Written by Sam Humphries
Art by Freddie Williams III
Published by Marvel Comics
When we last saw our intrepid spacer, Peter Quill, he was in a middle of a holo-date with his (very) long-distance girlfriend, Kitty Pryde, when he was kidnapped by the villainous Mister Knife’s enforcers, the Slaughter Squad. Never one to let something like a traumatic history with outer space stop her, Kitty steals a spaceship from the Avengers and flies out to rescue Peter – but not before Mister Knife reveals his true identity to Peter – J’Son, the former king of Spartax and Peter’s father!
Something to appreciate about comics is that in the crazy world of character movie rights and supposed studio rivalries, the original comic books are still able to do whatever they want, with whichever characters they please. Sam Humphries is fully aware of this fact, and takes advantage of in in his writing. Peter and Kitty are star-crossed lovers in the most literal sense of the word, and seeing this couple overcome both fictional and metafictional barriers is immensely satisfying. It helps that Humphries writes the two in a very cute and natural way; he makes it easy to believe that the couple can make things work, no matter what the galaxy throws at them.
The biggest flaw with the issue is that there’s never a question whether or not Kitty will save Peter from his father in time. Kitty doesn’t waste any time launching an admittedly impressive rescue mission, and while a fast-paced storyline is better than one that drags on endlessly, it would be nice if the plot of the issue wasn’t so predicable, especially considering the fate J’Son has in store for his son is potentially worse than outright death. However, the fact that Peter is so easily rescued doesn’t make J’Son any less of a threat; it instead speaks more to Kitty’s determination and skill. In fact, it’s clear that the deposed regent has much grander plans in the works, that threaten far more than Star-Lord and his merry band.
Filling in for art duties for the second time in the series is Freddie Williams III, who illustrated issue #4, which featured a knock-down, drag-out fight between Star-Lord and Thanos. His scratchier, sketchier style suits the darker tone of this issue, and the melding of organic and alien structures at play here are all gorgeous and aesthetically pleasing. The two main characters of the story, Peter and Kitty, also happen to be fairly pretty people, and Williams draws the pair in several beautiful moments, including one with the two in front of a celestial backdrop that evokes one of the most breathtaking scenes from the recent Guardians of the Galaxy movie, with this time Star-Lord being snatched from the cold jaws of death.
Overall, Legendary Star-Lord #7 is another exciting issue in a series that could just have easily been another cash-grab movie tie-in. A strong focus on the relationships between characters keep the book balanced against the colorful cosmic tapestry. While greater machinations are in the works, for now our heroes get time to enjoy themselves and each other. This makes it as good a time as any for anyone remotely interested in Marvel’s cosmic characters to jump on now – before things get really topsy-turvy.