Annihilators #1

Taking the place of the now disbanded (and mostly dead) Guardians of the Galaxy comes a new super-powered cosmic squad of "Annihilators' including the Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Bill, Gladiator, Quasar, Ronan the Accuser, and Cosmo.

A new member Ikon, a Space Knight, arrives only to quickly anger almost every member of the team and almost lead to it disbanding before fighting a single battle. Thankfully, a crisis arises and the Annihilators set out to stop the Space Knight's arch-nemesis Doctor Dredd from freeing the Dire Wraiths from their prison.

The lighter side comes in the form of a B-story focused on Rocket Raccoon working in the mail room (where he was hired to fulfill the company's quota of cute sentient animals). Things aren't going great for the former Guardian, and then someone sends him a homicidal clown in the mail. Don't you hate it when that happens? The ensuing battle (and getting fired) lead the intrepid hero in search of his old pal Groot, but he's unprepared for what he finds.

Even if I find Doctor Dredd to be infused with way too much power for such a ridiculous character, there's still much worth reading. The choice of Quasar as the main story's narrator is an interesting one, although I am surprised (given his quantum bands) how insecure he feels towards the rest of his teammates. The real fun here, however, is the Raccoon story which alone is worth picking up.

[Marvel, $3.99]