'Asgardians of the Galaxy #6' Popularity is a Pain

Asgardians of the Galaxy #6

From MAJK’s Coffee Corner:

Asgardians of the Galaxy #6 starts with a bang, or more accurately a “ZRAKKOW.” In fact, it starts with several of them. I put down the last issue feeling all peaceful and happy. The day was saved, and all was right with the world. I was looking forward to seeing Angela find her ex and learning what that was all about. I opened Asgardians of the Galaxy #6, and everything is exploding everywhere.

Well, I guess that’s to be expected when you’ve recently broken out of prison, been framed for mass destruction on Chandilar, humiliated Gladiator with a frog, and been charged with the stewardship of a cosmic weapon of mass destruction. A few people are going to be upset with you. With War of The Realms just over the horizon, I expected we’d see some new faces, but I’ll admit I was caught off-guard by who we ran into this issue.

Spoiler Warning: If you have not read Asgardians of the Galaxy #6 There May Be Spoilers Below

Creative Team:

Publisher: Marvel Written by Cullen Bunn Art by Matteo Buffagni

Cover by: Jamal Campbell Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit Color Artist: Frederico Blee

Series Rating: 4.85/5 Issue Rating: 8.85/10

I am loving Campbell’s cover for Asgardians of the Galaxy #6. Angela’s a striking figure in general, but Campbell capitalizes on this with a towering “lady of justice” (sans blindfold) pose, scales included. Give her “Nothing for Nothing” mantra, Angela’s pose is an intriguing choice. Sure, it looks like Lady Justice, but it might just symbolize that mercenary side looking for payment for services rendered. The smirking Kid Loki tipping the scales against the rest of the team adds just the right touch of humor.

The Story So Far:

Asgardians of the Galaxy #5 wrapped up the Nebula-centric arc. It’s been a bit crazy for our team, but the job got done, and now Angela’s holding the invoice, so Kid Loki better plan to render payment. He’s promised he’d help Angela find Sera. Noted he never promised they’d find her in one piece, or without complication. Thor’s advice to Angela before they parted was simple and straight-forward. “…Never trust Loki.”

Everybody Wants Them

Asgardians of the Galaxy #6 opens with the explosive popularity of the Asgardians. By explosive, I mean the blasts that are rocking the ship from every direction. By popular, I mean everyone wants to kill them and take the beacon. Oh, wait. That’s not entirely fair. The Nova Corp are willing to let them live if they surrender the Naglfar beacon. Being so popular is tough.

Urzuul has already found his niche, fixing Asgard’s Reach and reminding Skurge that fanny twitching doesn’t have a practical application in engineering. Thank God, all we need is a team of twerking ship mechanics.

Things aren’t looking to rosy when Angela finally convinces Kid Loki to live up to his bargain. A little hemming and hawing from him, a threatening tone from Angela, and next thing you know Asgard’s Reach is out of peril. Well, in less peril. Kid Loki is a bad judge of altitude.

Meet The Ravagers

After a rough landing, and a short trek through what looks like a jungle, the Asgardians find themselves face to face with the Ravagers. This is not the Ravager team I remember, but there is no doubt that who we are facing because Yondu Udonta is leading them…after a fashion.

Planet Terry, Torgo, Cammi, Ora, and Pip the Troll get the drop on our team, but that’s never stopped the Asgardians for long. The Nova Corp can tell you that. The fight stops as quickly as it starts when Sera, Angela’s ex appears and much lip locking ensues. I think they missed each other.

I can’t decide which part of Asgardians of the Galaxy #6 is cuter Sera and Angela’s reunion or Thunderstrike and Planet Terry trying to out-bro each other. Both are grin-worthy. Kid Loki’s got a bit of a pout going on over being ignored but as adorable as it is – it’s still only taking second place.

Sera introduces Angela to the reason she and the Ravagers are out here. Refugees who need protection because their prayers do something unexpected. They take on a physical form. Those physical forms are the reason these people are hunted. Before Angela can get the whole story from Sera on who they are and how she found them, the camp is under attack.

Without warning Chargazel’s Raiders are sweeping the area with bombs and trying to round up the survivors. The bad news for Chargazel’s Raiders is that the Asgardians and Ravagers are among the survivor’s the bad news for everyone is that the planet is awake and it’s pissed off.

Art & Writing

Bunn’s writing keeps Asgardians of the Galaxy #6 fun with a touch of humor. Pip the Troll has quite a few good lines and his reference to Angela as “Bikini Battle Broad” is chuckle-worthy. It feels like Bunn is setting us up for a heavy action issue next round, but he creates some clever wordplay such as prayers “paying off” that I really enjoyed. Even Skurge and Torgo share an odd moment of common ground that amused me greatly.

Buffagni’s art and Blee’s colors work well together. The final splash page is a testament to that. Although I miss Hans, style in this issue; the quality remains high. I liked Blee’s use of tones to enhance the mood. The muted tones during the jungle trek enhanced the feeling of trepidation. The muted tones on the characters against the bright background during Angela and Sera’s conversation gave us the sense of the rest of the world vanishing in the face of each other.

Petit’s lettering keeps the exposition portions easy to read. The smaller font in several places tells us there is a lot more going on with Kid Loki that the others are seeing. The intertwined word balloons and emphasis on the word “me” during Sera and Angela’s reunion adds intimacy and a touch of possessiveness to the moment.

Overall, I’m just as happy with Asgardians of the Galaxy #6, as I have been with this entire series. I’m curious to see what happens when a planet gets angry and looking forward to what I hope is going to be a team-up between the Ravagers and the Asgardians.

MAJK’s Age Recommendation:

I am still on board with Marvel’s 12+ age recommendation for this title. So, there’s not much more for me to say on that matter. As is true of most of Marvel, there is cartoon violence, but Asgardians of the Galaxy #6 has significantly less violence than the last five issues.

Other Information: Beware there are a lot of sweet and adorable moments in this issue so if you are allergic to smoochies, chubby-cheeked pouty faces, or laughter, then this is an issue to avoid. If this is the case, then please consider removing that stick.