next few days exploring all things Chris…although, sadly for my collaborators, I don’t know if we’ll need more than one post.  Because I’ve solved it.  It’s Chris Pratt for the win – easy.  No contest.  Game.  Set.  Match.  Now here’s why.