Fans of the Guardians of the Galaxy were likely pleased with this year’s lineup of free comics. The Guardians essentially got two comics to themselves since Rocket is a member with Groot appearing as well. I can’t really say that I’m a huge fan of Rocket Raccoon, but I’ve mostly seen him in shows like Avengers Assemble and Ultimate Spiderman so I can’t make any hasty judgments. This comic also brought a back up story to try and give me some more reasons to give it a high score.

The main story follows Rocket Raccoon as he breaks into an enemy stronghold in order to rescue the princess. As it turns out, the princess doesn’t believe that she needs saving and she had already planned out how to leave. Her ship was supposed to come and pick her up so that she could break free, but the element of surprise may have been lost. Rocket assures her that no rescuers are coming and they quickly try to escape. Can they really make it past the legions of armed professionals and is Rocket Racoon hiding something!?

In the backup story, Spiderman and White Tiger embark on a secret mission. Nova wants to help, but Spiderman forbids it because Nick Fury told him to keep Nova in the dark. Nova decides to follow the Wallcrawlwer and he realizes that the villains may be tougher than he thought. It’s going to take teamwork and a lot of puns if the heroes want to get out of this in one piece.

Well, the comics were decent. I’m always up for a good space adventure, but I’m not sure that Rocket can really hold his own series for very long. He seemed to be out of character in the issue, but I may have just been seeing a different interpretation of him in the shows. Still, Rocket proved that he was a hero and while he may not have been that likable…he tried. The art was only okay at best and the faces could look a little dicey at times.

Of course, the art was still better than in the backup. The backup story’s art was a little on the lazy side. The characters were there, but not much detail was put into them. I felt bad for Spiderman since he looked pretty awful until the end. Even White Tiger had to say something along the lines of, “Couldn’t you at least pretend that you were prepared for this?” when Spiderman started barfing all over the place. Spiderman should be used to this sort of thing by now and I doubt that he really gets space sick. At least Spiderman made some pretty good puns in the end.

Overall, this wasn’t the greatest superhero comic in the batch. We actually had more action than some of the others, which is ironic. I felt bad for the final villain since Spiderman humiliated him in the end, but I suppose that he was asking for it. Rocket Raccoon and Groot are sure to have many more adventures and it should be an interesting series. Hopefully this issue will convince you to buy the comics or watch the Ultimate Spiderman series….since it probably would not have convinced me. I still recommend it since the comic is a fun read and it’s not very long. Just think of it as a Star Wars story and everything will be all right.

Overall 7/10

I’ve always been a pretty big fan of the Power Rangers and I haven’t even seen any of their TV shows yet! The concept of the franchise is what I find so intriguing and I also enjoy the video games. I was happy to learn that this series would be getting a comic on Free Comic Book Day and I quickly put it near the top of my reading list. It may not have been quite as action packed as I had been hoping, but it was a still a solid issue.

The comic takes place after a recent victory over the villains. The Power Rangers are all pretty confident at this point and they like to mock their prisoner. They’re currently transporting her so the meeting point where they will send her off into space. Unfortunately, one of their old enemies decides that they’re having too much fun and he transforms their favorite car/van into a living thing. It’s going to take everything that the Power Rangers have to stop this crazy locomotive!

The art is very good for the comic and the plot is a little deeper than one may have thought. The car makes some pretty good puns and the Power Rangers are mostly on the defensive. I’m still surprised that the Red Power Ranger is no longer the leader, but I suppose that it had to happen at some point. I’ll always think of him as the leader anyway. It was hard to sympathize with the prisoner since she kept goading on the heroes throughout the comic.

Assuming that you want to get into the series; this comic gives you a pretty good idea of how things are going to go. The villains aren’t really taken seriously, but I’m sure that the leader will be able to give the heroes a good fight. Most of the Power Rangers are a little generic when they’re in their human forms, but I still like them as superheroes. They didn’t have a chance to really show off their powers this time, but they did think of a plan pretty quickly.

Overall, this was a good comic. It wasn’t very action packed and I would like to see the Red Power Ranger retake his position as leader, but those things will likely happen in future issues. This comic gives you a chance to get used to the Power Rangers universe and hopefully generate interest in other parts of the franchise. I know that I’m ready for some more comics!

Overall 7/10